“Taste” (iTunes) is the sixth song in my Atlas: Year Two series. It’s also one of five songs written for Senses – a song for each of the five classical senses, in the order they develop inside the womb: Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing and Sight.

When I think of taste, I think of mostly positive, enjoyable experiences. Though one of the main purposes of our sense of taste is to steer us clear of eating dangerous things- well, it still does, but nowadays, we use it mostly to enjoy the foods we eat. So I imagined what taste would sound like.. and to me it sounds like something complex and intricate, but also super positive and with bounce. So that’s the starting inspiration of this song, which might be my most joyful sounding song yet (a bit of a departure for my often-somber catalog of songs!) And it might be my most intricate song as well… (I actually used up all of the available tracks in my recording session, recording well over 100 layers and instruments.)

Each of our five senses are deeply connected to each other, so I’m trying to make sure that each of the five songs have little things in common, or connect in some way. My last song “Touch” (iTunes) is about losing the sense of touch and losing touch with who I am. It’s kind of the polar opposite song to “Taste,” but the story is very connected. The final lyric of “Touch” is:

“down my arms, a thousand satelites suddenly discover signs of life.”

That line represents the return of feeling and self, so “Taste” picks up where “Touch” left off. “Taste” is very much about being awake and present, almost for the first time. So the above ending line of Touch leads into the opening line of Taste:

“I am alive, I am awake. I am aware of what light tastes like.”

(Side note: the “thousand satellites” lyric has double meaning.. it means goosebumps/chills as I mentioned in my how touch was made post for "touch", but also a subtle nod to tastebuds, as it prefaces “Taste”)

There’s another reference to the story of “Touch” in this lyric:

"out of the woods, out of the dark, i’m well aware of the shadows in my heart.”

“Touch” is essentially about deciding to show up. What I mean by that, is choosing to live a life of being present, and in awe. Pushing against the shadows. “Wonder” was a word that doesn’t show up in the song, but was the guiding light for the lyrics to this song.

At its core though, this song is a toast:

"to fists unraveling, to glass unshattering. to breaking all the rules, to breaking bread again. we’re swallowing light, we’re swallowing our pride. we’re raising our glass ’til we’re fixed from the inside.”

Because food builds and rebuilds our bodies, I liked the idea of raising a glass to healing broken relationships, and trying to be at our best. There’s so much vulnerability required to rebuild a relationship, and to just try harder... so the idea of swallowing light felt like the right way to explain that healing.

The earlier lyric:

“the curtains drawn, the table's set;”

On its own, it’s a fairly simple set-up lyric. But there’s actually a mini story behind it, that might not make much sense, but I’ll try to explain. On a walk around my neighborhood recently, I noticed a house that had these strange outdoor, entryway curtains. It was a very small house that didn’t have much in the way of decorating, besides these outdoor curtains. My first thought was - that looks kind of strange. Then I thought, why would anyone want curtains outside? But then, for some odd reason, I had a mini epiphany. (I’m using that word very loosely here) - those curtains somehow made me realize how important it is to put our hearts into everything we do. I imagine the family of that house, returning home and those curtains bringing a tiny bit of joy. They put them there. They chose them. They took time and effort and hung those curtains, I’d imagine because they really liked them. So that lyric above is a little nod to that mini thought process, to remind me to lean into everything I do, to mean it, no matter how tiny or silly of a thing it might be… (even in the eyes of some jerk walking by!)

I had a ton of fun recording the music on this one.. it contains almost everything but the kitchen sink! Which come to think of, it would have been a great addition to a song called “Taste"! That opening instrument you hear is an iPhone recording of a little mandolin melody I wrote a couple years ago. I dug up the recording and had a ton of fun using it as the base of this song.

Because taste is broken down into 5 categories (Salty, Sweet, Bitter, Sour and in recent history, Umami) I had a ton of fun and went to the grocery store to buy a “percussion” food item from each of those 5 categories to play in the song. I got and played each of the following items as shakers throughout the song:

Salty: a canister of salt - a salt shaker.
Sweet: a bag of "sugar in the raw”
Bitter: a bag of coffee beans
Sour: a bag of “sour patch kids” (I had to record these quick, because I got hungry.)
Umami: a small container of cherry tomatoes. (the thud-iest shaker ever played)

Delicious. You’ll also notice a bit of sleigh bells played in the later half of the song.. that’s a tiny nod to the ever-approaching Holidays. (Might have gotten carried away from my newly released Christmas cover) Speaking of, we didn’t totally plan this, but I loved the idea of a song called "Taste" releasing near Thanksgiving.

Thanks so much for reading and for listening! I hope you enjoy this song!!

Love, Ryan

P.S. Click on the "how it was made" tag at the very top of this post to read through how my other songs came together!

LYRICS

TASTE

i am alive. i am awake. i am aware of what light tastes like. the curtains drawn, the table set; i want to be. i want to be at my best.

it’s bittersweet, it’s poetry. a careful pruning of my dead leaves. it’s holy ground, a treasure chest. i’m on my knees and only scratch the surface.

like fists unraveling, like glass unshattering. we’re breaking all the rules, we’re breaking bread again. we’re swallowing light ’til we’re fixed from the inside

out of the woods, out of the dark, i’m well aware of the shadows in my heart. i want to feel tectonic shifts. i want to be. i want to be astonished. i want to be astonished. so i propose a toast:

to fists unraveling, to glass unshattering. to breaking all the rules, to breaking bread again. we’re swallowing light, we’re swallowing our pride. we’re raising our glass ’til we’re fixed from the inside. ’til we’re fixed from the inside.

we’re nothing less than a work in progress, sacred text on post it notes. we only speak of a world in pieces, let’s make a map of what matters most, where every fracture is a running river leading us back to our golden coasts. here’s to showing up:

sleepingatlast