This track was written and produced for a BYU Old Testament class project. I analyzed Proverbs 6, and brought to life the messages I saw in it through an original, experimental song. Here is the write up I included with the project:

Context: In my initial plan I started organizing to set the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation to music, but it didn’t feel right. I wanted to take a lesson or message from the Old Testament and turn it into a modern day song by telling a modern sounding story that outlined similar principles. Then I thought of the Proverbs we had studied at the beginning of the semester and wondered if I could find a proverb or principle that I could set to music. I started looking at Proverbs 4:4, 6:8, 2:2 and other verses that might correspond to a time signature to see if I could encode the verse in the time signature, but none of those felt great to use.
Studying Proverbs 6: I skimmed back through assigned reading and found Proverbs 6, and remembered I had once asked in a homework assignment what “frowardness” meant. In continuing with using the Tools for Scripture Study I copied out the chapter to better understand it, and remarked on my first impressions. As I re-read the chapter, specifically verses 12-19, I noticed that God’s description of qualities He hated seemed to outline that of a narcissistic, abusive gaslighter who might cheat on a lover in adultery. The rest of the chapter paired well with that story too, so I decided to write a song from the perspective of the primary subject of affection of the “wicked man,” using quotation and paraphrase from the passages mentioned. I used creative license to form a narrative around the principles I gleaned from this reading.
The First Verse: The first two lines reference verses 12-14. If the wicked man winks charismatically to charm a lover, but does so with deceit, it reminded me of someone being overly affectionate to cover up an affair. I personally hate the smell of sandalwood (but so many male beauty products smell like sandalwood), so I threw in the reference that I could tell if my lover was lying to me if they forgot my disdain for sandalwood. But it also remarks on how the singer notices that the “wicked man” doesn’t just have a foreign perfume on him, but that it is specifically something he knows he can identify as neither of theirs. The fourth line the wicked man uses a cop-out to gaslight and deceive the subject as he “deviseth mischief” with his “froward mouth.” Part two of the first verse plays along the same idea but adds the reference of the wicked man who “teacheth with his fingers.” The subject learns of the true intentions of his lover as his fingers teach him where he is focused. I used to have a line that referenced how the wicked man “speaketh with his feet” by mentioning how he turned to the one he commits adultery with rather than his lover, but at this point I thought that would be assumed.
The First Pre-Chorus: The next few lines begin to reference how the wicked man employs attributes the Lord hates, starting with verse 17. I directly quote “a proud look, a lying tongue” then subtly reference “hands that shed innocent blood” with lines about domestic abuse in “misbehaving” and how the lover is “left with bruises on cheeks.” I further play on a power imbalance in the couple remarking on how the singer is younger than the “wicked man.” I’ve found that it is normal in current day culture for guys in their early 30s to seek out partners in their early 20s, and sometimes have discovered it’s because those guys are immature for both their age group and those younger than them. The lines like “said I’m too young to understand” reference Proverbs 6 with all the references to a “heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,” or in other words, using rhetoric of gaslighting to convince someone to question their own validity because of logical fallacy that they are too naive or ignorant. The singer also mentions how they have “loved [the wicked man] with no guarantees” or in other words, charity that has been met with unwarranted control, showing how naughty persons take advantage of innocence.
The Chorus: The main line references Proverbs 6:34, “For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.” I rewrote it so it rhymes saying “Rage of man, greater than, your jealousy took you away from me.” Jealousy often stems from a place of feeling or desiring to be greater or have more than another being, hence the addition of the fragmental line “greater than.” Acting in jealousy is divisive and isolating rather than connective like love may be. This gave the tagline the lover sings about how the wicked man’s jealousy took him away from them. I focused on jealousy for the chorus since the story narrative suggests the wicked man envied a lover he did not have and committed adultery to get it, rather than appreciating the love he had and the lover who cared about him.
The Second Verse: The next four lines continue playing with imagery related to verses 19, 23, and 24. It starts by referencing “the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light,” with imagery of a candle. Continuing with the idea of the wicked man attempting to take advantage of good, I imagined him perverting God’s light and law, by using it to blame the singer, like a Pharisee might. I specifically thought of a candle since it may provide light but the flame is toxic for it because it depletes it to point of it’s utter destruction, just like affection from a toxic lover may feel or even be love, it becomes toxic and drains the subject of it if they don’t get away from it. The original line for the last rhyme was “I control myself from flattery,” basically the singer telling the adulterer that acting in lust is a choice and the adulterer should take ownership of his own actions and impulse response rather than blame subjects of his affections in objectifying manners. I changed the word to loyalty since I thought it gave the same message with a clearer wording. To better explain the imagery of verse 19, I had the wicked man attempt to soweth discord by victim blaming, and giving false witness to shame his lover for his own mistakes.
The Second Pre-chorus: These next four lines use imagery from verses 27 and 28, for example turning “Can a man go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?” to “You can’t walk across hot coal and not leave your feet scathed and burned.” The final four lines of this section reference verse 31, how if the wicked man were to essentially repent and be restored sevenfold, he may not have all his bridges burned. The last two lines mention that the wicked man was given the chance to restore himself but he continued devising lies like in verses 18 and 19.
The Bridge: The first few lines of this section reference verses 30, 32 and 33. Not only does the wicked man destroy his own soul and bring dishonor unto himself, but he harms those whom he takes advantage of. The rest of the bridge simply restates what has already been said but clarifies it. “Hit your lover, maim a heart,” references the first pre-chorus of “shedding innocent blood,” while “it’s sad that you’re so ignorant” references the second chorus of the wicked man using deceit and lies to try to convince of the subject of their inappropriate actions of false naivety.
The Breakdown: This background chant starts with a direct quote of verse 14 and 15 which reads “Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.” The breakdown goes between these themes and those of the chorus like “rage of man.”
The Vengeance Outro: The rest of the song delves into sound recording and electronic sounds that sound ethereal and ominous. It is meant to feel isolating like white noise, just like wickedness leaves people feeling disconnected and isolated. There is one specific sound that can be reasonably identified, and that is of fire burning. The field recording I used is specifically of a car on fire. Instead of progressing and moving forward the car is left alone. I thought of imagery of fire when reading verses 27 and 28, as well as verses 30 and 35. Fire is never content or satisfied and will continue burning as long as it finds substance to destroy, just like the wicked man continues to lust and find new persons and things to jealousy lust after and violate. From about 4:30 in the track to the end the song breaks down starting with just an electronic pad and voice. As the voice drones away more and more muffled and misunderstood, the synthetic sounds grow and grow and overpower until they become unrecognizable ethereal sounds. I meant this to sound like a fire burning and growing into chaos, starting from a beautiful flame to an uncontrollable calamity. This parallels the symbolism of the wicked man started with adultery that delves into unrest and lack of satisfaction. It is meant to sound uncomfortable, like the song never really ended, because wickedness has no finite goal, but rather deals with temporal pleasures. Final fun fact; I purposely made the song exactly 6 minutes to symbolize how the whole song is a reference to Proverbs chapter 6.
Relation to Jehovah and the House of Israel: Though I wrote this song from the perspective of a lover hurt by the “wicked man,” it could easily describe the feelings the Lord may feel towards the House of Israel. Both perspectives are from a place of love. I’ve heard it said that hatred can only come from a place of love, because you cannot feel betrayed by something who you never had feelings for or trust in. When Proverbs 6 outlines qualities the Lord hates, which I personified in a person, it can be understood that those qualities hurt the most when they are done by someone we love. The house of Israel is made up of imperfect people who take advantage of each other and make mistakes because they are human, and unfortunately it is assumed a lot of people never take the time and effort to make up for the harm they cause. This song reminds me that even if I end up becoming the “wicked man” and the Lord is disappointed with me, his disappointment comes from a place of love. That ideology is much more inspiring to make me want to become better and make up for the wrongs I have done. If my “jealousy [takes me] away” like I mentioned in the chorus, I want to overcome that and find connection again with the Lord, who shows love to me, unlike the “wicked man.”