"Don't" (2010)

So far, I haven't paid much attention to chronology when posting these songs, and I probably won't in the future.  Also, I haven't really shared any pieces where I served as the composer and not the lyricist, which is how I have typically worked with my oldest collaborator and friend, Andy Brown. 

Andy and I first collaborated on a song called "Still" in 2005.  I'll share it later. In the years since, we've worked on several songs and projects together.  In 2010, we were particularly busy, and two songs that I have a special fondness for came to be.

The first is a piece called "Don't."  Andy sent me the lyrics in the spring of 2010 (original post). I loved what he'd written, and quickly started working on the music.  As usual, I try not to alter Andy's words in any way. I take the role of working the music around what he's established. I find that to be a rewarding exercise.

Andy and I are both theatrical writers at heart, and that shows in "Don't."  

The song explores a man struggling with feelings he believes he should resist as he tries to make sense of another person's mixed signals. As that person repeatedly draws closer, he attempts to maintain emotional distance, but his repeated warnings and objections, particularly the title word "Don't"- gradually reveal a deep longing for connection, intimacy, and acceptance. Is he truly trying to rebuff what he perceives as the other's advances, or is he really trying to restrain himself from reaching out? All these years later, I'm intrigued by the snapshot the words offer.  I still find it to be a beautiful lyric. 

In composing "Don't," I wanted the music to reflect the lyric's conflict. The song opens on a B♭maj7 chord, but the melody avoids the tonic and starts on the seventh, creating a sense of uncertainty right out of the gate. An unexpected II major chord, foreign to the key, follows. I intended it to sound slightly disorienting, reflecting the singer's state of mind before settling into the verse.

The pre-chorus becomes more rhythmic and shifts more firmly into the darker, relative minor, mirroring the character's growing emotional turmoil. I wanted the pre-chorus to build tension as it led into the chorus, and I achieved that to some extent, mostly through rhythm.

Looking back, perhaps the chord changes in this section are too similar to those in the second half of the verse. Still, when the refrain arrives, the harmony returns to the tonic, and the vocal line reaches a sustained high F on the word "Don't," making it almost a shout of defiance directed as much inward as outward. For me, the resulting release still feels earned.

The harmonic language is mostly tonal. Major seventh chords appear throughout the song, while dominant extensions and some chromaticism are used sparingly for effect, particularly within the chorus.

I'm not sure I accomplished everything I set out to do with the music for this one, but I certainly worked hard on it and learned a lot in the process. As a lyricist or composer, I'm primarily concerned with storytelling- often more so than crafting a "catchy melody." It's something I've never truly resolved, and I suspect it shows here, for better or worse.

In 2011, Andy and I decided to include the song, somewhat revised, in a musical we wrote called "Elizabethtown."  We had the song demoed in 2012 by the talented, Nashville-based artist Jon Statham. For the recording, he used a backing track that I recorded with my limited equipment, based on the sheet music I'd prepared. The arrangement was for piano, bass, strings, and orchestral percussion.

While the song is one I've always been proud of, it's largely been hidden away. I decided it would be nice to revisit it with a new recording, one that stays true to the original composition but expands the instrumentation of my original written arrangement.  Below are both versions of the song.

You'll notice that the early demo includes a bridge section I removed from the new demo. I always felt the song was a bit too long, but it's nice to have both versions. Also, I opted for a bigger ending on the new recording, since we couldn't decide which one when we originally demoed the piece. 

"Don't"
New Demo (2026)

"Don't"
Original Demo (recording in 2012)

The first page from my 2012 score for "Don't"
(for use in "Elizabethtown")

*The updated demo was created from the original demo recordings and sheet music using a combination of virtual instruments and AI-assisted production and vocal recreation. The recording follows the original melody, harmony, and arrangement and is intended as a faithful, expanded recreation of the original composition. It is presented here solely as a demonstration of concept and as part of an ongoing effort to curate, catalog, and preserve the work.