words by Michael Todd | photos and video by Matthew Masin
A wedding ring is shiny only on the inside while the rest of her jewelry is polished: What does this mean? She removes the ring often and is unhappily married. This is just one of the simpler deductions none other than Sherlock Holmes makes, and this kind of investigation is hardly fictional for Will Harman of More Machine Than Man.
When he gets the chance, Harman takes stock of a person's things, the way they decorate their room and more in order to learn about their motives, their personality. Having written about his curious nature in his band's "Even I (Don't Trust Me)" he'll have to be a little more sneaky now.
Hear Nebraska spoke with Harman about what he can figure out from a bit of looking around and how the search for love can lead to even more perusing. More Machine Than Man is playing the next two Thursdays this month at Barley Street Tavern. Both shows start at 9 p.m., and cover is $5.
Hear Nebraska: Would you say your lyrics are personal or more character-based in this song?
Will Harman: This one is definitely personal. It was a pretty specific situation where I was hanging out with a girl, and we were in her bedroom, and she had to go get something else from another room.
She was expressing a concern to me that she didn’t really trust me to be alone in her room. I have a tendency to be overly curious when I’m trying to get to know somebody. I’m investigative, and I try to find things that help me figure out what this person’s about, so I’m not surprised by something that maybe comes up later on.
Anyway, she was expressing this concern to me, and I said something like, “Even I don’t trust me alone in your room.” After I said it out loud, I thought it was funny the way it was phrased, so I made a note of it. Then a couple days later, (bassist) Tyler (Wilson) sent me the song, and I thought it would fit well as the chorus. It seemed like they matched pretty well, so it turned out to be perfect.
HN: What do you think you can find out from the things people have in their room?
WH: I think how someone decorates their room or the things they have says a lot about the kind of person they are. Whether they’re correct or not, I make inferences about a person’s personality or their motives or just who they are in general by the things I can see or quickly dig through while someone is in another room.
HN: Would you say your reputation preceded you in this case, or did she just guess?
WH: There had been a couple situations where I had admitted to her I found a couple things. I’m fairly good at it, and I don’t get caught usually, but I had admitted to her that I found a couple things to figure the situation we were in. So yeah, my reputation definitely preceded me. She knew I was good about figuring information about people on the fly.
HN: Does this come up when you look out in the crowd at shows, do you wonder what drives them?
WH: Yeah, I think so. It’s kind of a self-deprecating song. I’m kind of admitting to one of my bigger faults, being overly curious and investigative. I wonder what people think when you admit to a flaw in your personality, when you can come to terms with a darker side of your character.
HN: Were you trying to communicate any other emotions in your lyrics than what you talked about?
WH: Yeah, a little bit. The first verse is a warning a girl that I can sometimes do these things. So almost keep one eye on me if you’re wise. The second half is more a discussion about the relationship that we had built, whether it was as serious as we thought or if she did care for me that much. If I can’t be with somebody else, then this will work out for tonight.
HN: The chords are mostly the same throughout the song. What makes them able to be repeated like that?
WH: They’re all seventh chords, so it has this feeling of moving on to the next chord. It never really settles itself until the very end. So from the very beginning, it’s real smooth, but it’s always moving and flowing. When I first heard it, the colors of the song matched what I was thinking about this situation. It just seemed like a perfect fit.
Tyler did a really good job of structuring the song so that it builds on itself then it pulls pieces out and then rebuilds those pieces. It never seems like it’s overly repetitive even though there’s four chords to the whole song.
HN: How do you think the rap fits with your lyrics?
WH: (laughs) I wasn’t quite sure at first how well it would fit, but I think Cal (Harman) did a good job. It’s funny because we didn’t talk about what I was writing about until later when he had most of his verse written. During that section, he pulls the focus out and becomes the external narrator.
To me it seems like he’s summarizing what led up to this situation I’m singing about. In the middle of the song, he’s saying let’s take a look at what happened here, what led to this. Any of his verses add another dimension to the song.
CHORDS
Fmaj7 — Dm7 — Am7 — Dm7 — Em7 repeated throughout
Don’t leave me here unattended
‘Cause I’ll try to find the thing you’ve hidden
You’ve got the love, you’ve got the power
Well, you still don’t understand
I tried to leave, I tried to cover my wandering hand
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Girl, let me ask you: Do you really love me?
I didn’t think so
And I think you know it’s time for someone new
If I can’t be with anybody else tonight
I guess this will have to do
And I know why they say to stay away
All of the signs fade and disappear
If I can’t fight it each and every day
I keep on trying to be anywhere but here
Rap
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Even I don’t trust me alone in your room
Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. He hopes his dog, Macie, is secretly an investigative agent just like Perry the Platypus. That way, he could call her Snoop Dogg. Reach Michael at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.
