"RISE from the Burning Ashes"
from the album Running Changes



Release: October 2, 2011 (digital download & airplay); October 11, 2011 (vinyl)
Format: Digital download, airplay, 7" vinyl
Genre: Alternative rock, blues, piano rock
Length: 5:17
Label: Studio60 Records
Writer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez

Background

When writing the song, Ryan Ross Hernandez wanted to invoke a sound that was largely built around keyboard instruments. Hernandez used an old piano that came with his furnished home in Los Angeles, which he had bought years before, and had never used the piano only keeping it as a decoration. He later found a session musician who played organ on the song.

Hernandez said of the development of the song: "When I bought my home in LA, it had this old, beaten up piano. I always use to toy with it but I never really sat down and played anything solid. This entire song poured out from this one sound and two glasses of red wine. Something has to inspire you, and something else takes over. It's very cloudy."

Hernandez also noted that the song is "probably the second most important song I've ever written." He did not go on to say which he thought was the most important song he has written.

The singer-songwriter admitted that the song takes "a bit of inspiration" from late-1990s, early-2000s post-Britpop also adding, "It becomes its own thing, kind of like points of inspiration that kind of lead you down certain paths. Whenever you want to write a song like someone else, it ultimately ends up sounding like something different anyway."

Composition

The song features an organ and piano sound. The song starts with a hushed ecclesiastical electric organ ballad, including Hernandez's falsetto. It's almost as if the almost fully-formed, as if dispatched by some divine tunesmith, for Ryan Ross Hernandez's deft mastery of melody and emotion, and that chiming melancholic euphoria. It's an old-fashioned hair on the neck moment with Ryan giving a vocal performance of a lifetime. He has an ample opportunity to display his vocal prowess, and he does just that, sounding so sorrowful and melancholy. The song then builds with both an acoustic guitar and piano sound. The sound then shifts with a plaintive three-note guitar line, ringing through a bringing rhythm upbeat tempo. A clattering burst of intent and proto-prog four-part harmony. Its instrumentation is varied with the sound of church-style organs hovering throughout the background, piano notes, acoustic and electric guitar riffs, drums, and a singalong chorus. It will become a massive live track. The shift from funereal organ backing to anthemic guitar is sonically arresting midway through lending a grand sense of power to the closing lyrics. he three sets of keys work well together but then soft strumming comes in completing a great set of instrumentals that continue to be accented by wonderful lyrics. Most of the keys drop off about now and are replaced with electric guitar and percussion. Harmonizing of voices makes the song even better as the song comes to a close. Finished with Ryan Ross Hernandez's clean vocals and playing gentle keys making for a beautiful song.

Lyrical Theme

The theme here is definitely one of comfort, as Ryan's voice sympathetically addresses someone who feels like a total failure and who has lost something or someone. There's a theme to hang on to - the notions of going backwards and forwards seem to trickle throughout. The song is universal and tackles many themes. But like the best crying songs go, there's a cathartic value instead of that release, and the beauty comes from the presence of crying, not the absence of it. The song finally calms down with one final chorus taking it back to the level it started at, and it's just left hanging without any sort of a big finish.

RISE from the Burning Ashes is a unabashedly sentimental song where Hernandez delivers words of encouragement in a gentle falsetto. "The lights are blinding and your clock breaks," he sings, proving once more that no one can deliver a song with more emotion than Ryan Ross Hernandez.

Lyrics

"There are things we don't talk about
Rather live without
And keep that bright toothpaste smile.
We are young,
We fall in and out of love,
Both ashamed and proud of our history.
If sorrow is an art,
I should hold the jailer's key

So let the tears stream down your face and smear your make-up,
Death is the only thing in life we cannot escape.
Love is like a warm blanket, but it can wear and tear
Could it be worse?

The lights are blinding and your clock breaks,
She becomes my best friend.
I wanna love her,
Yet I don't know if I can.
I'm wise enough to know that something is broken
And I'll try to fix it
Trying to put the pieces,
Any way I can.

I'll paint you pictures,
That you're the queen of this city
As far as my bad vision sees.
I will be your savior
With all that's crumbling,
To steady your shaky hands.

The lights are blinding and your clock breaks
And we're as high as the Empire State
And I am trying to fix you.

And it's okay to cry
We've all lost something we ache to have back
Tears stream down on your face
And darlin'

You and me are diving into the deep in end
Together
You and me are jumping from the highest ledge
Together
You and me are driving off the cliff
Together
And singing

"Love it takes time, it takes time."

The lights are blinding and your clock breaks
And we're as high as the Empire State
And I am trying to fix you"

Personnel

Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, vocal harmony, guitars, piano, producer
David Ryan Harris - guitar, backing vocals
Chuck Wilson - Hammond organ
Sean Hartford - bass, backing vocals
Aaron Sterling - drums, backing vocals

Produced by Ryan Ross Hernandez
Engineered by Chad Franscoviak
Mixed by Ryan Ross Hernandez, Chad Franscoviak
Mastered by Ryan Ross Hernandez

"RISE from the Burning Ashes"
In-Depth Analysis

[Intro: 0:00 - 0:13]

A hushed electric organ is played with a slight reverb effect put into it in its post-production stage to add an even more haunting effect.

[First Verse: 0:14 - 0:44]

Joining in with the prominent organ sound is a building piano melody as the first verse is sung in Ryan's oh-so-famous falsetto vocal tone. He never tries too hard to hold a note, the notes sung in a way that transmits his feelings through a recorder be it if that feeling is one of pain, sadness, or just pure earnest. He strung out the final note for a few seconds, causing it to rise and fall every which way possible.

There are things we don't talk about
Rather live without
And keep that bright toothpaste smile.
We are young,
We fall in and out of love,
Both ashamed and proud of our history.
If sorrow is an art,
I should hold the jailer's key

[Second Verse: 0:47 - 1:16]

The organ sound continues in its most prominent sound yet with the piano fading out. Ryan continues to sing in the same falsetto, almost channeling Coldplay's Chris Martin in the final stanza, singing in what is likely the highest pitch we've heard from RRH as the organ finally begins to fade with it.

So let the tears stream down your face and smear your make-up,
Death is the only thing in life we cannot escape.
Love is like a warm blanket, but it can wear and tear
Could it be worse?

[Chorus One: 1:17 - 1:37]

Ryan beings to play the piano melody again. After a few seconds of bringing the piano back into play, when his vocals return, they pick-up where he left off. He now adds a reverb effect to his vocals, echoing back his every word to create an eerie atmosphere within the song.

The lights are blinding and your clock breaks,
She becomes my best friend.
I wanna love her,
Yet I don't know if I can.
I'm wise enough to know that something is broken
And I'll try to fix it
Trying to put the pieces,
Any way I can.

[Instrumentation: 1:38 - 1:52]

Smartly placed, likely thinking of the much needed breather he would need when singing this song live; a clean piano instrumentation is played for about fifteen seconds, with the organ making noise in the background.

[Third Verse: 1:53 - 2:20]

The acoustic guitar finally makes its way into the picture, making a gentle addition to the piano and electric organ, not overtaking or disrupting the key instruments. Ryan's vocals turn down the falsetto just slightly, singing most of the verse with a slightly deep voice, and intertwining them with high falsetto at the end of every line.

I'll paint you pictures,
That you're the queen of this city
As far as my bad vision sees.
I will be your savior
With all that's crumbling,
To steady your shaky hands.

[Chorus Two: 2:21 - 2:38]

The instrumentation is almost intact from the third verse, except for the fact that now the piano and acoustic guitar are the only instruments heard through the airwaves. Ryan sings the second chorus in a prominent clean, reverb-free voice. If you listen closely enough, you can even hear him take a deep-breath before opening his mouth wide to sing the last line.

The lights are blinding and your clock breaks
And we're as high as the Empire State
And I am trying to fix you.

[Breakdown: 2:39 - 3:51]

In what could be widely considered as the highlight of the song, its instrumental breakdown and all that follows it is what makes this song a true old-fashioned hair on the neck moment and moving ballad. All instruments heard prior to the bridge are gone, instantly making way for percussion as the drummer plays a barely audible cymbal as Ryan finally picks up an electric guitar and does what he knows how to do best; which is putting his heart into his guitar playing. It slowly builds up, with both the guitar playing and cymbal crashing gaining speed and power before exploding some twenty-five seconds in to create a powerful. The snare drum kicks for a second before the drums come in crashing down letting the brewing storm start pouring. Along with it comes a rhythm guitar which sounds that much more heavy than any rhythm guitar should, and a thumping bassline underneath it all. Of course over it all and what holds it together, is Ryan's soulful guitar solo adding a touch of a bluesy sound to the song, creating a very ear-friendly, melodic shower of sounds.

[Bridge: 3:52 - 4:46]

The bridge is continued with the exact powerful string of instruments, adding a jumpy piano melody beneath it. Ryan sings detracting his previous pretty-boy falsetto and just singing loud and with emotion. All members of his backing band are heard singing in the background to provide even more power to the song.

And it's okay to cry
We've all lost something we ache to have back
Tears stream down on your face
And darlin'

You and me are diving into the deep in end
Together
You and me are jumping from the highest ledge
Together
You and me are driving off the cliff
Together
And singing

"Love it takes time, it takes time."

[Chorus Two Repeat: 4:47 - 5:17]

In a blink of an eye, the set of powerful instrumentation is all but gone. Now it's just Ryan's voice and a gentle piano melody being played. He sings the chorus one last time in a tone matching the aching tone the piano creates. Without any theatrics, the vocals and piano finish in-sync. The song ends quietly.

The lights are blinding and your clock breaks
And we're as high as the Empire State
And I am trying to fix you