from the album Running Changes
Released: November 13th, 2011 (airplay)
Format: Digital download
Recorded: 2011
Genre: Alternative rock, piano rock
Length: 5:11
Label: Studio60 Records
Writer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez

"These Questions of Who We Are" is the second single from Ryan Ross Hernandez's fourth album, Running Changes. It is built around a piano ballad and falsetto vocals, with its lyrics telling the story about a man's desire to love a woman and an apology for his wrongdoing.

Background

Hernandez wrote the song after listening to George Harrison's "I'd Have You Anytime." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Hernandez revealed that while working on his fourth studio album, the central theme of the album changed when he wrote this song. One night, during a stay in London, Hernandez bought a piano to a small local studio. He wanted to work on a George Harrison esque song, who's All Things Must Pass album is one of his favorites, but he could not manage to do so. When the song came to Hernandez, he wrote the lyrics but did not record it until he was back in New York. He concluded by saying that he thought the song came to be a post-Britpop tribute song. The song borrows a few lines from Coldplay's hit-single "Yellow."

Composition

The song is a piano-driven ballad; the song also contains a constant piano riff. Ryan Ross Hernandez opens the song and is joined by his backing band after the first chorus. The song begins with a four-chord piano melody, with Hernandez singing. The track also includes a string arrangement, though not very audible. Towards the end of the song, an electric guitar played by Hernandez can be heard. The song follows a repeating Dm7/C, Bb/D, F/C, Fsus2/C chord pattern.

The lyrics to the song were rumored to have been written for Hernandez's girlfriend, GirlSpice's Nadia Berry, in response to the drama that surrounded the musician this past August with the rumored affair he had with country-pop star Ellie-Grace Summers. Hernandez has refused to speak on the matter, but when asked of what inspired the lyrics he said, "In one way it's just about girls. People may care for an awareness song or protest song one day, but love songs are forever. In another, it's apologizing to a girl who you've done wrong, in a very douchebag matter. I'll never understand what women see in me, but hey, here I am still getting laid," the artist joked.

Lyrics

I run to where you are, I run
I run to tell you I'm sorry
Open those eyes to tell you,
Tell you how bright you shine in my eyes
My body was aching to find you
I'm gonna need you more than you need me
Tell you how far apart you are from the rest
So let's stay up all night, and curl your neck on my shoulder
As we lay in silence of the aftershock

Oh, let's bury the hatchet
I'll be your open parachute
While we figure out who we are

'Cause when I searched for a place to rest my heart
You were there that night to wear it from the start
And just listen to every breath I take
It's saying "'cause you were all yellow"

I know you have questions
You want to find, the missing pieces I've kept from you
I was just frightened
For it would bring up, these questions of who we are
But my voice can't speak for what actions commit
I tell you I love you,
Please don't ask about what happened on the other side of the ocean
I can show you that this is who I really am

I can't be both the hero and the villain of the story,
The devil in my ear says, "you're in over your head"

'Cause when I searched for a place to rest my heart
You were there that night to wear it from the start
And just listen to every breath I take
It's saying "look at the stars, look how they shine for you"

Ooooohhhhhhh [x4]
I can't get enough of you
Yoooooooooou are [x4]