Unanswered

“Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the dignity and importance of the question.”
—Tennessee Williams

Indeed, life is an unanswered question. We walk through the path of life seeking answers to many questions—mundane ones, important ones, life-altering ones, philosophical ones and unanswerable ones. This song is about the last bit, and it’s open-ended.

Often, and as more evident in my more recent songs, I write about specific themes and events. “6:07” is about the Beirut explosion; “To Tame a Man” is about war; “Fragile Being” is about COVID-19 and the frailty of humans. These songs are very specific—they are my spontaneous reactions to particular events I’d experienced and felt the need to talk about.

“Unanswered” is a little different. The meaning and theme for it allows for more variation, depending on who’s listening. We all have unanswered questions, but your unanswered questions are different from mine, and those are different from everyone else’s.

Unlike my last EP, this song was written in advance before going into the studio. I didn’t have the full demo prepared, but the intro, verses, chorus and instrumental midsection—one of my favorites out of all musical pieces I’ve written—were demoed on my phone. I actually still have those demos; maybe I’ll share them post-release.

In the studio, I simply told my producer I wanted “Stranger Things” vibes, and from there we took it (so yes, hello “synthy” Greyfade).

I remember writing this song last year after returning from my vacation in Turkey. I took half a day to roam İstiklal Avenue by myself, to clear my head. After that, I wrote two songs. Filled with many unanswered questions, one of them ended up being this—obviously, the “clear my head” thing didn’t work.

This song is filled with many oxymorons—washing our sins with dirty water; breathing murky air; seeing the light in the scary dark… Basically, they’re about me walking on my path of life (an influence of my long walk in Istanbul), trying to find my answers and “the light at the end of the tunnel,” through obstacles and darkness.

Will you and I ever find the answers? Should we even find the answers? They say the beauty of life lies in its ambiguity. Once the answers to our very specific and very unique fundamental questions are found, life becomes boring and aimless, and thus ceases to be life.

I think these questions are better left “unanswered.”