Book 6: TIMEKEEPER’S SECRET

I can’t pin point it exactly to a specific moment, but I can tell you that I’ve been fascinated with time for a long, long time. Especially, parallel timelines. Blame it on the Loki TV show, Inception, The Matrix, or the good old simulation theory, but my mind is perpetually being blown every time I remember that there might be other Anjas out there. Typing this? Finishing this sentence with a period instead of a question mark? Sitting alone in a small apartment in Paris instead of standing at a kitchen counter in Northern California? You see? Mind. blown.

ANYWAYS -

I have a special note in my Notes app that is dedicated to new song ideas - some of these are as random as screenshots from TikTok (no, seriously haha), or aesthetically pleasing images from Pinterest. Others are more concrete, like whole song concepts or lyrics. And to properly showcase the depth and length of my fascination with quantum mechanics, I’ve had the specific idea of a Pop song about parallel timelines written at the top of this Notes app for years. Years!

Before we continue, here’s what that note in my Notes App currently looks like:

I kept trying to find a way to write about this, to capture the complex physics of parallel timelines in a song that would feel both interesting and relatable (I was also very determined to depict the concept in a way that is as scientifically accurate as possible).

So I had little sentences and ideas here and there, but nothing particularly tangible or even close to a complete idea. That was, until I started coming across a lot of TikToks and Pinterest photos about the urge to want to do everything at once: to get a Doctorate and live in England, be a freelance writer, be married and have kids, run a spiritual retreat in Thailand; all at the same tome. And I could relate on a deep level - I think that’s part of why I love film and theatre, and why I play Sims, and why I write music (random, but bear with me). It’s a form of escapism, of trying on a different life and character, living inside their world for a while. Getting a glimpse of a different kind of life, the excitement that comes with that temporarily novelty and exploration of the unknown.

As I was pondering this concept (the idea of doing multiple things and being many different people all at once) it finally hit me: that’s how I make my parallel timelines song relatable. Because maybe there are versions of me in parallel timelines that are already doing all of the things that I dream of doing in this life!

And just like that, a quantum mechanics song was born:

All of a sudden, the floodgates had opened and I had SO many ideas about potential parallel timelines I could describe! I thought of all of the wildest, most exciting things I could think og doing and wrote them into verses: working at a bookstore in New York! A poet in the Isle Of Sky! A painter in Florence! A ballerina in Paris!

There was one last challenge before me as I was writing (even though it has already been tackled by the time I recorded this demo at my piano) - I didn’t have a title for my song. Okay, reading this back, it sounds hilarious. But at the time, I was reaching ultimate levels of frustration and annoyance with myself for not being able to figure it out. I knew the chorus needed to end on that (yet unknown) title and I knew it needed to capture the idea of parallel timelines in an indirect, kind of a funky way.

Once again, Pinterest came to save me (thank you to whoever is tweaking their algorithm because it simply NEVER misses). Out of nowhere, an aesthetically pleasing book cover pops on my feed. Written over the cover in italic letters: “The Timekeeper’s Secret”. That was it, that was my magic formula: scrolling through Pinterest.

I was actually super surprised when I found this little voice memo of the song’s first bridge format - I honestly have no memory of ever writing this melody haha

However, I do remember thinking at that time that maybe simply listing potential parallel lives wasn’t going to cut it. I had to tackle the concept head on, somehow try to poetically capture the theory behind it. It quickly became clear that this would require a fast, lyrically-dense bridge. So gears were shifted:

Oh, and this was follower shortly after by a countermelody idea that I was going to use for background vocals in that section and layer over the main melody:

I’ve learned through a lot of trial and error over the last few years that my productions turn out the best when I hear the whole arrangement in my head. So I take long walks and long showers and produce in my head, “trying” out and auditioning different melodies and instruments and grooves and structures. Somehow, some way, it works. I wait until the song is produced in my head, then I dedicate a few days of nonstop work to translate those nebulous ideas into actual notes and sounds.

Since we were tackling the topic of parallel timelines, I wanted the production to reflect the idea of multiple lives colliding with each other - the chaos and beauty of this theory.

I decided to start the chorus with a simple piano hook - representing my current self (what I referred to as ‘baseline reality’):

The lyrics in this part of the chorus pose a question: “what if there’s someone out there that’s just like me"?”

The instrumental that follows feels like a musical response to that question. A suddenly messy, overwhelming, all-encompassing wall of sound that I tried to use as a representation of an infinite amount of timelines.

There’s this chaotic synth melody that I layered in a bunch of different instruments:

This super distorted synth pad that takes up so much space (in the best way possible):

And a strings melody to top it all off:

*side note: this was all happening in late August and early September of 2024, so here are some photos I found in my camera roll from that time that capture my state of mind quite well haha:

A few more days of listening to my demo and tinkering with the tracks (and A LOT of manually mapped crescendos) later, the song was ready to be sent out for some live instrument magic.

This is what the full final demo sounded like before mixing, final vocals + live instruments were added in (this was also the audio that I used when filming the music video for the song):

Victor added Indie Pop inspired acoustic guitar that ended up being one of the main instrumental drivers in the song:

Chris (thankfully!!) replaced my janky disco drums with much more refined Pop sounds:

As with other Bookstore songs, I’ve found myself visualizing the music video for the song while I was writing and producing it - I knew I simply must portray all of my potential parallel timelines! Between you and me, I also thought it would be super fun to dress up as different characters (so oops… I guess?).

I filmed the music video for the song in my backyard, with my mom and dad, on my iPhone. There were props, outfits and ribbons galore and my trusty film shot list to keep us on track:

In true independent artist fashion, I edited the video in Final Cut on my laptop and sent it out into the world (aka Youtube) a week later.

Look, I don’t know if parallel timelines exist. And frankly, I don’t think I want to know. I kind of love the rush that the mystery of it brings. The magical complexity of the world we get to inhabit and spend countless hours trying to decode. Consider this song as my official entry into the cipher.