By Michael Guy Bowman bowman Bandcamp YouTube YouTube mguybowman Twitter michaelguybowman.com Other mguybowman Instagram ← Revered Return Previous track by this artist → Old Buggy Now Next track by this artist.
Cover art by Victoria Grace Elliott on-friday-afternoon Tumblr → Busting Makes Me Feel Good Next track art by this artist.
Released 10/25/2011.
Duration: 3:23.

Listen on Bandcamp or YouTube.

Read artist commentary.

General contributors:

• Thomas Ferkol eidolonorpheus Bandcamp eidolonorpheus SoundCloud EidolonOrpheus Twitter ← Terraform Previous general contribution by this artist → Come With Me Next general contribution by this artist (electric guitar)
• David Ko chinese_viking SoundCloud chineseviking.com Other (backup vocals)

Tracks that How Do I Live (D8 Night Version) references:

• How Do I Live by Con Air and Diane Warren

Lyrics:

How do I
Get through one night without you?
If I had to live without you
What kind of life would that be?
Oh, and I
I need you in my arms, need you to hold
You're my world, my heart, my soul
If you ever leave
Baby that would take away everything good in my life

Without you
There'd be no sun in my sky
There'd be no love in my life
There'd be no world left for me
Oh, and I
Baby I don't know what I would do
I'd be lost if I lost you
If you ever leave
Baby that would take away everything that's real in my life

And tell me now
How do I live without you?
I want to know
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go
How do I ever, ever survive?

And tell me now
How do I live without you?
I want to know
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go
How will I ever, ever survive?

Artist commentary:

Michael Guy Bowman: (composer)

So, like it or not, my signature song seems to be the country ballad made famous by a movie about how Nicolas Cage and John Cusack screw up absolutely everything and destroy the Las Vegas strip. Hence, for Volume 8, I decided to do a more serious version of "How Do I Live" that doesn't mortify me entirely.

I always had thought of "How Do I Live" as a breakup song, so as an anthem of dependency between generic 90's lovers I was underwhelmed. However, in Con Air it's meant to be the love theme of a woman whose husband serves in the military, giving the song a very different meaning. The stakes are not whether the singer's lover will stay or leave but whether they will live or die, a thought that is instantly more resonant for anyone who has been in love I think.

The trick to this one for me was cutting out all the bullshit really - the ridiculous key change is removed and the drums are minimal to the extent of sounding like a funeral march. Rather than starting off with chipper little electric organs and keyboards, this version takes a cue from "Purple Rain" and uses only electric guitar and vocals for the first minute. The vocals start off sounding a million miles away and are subtly brought closer and closer until the other instruments join in on the second verse.

I added a new bridge section in so that Thomas Ferkol could have a chance to play some real guitar in this one, and of course he showed his colors as a metal guitarist, sending me a duet between harmonized voices. David Ko also appears on this track as the gently-spoken backup vocalist.

Michael Guy Bowman: (composer, Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music, adapted to text) 7/20/2024

The D8 Night version of How Do I Live, that was like a more serious attempt with it. I played with the key change a little bit, because I always thought that like, the massive key change on the choruses was like, really corny. So I, I got rid of that, and I added guitar from Thomas Ferkol on that one. The result, I think, is much spacier, much more serious.