The second single and opening track from So Much I Still Don’t See, the sparkling and introspective “Piles of Sand”, was the first song written for the album. The song was written in Nashville and is, like much of the album, written from a place of simplicity and observation. The unassuming opening lyric, “I’m standing in the sunlight in a public park in Tennessee/ and I know the soft earth below has always made room for me” sets up the song, which blossoms into a humble but strong meditation on the passing of time and the small moment in which each of our lives take place.

This song was written, again like many of the songs on So Much I Still Don’t See, in and about a moment. Walking down a riverside path in Nashville, next to the barbed wire of a prison, watching and feeling gravel being blasted for a high flying condo building across the street was a very inspiring moment. After walking further and seeing a huge pile of gravel soaring high across the street, the first chorus lyric was immediately written down as it appears in the song now: “I thought it was a mountain but it was just a pile of sand/ towering so high, a nine to five creation”. This line and rhythm was a springboard for the rest of the song, steeped in Stoicism, written that afternoon.

As the opening track to the album, the sounds of “Piles of Sand” are built around the stark simplicity of a man and his guitar, the perfect sound to kick off the album. Inspired by the James Taylor live album “One Man Band”, only sparse piano moments are included throughout the song, setting the stage for an album that showcases Robbins’ stunning guitar work and fresh, clear songwriting voice.