Originally written circa 2013 for Stories Don’t End, “As If By Design” was put off over and over again until 2016 when it found its place as the closing track on We’re All Gonna Die. A notable feature of this song is the staggering, swinging barrelhouse blues-jazz piano, in contrast to the straight 4/4 rhythm of the drum. This was accomplished by keys player Lee Pardini playing his part to a swing 16ths rhythm played through headphones, while drummer Griffin Goldsmith played the swingless beat heard on the album. The song is overall one of contrasts, being the only acoustic “classic Dawes” (although it is in no way “classic” Dawes) track on the album, having string and brass parts where previous songs had electric guitars and modified Wurlitzers.