In many of his compositions of the late '50s and early '60s, Morton Feldman explored the notion of specifying the pitches to be played but leaving their durations in the hands of the performers. Such was the case with the Vertical Thoughts series of five compositions, scored for from one to eight instruments, which may be performed separately or as a set.

The structure of Vertical Thoughts 5, which lasts approximately five minutes, is marked off by a series of identical eight-note chords, each of which features the soprano singing one word from the text "Life is but a passing shadow." These recurring chords stand metaphorically as pillars; in between their appearances the percussion instruments, dominated by the timpani, rumble quietly and somberly. After the final chord on the word "shadow," there is something of a postlude for the percussion, with quiet triangle strokes at the very end, which serves as a coda for the composition and for the Vertical Thoughts cycle as a whole.

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