Reggie Ashley | A Year of Songs

Forget About the Moon

Gotchya.

No… not dead yet.

Although regular readers may be forgiven for expecting that the next writing filling this space after some weeks of my absence might well be a tearful eulogy from a grieving friend or loved one who’d somehow managed to crack my passwords.

But… nah.

I’m still breathing and walking around.

In fact, while I was otherwise occupied I did something I hadn’t done in nearly three decades: I let someone else record me in their studio. I was, as they say, dumb talent.

<a href="http://tkmajor.bandcamp.com/album/gone-is-gone">Gone Is Gone by TK Major</a>

previous versions
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Friday, August 31, 2007

And it was fun.

My buddy, Reggie Ashley, himself a working musician, has a nice little studio, nothing crazy, but, with a recording booth large enough for drums, I felt pretty special… certainly a far cry from the corner of my living room I’ve dedicated to recording. (Of course, before I moved down here to the beach, I had my own, somewhat more elaborate recording space; but it still wasn’t quite as slick as Reggie’s nicely appointed little studio.)

Reg has some nice mics and some good gear but the real difference between a session working under him and doing my own recording was discipline.

As long time readers may suspect, discipline is something I’ve long eschewed in my own creative efforts. That’s for pros, eh?

But when in Rome… and Reggie is clearly a pro, so I tried to go with the flow. And, by and large, I think it worked out.

The best part of this, though, I think, is the very cool triangle and tambourine thing Reggie came up with that underlies the song. He got this little afro-beat thing going on the triangle, and just a tap on the tambo to end the triangle phrase. It’s pretty cool… He also did a tasty little mandolin part, a Nashville-tuned guitar part in the refrains, and supplied a bass drum punctuating the whole business.

All I had to do was play a little guitar, do a little singing, and sit in the booth and look pretty.

<a href="http://tkmajor.bandcamp.com/album/gone-is-gone">Gone Is Gone by TK Major</a>

previous versions
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Friday, August 31, 2007

lyrics
Forget About the Moon

Forget About the Moon, Forget About the Stars

When he woke up on Easter morning she was lying next to him, on her side, her angled arm propping her head as she must have been watching him sleep.

She leaned over and kissed him, over and over, across his face until he pushed her away. She laughed, jumped up and ran out into the living room in her t-shirt and panties.

When she came back she was cradling something in her hands… a wicker basket with green cellulose strips coming out over the edges and a small collection of Easter eggs, chocolates, and a few whimsical toys — including a small, palm-sized rubber duck wearing a sailor hat. It wheezed asthmatically when he squeezed it.

It was too much.

She’d been laying this tender trap for a while now, he knew, and he’d been watching it with a certain detachment.

But now he could feel himself falling, helplessly.

And it was OK. It was good. He allowed himself to be enveloped by her warmth.

She kneeled by him on the bed, her skinny arms sticking out of her t-shirt, her hands on her bare knees, watching him. He looked in her eyes for a long time and then pulled her down toward him, holding her for a long, long time before he let his hungry mouth find hers.

That was Sunday. On Friday afternoon she called from work. They hadn’t been planning on getting together that night, but she asked if she could see him. She knew he was going to see a band he’d been working with later that night, but she said she needed to see him for a little while, anyway.

As she walked in, he knew something was wrong.

Her eyes only met his for brief moments and she walked around the room anxiously before she finally sat down. He sat across from her, at an angle, a few feet away.

She was silent for a very long time. He could see she was crying.

Finally she blurted, “I’m so confused…”

And all he could think, deep down, as the darkness started spreading through him, all he could think was… You’re so confused? You’re confused?

Over her shoulder, sitting on the corner of his desk, he could see the little rubber duck, its sailor cap jauntily to one side — as it always would be…

Forget About the Moon

official version – produced by Reggie Ashley
<a href="http://tkmajor.bandcamp.com/album/gone-is-gone">Gone Is Gone by TK Major</a>

other versions

[songwriter demo w/ backing instruments]