Let’s Shoot the Moon

In stark contrast to the chaos swirling around me the previous day, this song was written in one of the most devastating silences imaginable: an empty house that’s empty because of a death.

If you’ve had the sad occasion to be involved in the immediate aftermath of the death of a loved one, you know that it’s filled, perhaps mercifully, with an amazing amount of work to be done. Funeral arrangements, obituaries, family decisions and the diplomacy that has to accompany them, the phone ringing non-stop, telling the same story to a million friends and strangers, all with raw emotions and an odd mixture of sleepless exhaustion and guilt-tinged relief.

  1. Let's Shoot the Moon Ray Toler 4:41

But on this day, the family went off to do most of those things where they needed to be done and I was able to sit by myself for a few hours – a needed respite. I spent about an hour outside looking at an empty cornfield and watching the birds going about their day. I wrote what some might call poetry, but I don’t think it’s worthy of that… it was just thoughts put to paper.

And as those thoughts continued to ramble and I reflected on the previous 25 years of being part of this family, and wondered how things would change in the days and months to come, I thought about all of the family stories that I’d heard. The honeymoon by the sea. The road trips in the Beetle. The vacations, the domino games, that Vegas jackpot. Every family has these stories, all of them different, yet all of them the same.

I went inside, back to my card table studio with just the barest dust-speck of an idea, and about three hours later had finished this song except for the vocals. Since I knew I wouldn’t be doing vocals (there was no way I could sing these lyrics on that day), I spent most of my time getting either the performances or the arrangement correct, going back, rebalancing things, changing a part here and there, adding a sound, removing a sound, and so on. It was as much work to keep myself busy as anything.

Over the next few days, I found myself opening up the project and just listening to it or playing along with it. I didn’t add anything, but it was comforting. I was also singing the lyrics in my head, but didn’t want anyone else to hear what I’d written. I’m not sure if that was because I wasn’t sure about it or because I didn’t want to upset anyone further.

We stayed in Texas for another few weeks before having to leave, sadly to attend another funeral in California. After an emotionally grueling month, we rolled into the driveway on the evening of February 28th. I hadn’t wanted to write anything since writing this song on the 2nd.

Since 2020 was a leap year, I had one day left. On the 29th, rather than write something else, I opted to record the vocals and replace the drum loop with a more dedicated drum arrangement. There are a couple of things in the background vocals that I think I’ll eventually change along with some other minor tweaks. The main mistake, if you can call it that, is that it’s just a bit too low for me. When I was singing this softly to myself, it was fine, but when trying to do a full-on performance of it, those lowest notes sounded strained. They’re well within my range, so maybe it was just being out of practice. I have a feeling, though, that taking it up a full step may correct a variety of issues.

Whether this song is good or not isn’t something I’ve really thought much about – it’s a special song, and it has special meaning. I do think that it stands up pretty well from a craft point of view – the narrative is complete, it rises and falls emotionally, and I think it has a nice climax and denouement.

To end on a completely trivial note, the artwork I had planned for my 2020 Song-A-Day work was obviously no longer appropriate. The artwork you see consists of an amazing cloud pattern I saw from the backyard and a statue from the cemetery.

Lyrics

Anne and Joe are in the car
Driving to the sea
Life spread out in front of them
So much they will be

Watching birds and clouds and waves
Making all their plans
Endless strings of future days
Stretch across the sand 

Anne says to Joe, Look up in the sky
That's a place that we could go, a place that we could fly
But I'm content to hold you here in my arms on the dunes
We'll keep each other safe from harm
Make love in the afternoons
And we'll build a giant balloon 

Let's shoot the moon! 

Anne and Joe are on the road
Driving 'cross the land
Girls and oranges in the back
Future firm in hand

Summer breezes, winter snows
Miles and miles behind
Miles further yet to go
Destination undefined

Anne says to Joe, look up in the sky
That's the place we thought to go, a place that we would fly
But I'm content to travel the highways with you
Let's park the car and look for stars
It's gonna be night time soon
We're building our giant balloon

Let's shoot the moon! 

Flowers swaying in the grass
Branches in the wind
A million heartbeats now have passed
He looks at her and grins

Joe says to Anne, look up in the sky
That's the place I'll wait for you, the place that we will fly
And every night you'll know that I'm still watching over you
Travel on until the dawn
Do things that you want to do

But don't be in a hurry, love, there's still plenty of time
I have to say, it's a beautiful day
I feel I can finally fly

I'm your midnight and you're my noon
You're my dish and I'm your spoon
And we built an amazing balloon

We shot the moon!


Copyright © Ray E. Toler, Jr. All rights reserved.

Colophon

  • Drums: Roland Integra-7
  • Percussion: Stylus RMX
  • Bass: Trilian
  • All other instruments: Omnisphere
  • Effects: Nectar 3, Neutron 3, Valhalla Plate, Valhalla VintageVerb
  • Mastering: Ozone 9

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