Calling The Moon: A Song For My Daughters
It’s been a long time since the intimacy of winter, when I stayed up late with the elderchild to stand on the bright, crisp snow and point her Christmas telescope at the moon. A long time, really, since either of us were together much at all.
These days, my world is a whirlwind. I’m overcommitted, and constantly on the move. If I’ve been absent from these pages too long, it’s because I wasn’t home to write. May is generally a busy time for teachers, but this year there’s just too much on my plate to be here.
And then the kids went away down south for a week’s vacation with their mother. And I found myself telling people that it didn’t really matter; I’m not around much anyway, what with board meetings and play rehearsals, and the daily grind of work keeping me out and about.
And it was true, but that didn’t make it okay.
I’ve been working too hard, and coming home alone to an empty house all week; by the middle of it all, three straight days of rain, strong winds and a chill in the air had me feeling like the world was echoing my heart. And then, last night, on a long tired drive back from Boston, the clouds broke, and the full moon came through. And although I knew they were sleeping far away, the thought came unbidden – of my children, in the warm Tennessee night, looking up and missing me, too.
Come home soon, my angels. Follow the moon, and let it be the bond between us.
And I will meet you here, to sing you to sleep, and hold you close in the moonlight.
- Mae Robertson: I See The Moon (trad.)
- Richard Shindell: Calling The Moon (orig. Dar Williams)
- Peter Mulvey: The Whole Of The Moon (orig. The Waterboys)
- Be Good Tanyas: Midnight Moonlight (orig. Peter Rowan)
- Fulton Lights: I Wish I Was The Moon (orig. Nico Case)
- Josh Radin: Fly Me To The Moon (orig. Kaye Ballard)
- Doozy: Get Out And Get Under The Moon (orig. Helen Kane)
- Laura Cantrell: Cowboy On The Moon (orig. Lambchop)
- Shawn Colvin: I Don’t Want To Live On The Moon (orig. Sesame Street)
- Mary Black: The Moon and St. Christopher (orig. Mary Chapin Carpenter)
- Kallet, Epstein, Cicone: When The Moon Shines In The Evening (orig. Stan Scott)
Category: Mixtapes 5 comments »
May 26th, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Greetings. I have not yet played the songs, but I note that the last song (When the Moon Shines in the Evening) is credited on the download to John Renbourn and seems to be the same size with the same running time as The Moon Shines Bright. Maybe a coincidence but I thought I ought to mention it. As always, thanks for sharing your wealth of music and knowledge.
May 26th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
I’m smiling the smile of a father of two boys in their mid-teens who of late has been lamenting the years that have gone by so quickly, their respective childhoods steadily receding in the rear view mirror, all of it seeming so damn ephemeral.
*Cues Harry’s Cat’s in the Cradle*
May 26th, 2013 at 9:43 pm
Fixed, Joe – thanks!
May 28th, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Love this list. Some other possibilities, but not all necessary for children:
Patty Griffin or Josh Ritter: Moon River (Andy Williams)
Redbird: Moonglow (Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday)
Ron Sexsmith: Moonlight Becomes You (Bing Crosby)
Greg Brown: Moondance (Van Morrison)
Thea Gilmore: Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Emmylou Harris: Moon Song (Patty Griffin)
May 31st, 2013 at 6:59 am
The Shindell via Dar is spine-tinglingly gorgeous. Thanks for sharing! Scott