I had a great loft room for a couple of years from 2006, and the moon would pass directly overhead (it tends to do that). As would police helicopters actually, often while I was in the bath, but that's another story for another album.
At that time I was spending a few late nights writing songs, and I would watch the moon bobbing along, trying to get inspiration. Perhaps not surprisingly, this song grew very organically out of that.
In a way, it sounds as though it might be lyrically quite dark, but it's actually supposed to be quite hopeful - the narrator is sorry to have seen you go, but (s)he knows you'll be fine, wherever you've ended up. It was supposed to be a bit of a counterpoint to Wherever You Are Now, our single from a couple of years earlier, which had a slightly bitter edge to the lyrics.
Random fact fans might like to know that the rhythm is based on All Good Things by Nelly Furtado.
The lyrics:
Where is my silver moon?
In shadow since I last saw you
I cast off every hour
And push to find some other power
As crystal raindrops fall
I can’t help but recall
I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
Up upon that distant moon
Where is my silver moon?
If only I’d not left so soon
Just think what could have been
Another day, another me
If only I’d done more
Than sit back and ignore
I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
Up upon that distant moon
Will wonders never cease?
Beyond the daybreak’s reach
I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
Up upon that distant moon
I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
I become that distant moon
(R. Martin / S. Martin)
There was also a rap, which never entirely worked, but would have had the following lyrics:
Well I know you’re out there somewhere in the shadows of the past
And I hope that you’re happy knowing it would never last
We talk about the distance when we’re travelling so fast
And somewhere in the future we go far beyond the stars
I look out from my window on a world that seems so blue
And look back on the moments when we sat there me and you
Emotions run like rivers taking me to somewhere new
And I become a watcher up upon that distant moon
(R. Martin / S. Martin)
