Tonight I re-did the vocals on Marmalade Moonlight (they’d had noise on the track the first time). It’s a fun song, based upon events that one sometimes stumbles into: a bacchanal gathering in an enchanted wood. People are partying and staying up all night long. Costumed strangers appear from nowhere in the darkness, only visible by little glow sticks in their hands…groups gather around campfires, voices call to you from the shadows, music floats on the air, and a surreal atmosphere pervades until sunrise.
When I was still living in the San Francisco Bay area, I drove up with some friends to Oregon and visited the Oregon Country Fair; this song is loosely based upon the essence of that visit.
It’s held each year in a beautiful wooded setting. It’s not at all like the Whole Life Expo, or a County Fair, and it’s not like a Renaissance Faire – it’s far more funky, with drum circles, body painting, as well as giant puppet people on stilts. Very much a hippie affair: you can go in costume or nearly nude if you want, and nobody cares.
But the real trip is at night, after the tourists have gone home. Either inside the actual faire, or at the various campsites set up all around it, the entire place is transformed into an enchanted place where anything is possible.
In discussing the recording, there was some musical debate about making the song heavier, and even changing the title and chorus…but in the end it stayed as it was written. To heavy it up would have changed it’s vibe too much. It’s supposed to be a little playful, just like the faire. When Brian first played it, I was transported to that experience simply by the sound of the music, so it seems right that we kept it as it was. I’m liking the way it came out.
Here’s the beginning:
“Maybe we were looking for something
Maybe we just followed the sound
Maybe we just slipped behind a moonbeam
Someone’s saying, ‘come on in and take a look around’
Look around
Never knew that day could ever feel so right
Till that night we danced in Marmalade Moonlight…”
We’ve added some fun sound layers to this one…once it’s mixed we’ll post it. Meanwhile, this weekend we’re in the studio to do the other three (see earlier posting). So very soon, songs will be available. Brian’s finished some video editing too, and as soon as he’s happy with the final product, they’ll be posted too…
This is one of my favorite of your new ones. Thanks for posting the story and lyrics so we cansing along. When will the recording be available?