Moon in the Water

Listen while you read: Moon in the Water

When the wind is with me
But somehow out of sight
Not knowing where it comes from
Or where it goes

That's the way your memory
Shapes the middle of my night
Since the last time I saw you
And the words you chose

When I said, "This must be what love is like
I saw it in a dream"
You looked into my eyes and said
"You don't know what you mean
'Cause love is for the fisherman
Who cast his nets too far upstream
Fishing for the moon in the water"

~  Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes)

Yesterday was the full moon, the "strawberry moon," but it was also my daughter's birthday (obviously more important), so here's my tribute to the full moon, a day late. If I wasn't such a perfectionist, I would not have had to explain/apologize for this. The moon made me do it.

I love Dawes. I love Taylor Goldsmith's talent for song-writing. (Except maybe for that "when the tequila runs out we'll be drinking champagne" song, which was a big disappointment.) This song, other than just being so damn pretty, plays with language in a way that appeals to me. Yes, I love metaphor. He follows it through the rest of the song, so by all means, google the lyrics (or just listen) to get the full beauty of the song. It appears on 2011's Nothing Is Wrong. I read an insightful interview in Songwriters on Process with Taylor on his songwriting habits, which you can read here if you want.

So what does it mean to fish for the moon in the water? Seems pretty obvious: reaching for the unattainable. I think in most cases, it's happiness that we are trying to "catch." Many of us do this by acquiring possessions. While many of our possessions are necessary, I would argue that we certainly don't need all the shit we own. So why do we keep buying it? Because maybe it will make us happy? Fishing for the moon in the water.

But Taylor suggests that perhaps the metaphor is our search for love. Love is for the fighter born to lose but never quit / Swinging for the moon in the water. Our hearts get broken, more often than we'd like, it seems. We try to allow the requisite amount of time for them to heal, and then we go looking for love again. And sometimes we find it.

"Everyone should believe in something. I believe I'll go fishing." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Catch the moon!