New Moon was written in about as much time as it takes to sing it. It was early January and we were still living near the water in Huntington, NY. I wrote the song in a tiny kitchen in our little home shortly after we lost heat. With no fireplace the only thing we could do was wait and hope the repairman wasn't too busy. I picked up the guitar and started playing the simple intro (which ultimately became the entire song) and the words came out as fast as I could write them down. When we recorded it in Nashville it was (producer) Bob Johnston's idea to emphasize chosen phrases with harmony vocals. I can still see the singers standing in a circle in the studio with Bob in the middle directing traffic...When we cut the "new" version we kept the vocal arrangements as close to the original as possible.
Lyrics
New Moon
There’s a new moon rising before your eyes
Gone with the fears and the alibis
Yesterday’s drying on the canvas, yes
Where tomorrow’s going is anyone’s guess
The snow’s falling and the heat don’t work
I thought I was passed acting like some kind of jerk
But I’m sitting here freezing drinking this wine
Wishing on music and lyrical rhymes
Outside there’s people crawling the streets
Each with a plan, each with a vision, each with a dream
Clinging to survival just to survive
It’s so easy sometimes to forget you’re alive
Now the puppets they dance in the crib of a child
While the world’s in a cage and promise runs wild
Where hope swallows fear and light smothers black
And everyone’s sailing with the wind at their back
I’ve been trying to reach it but I ain’t got there yet
And all the things that I know I sometimes forget
So it’s back at the start, more lines in my skin
I keep asking myself where to begin
So Heaven help me if I ever get it right
The trumpets will blow and I’ll reclaim my sight
You’ll be sure to know me with the smile on my face
Out of my head like the whole human race
There’s a new moon rising before your eyes
Gone with the fears and the alibis
Yesterday’s drying on the canvas, yes
Where tomorrow’s going is anyone’s guess