Story Behind The Song

I love dogs. I wrote this song when my dog Matty was sick and dying. I pulled on my youth in Omaha for the background. I included imagery about a dear friend of mine who suffered from depression. I wanted the song to touch on sadness but also to have a sense of joy.

Song Description

In this dreamlike song, the narrator touches on many subjects: home, the great midwest, a dog he loves and loses, the past, family, drinking, mental health. He comes back though, always, to his dog who he loves so deeply. There is a delicate balance of sadness and joy in the song. The song features acoustic guitar and piano along with one main vocal. It's played in the key of C.

Lyrics

That big messy moon really hurts
Picking night flowers ain't no cure
Oh moon oh moon rise elsewhere
Rise over the flat broad Missouri as it slows along Nebraska
Rise over the graveyards and the kids in the backyards
The empty houses, the occupied houses
The dog at the end of a chain who dreams she's running through fields
Rise over those fields
When a dog dies a dog just dies
She finds a quiet space and closes her eyes

Down by the pond all the flowers closed up shop
The moon shines on the tatters of my life's backdrop
Oh moon oh moon rise elsewhere
Out beyond the rings of Saturn spinning fast as some big old plane
Down at the airport with its carousels and blind man's canes
All the fake families, all the dispersed families
The dog waiting in a crate dreaming she's running through fields
Rise over those fields
When a dog dies a dog just dies
She finds a quiet space and just closes her eyes

I stole a bottle of the cheapest moon wine
And it spun me round like a daisy about a hundred thousand times
Oh moon oh moon rise elsewhere
Over these blue nurses who circle the hallways
Out to the end of the alphabet, Jupiter, the highway
She was all I had, all I ever needed
A dog on the end of my bed dreaming of running through fields
Rise over those fields
When a dog dies a dog just dies
She finds a quiet space and closes her eyes