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Moonfall On the Dunes

from Songs From the Crux by Walter Ehresman

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Click here for the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPPp3sx2ud0

This song may come as a surprise to Ehresman fans, but it really shouldn't . A listen to "Echo Down the Years" from 2010's Let's Look At Your Track Record, Shall We......? album shows the artist sticking his toes in the water of jazz ballads and The Great American Songbook style of songwriting. With a long gestation period, this piece was finally birthed in the first Ehresman songwriting collaboration he has released since the final Snipe Hunt band album back in 2002.

Ehresman picks up the story: "This is a new songwriting collaboration with my good friend (and monster musician) Mike Duncan, previously of Nashville and now living down here where I do in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico."

"About 15 years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with the lyrics and parts of the melody to this song. I forced myself to get up, write down the words as well as some notes about the overall feel of the song, and to plink down those melodies on piano into the sequencer. The next morning, I realized that I would need to collaborate with someone who had a serious knowledge of jazz and the Great American Songbook to fully realize how I was hearing the song in my head. .So, many years go by, but I always had it in the back of my mind to look for the right person to work with to finish out "Moonfall On the Dunes," and Mike sure turned out to be that guy. He is a consummate jazz player and singer (and seems to be able to excel in any genre), as well as a knowledgeable fan of the Great American Songbook. I feel very fortunate that he wanted to work on this project with me during the spring COVID lockdown."

"I picture this as a torch song in the soundtrack to a '30s black-and-white movie, set at an archeological dig in Egypt where a romance is reaching its end (used earlier in the film, before the mummy rises and starts killing the extras)."

"To hear a version of this song with Mike taking the lead vocal and lead guitar, check out his Soundcloud page (and hopefully soon it will appear here on BandCamp as well)."

We can only hope that they pursue future songwriting together, because this song is a pure delight, featuring Ehresman's sterling lyrics nestled within a sumptuous bed of jazz rhythm guitar and bass from Duncan that takes the kernels of Ehresman's melodies and turns them into something wonderful and timeless. Ehresman's gorgeous orchestration parts are just the cherry on top, and the whole song is a beautiful, bittersweet way to ease out of an album that deals with heavy things from a heavy, heavy year.

lyrics

Moonfall On the Dunes
(© 2020 lyrics—Walter Ehresman; music--Mike Duncan/Walter Ehresman)

At the site, I saw you walking in that certain way you do;
Your green eyes flush with purpose as you called the day’s work through;
The workers packed their camels, with a quicker step to home;
But me, I’m going nowhere, in the Valley of the Throne.

On this night, smattering of relics in the air;
Brush the years away in academic rooms.
We talked, but never found that easy pattern that we knew;
We crept through silent passageways—deciphered ancient views;

We walked out on the desert—saw the moonfall on the dunes;
Remembering distant pleasures, humming bits of wistful tunes;
Your hand, it brushed my shoulder—but I took no comfort there;
Jackals chased the moonbeams as they spilled across your hair.

In New York, your eyes, they sparkled just for me;
We danced alone ‘cross all those crowded rooms;
--but now I shuffle through these tombs, and wonder why
I can’t forget the moonfall on the dunes.
--One glance
--Put paid to chance
--An end that caught me unaware.

Now we work alone together, beneath the soulless sun;
That magic feeling over—our special union done;
My heart yearns for the city—lose myself in careless times;
A different moon to rise at night, no pyramids to climb.
Yes, my heart yearns for the city—lose myself in careless times;
But I can’t forget the moonfall on the dunes;
I can’t forget the moonfall on the dunes.

credits

from Songs From the Crux, released April 1, 2021
Walter Ehresman: vocals, lead guitar, keyboards. Mike Duncan: rhythm guitar, 4-string fretless acoustic/electric bass.

Snipe Bog Records.
p. 2021 Walter Ehresman/MIke Duncan

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Walter Ehresman San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. ... more

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