Many years ago —so long ago that Frozen had not yet been released— I wrote this song. I have always been a huge Simon and Garfunkel fan, and I was very fortunate to meet Paul Simon in person. My friend Graham Hawthorne, who has played drums with everybody (Cyndi Lauper, Roberta Flack, etc.), was filling in for Steve Gadd on a tour, and I got to go backstage. I didn’t say anything, which I kind of regret. What can I say? I’m very shy.
I honestly don’t recall anything specific that inspired this song. Just the usual midlife melancholy. I suspect that this song (like so many that I write) was really written to me. It may have been several years into my adult life in Louisville, but the pain of my failed career never really left me. How do we get through our days when you have to carry that weight around with you everywhere? You just have to let it go.
The bridge borrows thematically from Jeffrey Skinner’s book, A Guide to Forgetting, and the poem of the same name. In the poem, he advises the reader to forget things little by little until we are forgetting people and places. It sounds horrible if you aren’t paying attention. But of course, you never forget the important people in your life.
This song has been a staple in The Fellow Travelers’ set for years. It was one of the first songs that I rehearsed with Tonya in my backyard. As with many of these songs, Tim Halcomb was the first to lay his track- upright bass- down. A former student of mine- Rita Mathis- sang the backups. They sounded great, but I had performed this song so many times with Tonya that I had to record her doing the same part as well. This was also the first song that I had Steve Sizemore play on. We hadn’t played together, but his daughter skated at the rink, so we began to talk music when I’d see him there.
Meredith Noel played viola on the track. I don’t think she plays anymore, but she was all over Lost and Found, and there’s an alternative universe where she still plays. I wasn’t sure that there would be any drums on this, but I tried a pass and it sounded good. I didn’t think it needed anything fancy, but Jordan Berger was in the studio recording some other tracks when I had him take a pass, and you can see what having a real drummer adds. Woody played some accordion, which he will now need to bring to every show (poor guy), and last (but not least) I had Danny add some guitar and backing vocals.