I Was On The Moon

looking for a smooth landing spot
not for us but for those who'll get their shot
a tranquil sea is but meters away
and it looks like one day
they'll look up and say

I was on the moon
at the end of a tether
I was on the moon
not stirring in any weather
I was on that moon
hugged by silence so profound
I was on the moon
oh look at what I found!

their names are locked into history's vaults
filed at the top with the wheel and salt
oh how I long for that zero gravity
I just want to feel the kickoff setting me free

I was on the moon
kicked rocks as far as you can yell
I was on the moon
story's never old to tell
I was on that moon
easy as one, two, three
I was on the moon
and I want you to be

perfect site ahead, wouldn't you agree?
what's stopping us but what we cannot see?
it all checks out fine
then malfunctions do come on
maybe Buzz & Neil can get us
when all's said & done

I was on the moon
read Genesis from there
I was on the moon
cleansed of all my fear
I was on that moon
with the last of our air
I was on the moon
whistling for all to hear
if we were on the moon
at the end of a tether
would we find ourselves soon
not stirring in any weather?
if we were on that moon
hugged by silence so profound
would we find our way home
our feet back on the ground?

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/
Christopher Tyng (mellotrons, electric guitar
& drums)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)


Surrender

the fighters were broken
the lines had collapsed
the word that was spoken
a previously unspeakable act
lay down your arms, raise up your hands
"surrender!"
surrender at last

the order like wildfire
burned through the ranks
each new man that it touched
set on a new path
and now we could whisper
utter some thanks
and surrender
surrender at last

all we ever knew was glory and war
turns out the first one was only meant for us
if we left our bones on the battlefield
our faces back home frozen in frames of steel
next to the flames that never heal

strange feeling wounded
with a body that's whole
they made sure to close every cut
and to set every bone
but when I asked the healer
to please return me my soul
she said "hey, that's between you & your god
besides, we can't return something
that was never a loan"

all I ever knew was glory and war
turns out the first one was only meant for me
if I left my bones on the battlefield
my face back home frozen in a frame of steel
next to the flame that never heals

I was forged for war so I thought I was iron

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Ryan David Green (background vocals)/ Bear Erickson (electric guitars)/ Christopher Tyng (piano)/ Bill Flores (mandolin & button accordion)/ Quinn (drums & percussion)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)


Unfettered Untied

I was calling to tell you
that it’s been far too long
that is I was until I stopped to look down
there you were, calling me
I should have known
we started with all the stuff
one would expect of
two old friends who’d lost touch
but not lost love
it wasn’t you, it wasn’t me
as I remember

I’m trying harder than I did when I swore
that I couldn’t try harder if I wanted to more
I’m not a different man
but maybe less sure of what I know
“unfettered, untied”
that’s what I told you I was
had to act as if for longer than I planned but
I’m about as free as I’ll ever be now, love

feel that love inside
like the deepest well that never runs dry
you are part of me
even when you’re gone you set me free

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Bear Erickson (electric guitars)/ Christopher Tyng (keyboards)/ Quinn (drums & percussion)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)/ Jim Mooy (trumpet)/ Stephen Hughes (trombone)/ Michael Evans (tuba)


New Heart

hey hey mamma got a brand new heart
old one was a lemon
can't tell you how many times I took it apart
so much trouble it gave to me

but now it's zero to happy in no time at all
cuz now there ain't no time to worry about
buyer beware, well it all checks out
I got a brand new heart

like a born-again villain
I'm changing my tune
all will be happy
none of that gloom and doom
if you don't believe me
then let my deeds be my proof
and if you're not watching
I'll do 'em again if you want me to 

that pretty bow on the bone I threw to you
made you so happy
then I said
"would you have rathered it be two?"
well I know that that was wrong
and I know what would've been right
share the whole damn meal
bite after merciful bite and don't think twice

hey hey mamma got a brand new heart
old one was a lemon
can't tell you how many times I took it apart
got no troubles no more in need
now it's zero to happy in no time at all
cuz now there ain't no time to worry about
you said “buyer beware,”
well it all checks out
I got a brand new heart

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Alixandra Macmillan-Fiedel & Ryan David Green (background vocals)/ Bear Erickson (electric guitars)/ Quinn (drums & percussion)/ Christopher Tyng (keyboards & percussion)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)/ Jim Mooy (trumpet)/ Stephen Hughes (trombone)/ Michael Evans (tuba)


Falling Into You

looking in your eyes
I find to my surprise
a heart as hard as mine can weep
I think "it's easier alone"
then I hear my soul
crying out for the half it still needs

falling into you like I'm gone with no traces
all I want to do is keep falling
all through the ages oh
if I didn't know so
I'd say you were falling too

sitting on the sand
with the sun going down
our fingers finally find a chance to meet
a tiny little smile
is all the proof I see
that it isn't just an accident or me

I don't want to run away
I don't want to sleep
all of me is with you dear and I want to be

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Alixandra Macmillan-Fiedel (additional vocals)/ Bear Erickson (acoustic guitar)


Ride With Me 

you popped up my hood
took a look inside
now you got shotgun
but you could even take the wheel
as long as you're with me
on this fine fine ride
I trust you baby and that is for real
slide over here right by my side
let's cruise the open road
nothing to hide oh oh

ride with me to the end of the line
drive me baby 'til the end of time

doesn't really matter where we begin
we ride together to the road's very end
when darkness comes and hard rain falls
when the day is long
and the journey is so tough
or maybe baby
it's just that we gone and stalled
well we got each other and that is enough

ride with me to the end of the line
drive me baby 'til the end of time

with a wink I pull over to rest
we lie down and share life's very best ah
we see others race on by
I think "hey, what's the rush?"
I like this speed we got child
not too little and not too much
how lucky a man am I that you just agree?
I could be that poor guy
thumb out with no one but me
but that ain't the way it's supposed to be!

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Ryan McNair (harmonica)


Oh Darling

oh darling don't you go changing
cuz what you got is what I want
that's true today, true tomorrow
true from the moment that I felt that spark

over my beating heart I said “hello”
couldn't look too long and I backed out slow
asked my friends, I checked the signs
called my mother just to tell her
I just met my future wife

I can hear it there's the whole world singing
mixing melodies to find the harmony parts
when you sing with me it's magic
always was, right from the start

sang me a song with your headphones on
so I couldn't hear the music just you alone
closed your eyes and when you were done
said that was the gift
that you'd promised all along

under a redwood roof we bound our hands
then you were my woman and I your man
lit a candle and from that flame
everybody lit their own
cuz we were all the same

can’t you hear it
there's the whole world singing?
mixing melodies to find the harmony parts
when you sing with me it's magic
always was, right from the start

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Ryan David Green (resonator guitar, mandolin & background vocals)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)


Riverside

well my toes are pushing mud at the riverside
fishing pole standing guard
cranes flying on high
and the moss hangs low
like it don't on the other coast
and I can only guess
what's watching me from the reeds
like a ghost

well they'll tell you you lost your mind
that there ain't no reason, ain't no rhyme
but here's your living proof, I'm doing fine
down by the riverside

well I know
my bucket's got less fish than bait
that's not why I came here anyway
it's been years gone now
but I remember when I had some faith
and it's been hours gone
since I felt like I would hesitate

hey I found some skipping stones
they're flat and they're smooth on top
so I'll throw some now
more when I come back and we'll see
maybe they'll still be there for me

I consider most people to be like a Monet
blurry up close from far as clear as day
but show me the river or the tree
that ever wants it both ways
and I'll show you the person always at peace
always meaning what they say
there's crystal quiet for you to find
down by the riverside

they'll tell you you ain't got no time
to just stand still and hope you find
but one after one the answers float on by
down by the riverside

while I haven't had any crazy epiphanies
I may yet
in the meantime the air is free

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Bear Erickson (electric & resonator guitars)/ Bill Flores (banjo)/ Quinn (drums & percussion)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)/ Jim Mooy (trumpet)


Busted

fly stuck in the Jim Beam
hope it finds its own way
longer I look at it in its struggle
more it reminds me of me
hey, empathy is a human attribute
and so is knowing when it's best
to run or shoot
next I see an ocean of what I want
I'll run the other way
won't give in to the taunt

how the fraud gets busted
best you not ask me
I can never guess the endings
of a pulp novella on TV
here's a call to the fallen
the count is one at least
looking long and hard at
why it's we don't get the feast

"what chance against kismet?"
he said as he turned to her
she said "hey, that's a pretty good line
and it's one I never heard"
pull the shot through the ceiling
further out to see the whole of the earth
two specks trying to get it on
like it's for the whole universe
how you think you putting out the fire
with no water, no sand
nothing to slow the growing intensity
and power that's been waiting for a show?

best you just let it do its thing boy
there's a seed under the earth
you always wanted to see a phoenix
but you gotta let something die first!

how the fraud gets busted
depends on how you read the tea
everybody thinks they know it first
or have a feeling anyway
don't have a use for the sixth sense
can't even use the first three/ when it matters
doesn't matter to me

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Bear Erickson (electric guitars)/ Christopher Tyng (lap steel)/ Quinn (drums & percussion)/ P.J. Corstjens (bass)


Ain't No Sunshine

ain't no sunshine when she's gone
it's not warm when she's away
ain't no sunshine when she's gone
and she's always gone too long
anytime she goes away

wonder this time where she's gone
wonder if she's gone to  stay
ain't no sunshine when she's gone
this house just ain't no home
anytime she goes away

well I know
you gotta leave the young thing alone

ain't no sunshine when she's gone
only darkness everyday
ain't no sunshine when she's gone
this house just ain't no home
anytime she goes away

well my heart it weighs one ton
cuz there ain't no sunshine
when she don't come around
feel like a suckah just lying here waiting
for dis streggeh gial
to come down from the air
only dark, cold, and stark
when she's gone gone gone gone away
anytime she goes away

Owen Plant (vocals & acoustic guitar)/ Bear Erickson (electric guitars)/ Christopher Tyng (synthesizers, wave drum & vocoder)




Album Credits

Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Christopher Tyng at Star Hill Studios, Santa Barbara, CA
Assistant Engineer Ky Takikawa  
Additional Recording  of “Ride With Me” produced by Vic Riden & Lucio Rubino, recorded by Lucio Rubino at The Fish Tank, St.Augustine, FL, mixed by Christopher Tyng at Star Hill Studios, Santa Barbara, CA
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME 
Executive Producer Vic Riden 
Producers William Plant , Mac Burnhardt & Casey Lavin  

Original Artwork by ED Hose 
Graphic Design by Cameron Hood at Lovely Line Design, Tucson, AZ 
Studio Photo by Vic Riden

All Songs Written by Owen Plant (Owen Plant Music/ BMI) except "I Was On The Moon" by Owen Plant and Christopher Tyng (Owen Plant Music/ BMI/ Christopher Tyng Music/ SESAC) , “Ride With Me” by Owen Plant and Vic Riden (Owen Plant Music/ BMI), and "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers (Songs of Universal, Inc/ BMI)




Thank You

Christopher Tyng for shepherding these songs from demo to vinyl. I can't express how happy I am with our creative partnership over the last 8 years and how it culminated in this project. Vic Riden for making this all possible, and for believing in me and these songs even when I didn't. Tamar Plant for being my rock and soft pillow, my outside perspective when I get stuck in my echo chamber. To my amazing, supportive family: Owen, Darlene, Anna-Lisa, Stephen, Henry, Lorell & Daniel for all the love and generosity. 

My angels for giving of your time, wallets & Rolodexes. Archangels: William Plant, Mac & Robyn Burnhardt, Casey & Monica Lavin, Stan Conway & Leslie Meshad, Scott & Karen Brown & the Brown family. Angels: Ellen Dunn & the Dunn family, John & Kelly Shuda, Chet Riley & the town of Kingsburg, CA, Owen & Darlene Plant & community, Alex Gregory & Cathy Paretti Gregory, Patricia Ploeger & Omcore Yoga.

Rick Riess & Carrie Chanell for being true champions of art. I couldn't have focused on mine as intensely for the last two years without you. Sea Island for inviting me in and allowing me to do my thing. I am very grateful to Scott Stilen and the many other managers, staff, members & guests at the resort. This was in many ways a Sea Island Production! Fes Aswat for demo feedback and reminding me what my real motivation is here. Owen C for catching the little things. Pace Conner for all your help, talent & encouragement. Saint Simons Island for writing these songs with me. Santa Ynez Valley for inspiring me so. ED Hose for this killer killer artwork! Cameron Hood for designing my albums and for all the honest feedback about music and life. Ryan David Green for your musical voice and sympathetic ear. Matt Colvin for all the time behind the camera and computer! Bear Erickson for the brilliant care you always bring. Frank Mitchell and the whole St. Simons Bank & Trust family for investing in my music and helping me be a grown up. Wake Up Coffee for having such a warm and amazing staff, environment & almond milk latte. 

And Lulu for being Lulu. Even when you're a bad dog, you're a good dog.