Story Behind The Song

I had warm tears streaming down my face when I wrote this song, and it's taken a lot of practice to be able to perform it dry-eyed. Writing it was a way of dealing with the distance I'd put between myself and my mother by getting married and moving to England. Although the song is intensely personal, this situation--being oceans away from one's family--is one that many can relate to in this global age.

Song Description

In an era of globalization, of high-speed travel and electcronic ommunication, relationships take on new shape. At the same time that people find new ways to leave home far behind, they also find ways to be with the ones they love, despite distance. This is a song about how new technologies convey old emotions, and how they become mechanisms for developing new senses of longing and belonging.

Lyrics

Your quiet voice from the living room soars through the night, kissing satellites. You?re in my ear, you sound crystal clear, I?m so glad you?re here?tell me something, anything. The neighbors moved. The dogwood bloomed. There?s not much news. Goodbye, my love. (I miss you.) Years ago, my great grandmother spent twenty days sailing for America. Now a single word circumscribes the world?we?re so far and yet so close and yet so far?and yet you?re in my ear. I?m so glad you?re here. There?s not much news. Goodbye, my love. (I miss you.) I can see you now, talking on the phone where I used to kiss you goodnight, each night. Now you?re in my ear. You sound crystal clear. I?m so glad to hear your voice. We had the piano tuned. We repainted your room. There?s not much news, but oh?.