Ride the wind, oh, on this day in the sun.
I'll have my way in the sun, on this day in the sun.
I got wings made of light.
I got a heart ready for flight.
Got two arms that don't tire.
Got a mind set on fire.
Two eyes bigger than a TV screen.
I'm gonna ride those sunbeams,
ride those sunbeams to you today.
Cuz this is my day, yes it is.
I'm gonna rise into the sky
Like a soul that just won't die,
like a spirit beyond pain
I'm gonna reach into that sweet, sweet flame
and pick me a sweeter bouquet of sunrays.
And fly back home to you...
Like Icarus.
Did he make it? Did he have a plan?
Did his arms hold? Did he find land?
The shoreline? Like your body
always wanting more. Always wanting
more... of his day in the sun.
In the sun.
In the sun.
In the sun.
Like Icarus, in the sun.
©2001, 2007 Tobin Mueller
Song Notes: In 2000, I was signed by an agent to write songs for the Korean/Hong Kong pop rock market. I tried to write a song a day for a month. I would wake up, lay down the basic music tracks before lunch, write a few lyrics and make up the rest as I sang them in the afternoon, then put the finishing touches on the recording at night. I was told I didn't have to worry about lyrics since they would all be changed anyway. I wrote and recorded this song in one day. The guitar and soprano sax were added at a later date.
John Luper, who added the guitar in the first half of the song, had suggested a few weeks earlier that perhaps I needed to drink more before I sang. He thought it might help me sound more like a blues guy. I took him up on this tune, as an experiement... one I won't repeat. But he added his guitar, so I guess it was worth it.
The fabulous soprano sax was played by Grammy award winner Donny McCasllin. He came over to my West Village apartment, dug the song, and emulkted whale calls and the motion of dolphins with his playing. I layered parts of different takes to give it a 3D feel, trying to capture both the joy and disorientation Icarus must have felt.
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