Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
He was crazy of course
From the first she must have known it
But still she went on with him
And she never once had shown it
And she took him off the street
And she dried his tears of grieving
She listened to his visions
She believed in his believe-ins
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
He was dancing to some music
No one else had ever heard
He'd speak in unknown languages
She would translate every word
And then when the world was laughing
At his castles in the sky
She'd hold him in her body
Till he once again could fly
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
Well, she gave him a daughter
And she gave him a son
She was a mother, and a wife,
And a lover when the day was done
He was too far gone for giving love
What he offered in its stead
Was the knowledge she was the only thing
That was not in his head
He took off East one morning
Towards the rising sun's red glow
She knew he was going nowhere
But of course she let him go
And as she stood and watched him dwindle
Much too empty to be sad
He reappeared beside her saying,
"You're all I've ever had"
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
Holy
From the first she must have known it
But still she went on with him
And she never once had shown it
And she took him off the street
And she dried his tears of grieving
She listened to his visions
She believed in his believe-ins
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
He was dancing to some music
No one else had ever heard
He'd speak in unknown languages
She would translate every word
And then when the world was laughing
At his castles in the sky
She'd hold him in her body
Till he once again could fly
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
Well, she gave him a daughter
And she gave him a son
She was a mother, and a wife,
And a lover when the day was done
He was too far gone for giving love
What he offered in its stead
Was the knowledge she was the only thing
That was not in his head
He took off East one morning
Towards the rising sun's red glow
She knew he was going nowhere
But of course she let him go
And as she stood and watched him dwindle
Much too empty to be sad
He reappeared beside her saying,
"You're all I've ever had"
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
Holy
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This is one of the most beautifully written songs that I have ever come across.
Beautiful song, maybe "gentler" than A BETTER PLACE TO BE. " I was just listening again casually, and the thought of him being drugs "popped" into my mind.
This song is about Harry's grandparents. What about I can't remember. But the performance by Pat Benatar at the 1987 tribute concert (On CD) is also amazing.
was my favorite of his growing up (i grew up with only GMC)...shooting star was my song and the rock was my brother's
This song makes me think of Flowers For Algernon, don't know why
thanks for the ref, looks like a good story...the song always felt a bit Theo Sturgeon for me......
There are a few songs I never get tired of listening to, this is one of them....but then thats true for most of Harry's stuff....
It sounds like a wife whose genius husband is suffering from Dementia or Alzheimers. A brilliant man whose vision went beyond the conventional, while she kept him grounded in reality. He was the sun - shining bright, and she was the moon, reflecting his light back to earth.
Towards the end, his mind failed... but he always loved her as the one real thing in his life. And she watched him fade away, but she always saw the man she'd fallen in love with.
Others have said the song was about HC relationship with his wife Sandy, he was the out of touch male character and she was the grounded support he could always depend on ..."he could not make things possible but she could make them holy".
That also holds true with the middle verse reference to their family life..."She gave him a daughter and she gave him a son..." as this song was written around the time his two youngest children were born (Jen & Josh - their first 3 children were actually Sandy's from her first marriage, which HC adopted and raised after their marriage).
I the end the male finally sees that the one thing that isn't a dream or a adventure that in fact is real is her love for him, and he stays with her.