Whenever I think of this piece of music, I think of the house I grew up in. It had a gallery that ran the width of the front of the house, with tall screens and windows on three sides. One sunny summer day, Louis and I gathered up our guitars and all the gear and set up out there, halfway between inside and out. We opened up all the windows to let the breeze flow through, and then we started to play this song.

A little ways into it, I looked up to see small faces appearing on the other side of the screens. Some neighbourhood kids had heard the sound and were curious. Without interrupting, one of them made a sign that asked if they could come in. I nodded and we kept playing.

I'd always loved to listen to guitar solos. The good ones, the ones that soar, took me into that higher world of wind and sky and flight. It had always seemed that if I could learn to play that way, it might be the closest I might ever get to flying. And now here I was, playing this piece, beginning to find my wings. It felt so good to be able to express my feelings by bringing them out through the guitar. And good to be playing music with my friend, timing my notes to that solid rhythm. Then he'd throw something magical in, some flare of enhanced emotion, and my playing would change because of it, as if that movement inside me from heart to hands had opened up a new, clearer pathway. I looked over at Louis. He looked up. We both smiled. That happened a lot when we played together, as if the music connected us somehow, where we felt the same things in the same way at the same time. I looked over at the kids. They seemed so fascinated by what we were doing. It was as if something was being given to us that we were giving to them.

Where can you buy a ticket back to that place, that moment? Things get all happy, sad, and beautiful when I listen to this music. Maybe the way back, the way to experience it all again, is to re-create the piece, to re-learn the past, here on the near side of in between. They say you can't go back. Maybe they're wrong.

“Moonlight"

Written by John Kirnan and Louis Riel
Acoustic rhythm guitar – Louis Riel
Lead electric guitars – John Kirnan

To check out the second Lost Tracks song, right-click on this link and select Save Link As to download the mp3 file: Moonlight

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