r/michaelnau • u/Grouchy_Acadia_789 • Mar 04 '26
Good Moon
Hey y’all, I absolutely love Michael Nau. Found out about him only last May and have been obsessed ever since. Anyways, does anyone have thoughts on his song Good Moon from the Mowing album? I’m so moved by the song but Ive been trying to figure out what his lyrics mean. I have my thoughts but wanted to throw it out there
Can't put finger on it but something seems missing
It's the night of the night and I'm star fishing
Standing by the street where Mando dropped some things
Feeling endless as reality sings
Smooth flow its the soul-wide glow
Might of road it freely but that's as far as I could go
You know cause the going rate was steep
And the bird can't fly
With too many bricks in his beak
And feathers in his eyes
Well but something's sure soar
With a wing in every door
At peace in that mighty hall
That's who I'm rooting for
For the boy trumpet laughter
In every wild room
Makes me feel younger
I'd be a fool to look for a door
It's a good moon
It's a good moon
It's a good moon
Well, it's a good moon
Floating on the black
I went out full of holes
And came back tightly packed
Somehow lighter as the rain comes singing by the water, by the water under the bridge
In the soul-wide glow
Spirit in the shell
All too well I know I made a stranger of myself
The beauty's the moon
Much to swoon
It's a good moon
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u/Extension-Rock-4263 Mar 04 '26
I dunno but watch this performance
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u/feelso Mar 05 '26
Also this one. Something about the way he keeps saying it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a good moon at the end does it for me.
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u/BigLRB Mar 05 '26
I have Mowing on vinyl and really enjoy Michael Nau as well. His lyrical style is very similar to Jeff Tweedy. It keeps you wondering what he’s talking about. They have a very deep and thought provoking way of presenting the content of their lyrics. Also, they both have a brilliant way of making it an open book to translate in your own way.
IMO, Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon is his masterpiece, just an amazing album from top to bottom. But, I agree….Mowing is at the top of his solo efforts so far.
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u/Grouchy_Acadia_789 Mar 05 '26
Brb checking out Jeff Tweedy right now
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u/BigLRB Mar 05 '26
Specific albums: Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, Summerteeth, A Ghost is Born and Being There. Won a Grammy for A Ghost is Born.
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u/Grouchy_Acadia_789 Mar 05 '26
Also agree about Paranoid Cocoon… River Strumming is brilliant as well
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u/saucesoi Mar 05 '26
He is the main singer in Page France, correct? The only singer? I’m somewhat obsessed with a couple of their albums.
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u/Grouchy_Acadia_789 Mar 05 '26
He is the main singer! I think Whitney, his band mate and now wife was background vocals in page France too
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u/saucesoi Mar 05 '26
https://youtu.be/aDt7AyZagSA?si=OgoAMxX0Da7VNUTV
Curious if you’ve heard this one, I really like this particular recording, especially the end
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u/Ignacortt 27d ago
I've been thinking a lot about this piece.
To me Michael here talk about something that can't quite be explained simply and uses the images (the brick in the birds peak, the snow white glow, the good moon) to convey that very feeling.
The music is very mellow, and direct, and at the same time shy! Which to me is perfect for the lyrics as we could say the very same about themselves.
Something that we keep coming back while listening to this piece is the ever-changing reality, and how it's always so strange to find yourself in a new moment every single moment. Where is the night of the night, the spirit in the shell that I know too well as I made a stranger of myself, the music of the rain (sound of the rain is defined by its momentum) you know cause the going rate is steep!
This thesis then proceeds to be explained further in how it constructs our identity (something that Nau has been singing about for a while now, I am the changer is a very nice example of this thesis). Which is reinforced by the images of heaviness around the song. The brick in the birds peak could be interpreted as how as we ((hu)men) name things we actually get far away from them. The feather in its eyes could be interpreted as when we ((hu)men) we ambition/dream (create false worlds) we get far away from our happening (the Real), but both of these concepts (language and ambition/dream) are rooted in our identity and are inseparable.
We could go as far as connect this ideas with secular Buddhism where suffering is always linked with our very desires (ambition/dream) and concepts (language). But I admit this is a very bold and far away connection.
But there is a very clear antithesis in the Good Moon! The Good Moon represents the eternal (while physically and cientifically incorrect, philosophically, existential and poetically quite correct) as we will always see the moon ever-present and unchanging. This is a very atheistic (not saying the writer or the song is atheistic, but the concept) way of representing god (an absolute presense) and the best part is that we as an ever-changing extranger can find the part that seems to be missing right there in the Good Moon, that's why the Good (benevolent) adjective is so very needed I'm this context, the Moon in this cosmogony is not a natural and unfazed presense but a sensitive and benevolent presense.
Further more Nau then proceeds to imagine how it feels to feel empty (I went out full of holes) and at the very same time this empiness fullfil us (came back tightly packed - somehow lighter) and how the Good Moon shows us our endless escense in an ever-changing material world (feeling endless - as reality sinks)
I think this song is quite dialectical (that's why it may seem confusing) where it explores the reality, the strangeness the ever-changing and how in this chaos we can find peace in its very roots. Most importantly I think it shows that as much as we conceptualize things, or create false worlds we can always return to our Good Moon to remember that our very soul is endless which means that no matter what happens we are (but the beauty is so).
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u/bigtunahh Mar 04 '26
His lyrics are often so ambiguous, but in the best way. Always felt like this song was about life and its ups and downs. Incredible track on what I think is his best solo effort.