I brought this old song out at the Skunk Hollow Open Mic again last week because the song is set on a beautiful fall day. I remember that I recorded it right after returning
from a long dog walk behind my house outside of Ithaca, NY (in Danby -pic from Nov 1994). The improvised lyrics start out recapping the walk, but then mention how "I really loved the way you smiled tonight" and the eternal song theme of Love, or at least a tantalizing hint of it, appears at the end. The original recording here is pretty short, so when playing it live I milk the ending quite a bit, repeating "the way you smiled" and really ramping up the energy and joy --often with congas and electric guitar adding to the climax.
Every time I sing this one, I note that I sang about walking my "dogs" (plural) because this was before my dog Wanda got hit by a car and died --so she and Zoe were both "running everywhere". I sure am grateful to the farmer who lived down the road and let us roam his fields and the woods surrounding Butternut Creek back there. The field right behind our house was usually corn but sometimes grains like oats. It was a beautiful vista with gentle rolling hills, but it looks flat now that I've lived in Vermont for the last 4 years!
Recorded on November 4, 1994 in mangobananas studio, Ithaca, NY, with two mics into a cassette deck. The acoustic guitar is standard tuning capoed at the 4th fret. Digitized and included on the album the right tool, which is a compilation of my favorite improvisations from The Andy Band Improv Tapes Volumes 23 and 24.
Thanks for listening!
-Andy
the way you smiled been walking in the woods trees are losing their leaves the stream's changed its course birds are flying everywhere my dogs are running everywhere and my mind floats everywhere day or night the mood is right take off in your dream tonight some kind of other reality dreaming of me think of me when you're going to sleep tonight I really loved the way you smiled tonight 7 November 1994 (improvised as the tape rolled) EADGBE capo IV
