When someone gets left behind by the person that they love the most, it can alter everything about their lives. Even their surroundings might begin to perceptibly change, making what was once home seem like a cold, dark place.
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Del Amitri explores that phenomenon on the 1992 song “Surface Of The Moon”. The narrator realizes that once-familiar locations start to seem as eerie and strange as a lunar landscape.
“Moon” Landing
Del Amitri scored one big hit in the US with the poppy “Roll To Me” in 1995. That song actually doesn’t much resemble what the band generally had to offer. They preferred melodic, textured rock songs that featured impressively literate lyrics courtesy of lead singer Justin Currie.
The band hailed from Scotland and achieved much more commercial success in the United Kingdom. In the US, they didn’t quite fit in with the prevailing grunge trend of the early 90s, which is why they remained more of a cult band Stateside.
“Surface Of The Moon” appears on the band’s 1992 album Change Everything. It was the third LP from the group, and it found them reaching an early career peak. There’s little filler to be found among the dozen songs. This track stands out as a particular album highlight, a brooding examination of the devastating aftermath of lost love.
Churning guitars and minor keys help to evoke the ominous mood suggested by Currie’s lyrics. “Surface Of The Moon” is the kind of song that will win you over to a band that you’re hearing for the first time. And if all you know of Del Amitri is “Roll To Me”, one listen to this gem should convince you to dig deeper.
Examining the Lyrics of “Surface Of The Moon” by Del Amitri
“Surface Of The Moon” compares the narrator’s sorrowful breakup aftermath to a city that loses some of its disheveled charm due to efforts to pretty it up. The transformation contributes to the narrator’s sense of bewilderment as he tries to make his way with someone new.
Even the snow is in on the deception, covering up “the cracks in the road” in the first verse. Currie compares the setting to a “part-time Elvis impersonator.” The streets “have been pasted beyond recognition with a temporary smell.” He feels a kinship with all the other bereft souls “marooned” in this city.
“Everything’s now a replica of what it used to be,” he complains about the changes. And then: “It seems less like a home to me than just a place they bury you.” In the middle eight, he tries to give his heart to his new companion. But he admits being “stuck here like some shipwreck still holding on to you.” All the improvements in the city just act as “another façade for us to hide behind.”
Currie’s poetic flair comes to the fore often throughout the song, such as with the phrase “the ancient trails of our coupling.” “I am amazed by the lack of memories that I thought would flood through me,” he admits. These new sights are robbing him of his past, which is where he still resides with his first romantic choice.
The song ends with what should be a passionate moment in his new lover’s arms. But he can’t muster up any excitement. “And for all I care it might as well be the surface of the moon.” It’s a heartbreaking conclusion, evidence that breakups are even harder in the midst of an urban cleanup that wipes away all vestiges of an old romance.
Photo by John Lynn Kirk/Redferns
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