This came about while driving with a very good friend of mine to a concert in December 2014 on a completely clear evening with a low, very full moon. I cant explain why, but something inspired me as we made our way to the gig in Leamington Spa and the spine of the story was fleshed out over the following four days or so.

Its a completely fictional account of someone who sees a figure moving through a field, lit only by the moon but isn’t sure of what he sees, but given that you dont normally see ghostly figures dancing through farmers fields in the moonlight, leads him to try and get to the bottom of the story. Its quite long by normal commercial song standards (about 8 minutes or so). I do have visions for how it may sound, but I am some way away from realising them just yet. As it stands at the moment, it works better as a poem than it does a song, but nonetheless, I havent given up hope on it yet!

Hunters Moon

Pt1.

Verse 1/
Falling twilight, in rural England,
Driving a long flowing road
Rolling hills and farmers fields
A full starless moon is rising
A soft light, bathing and beguiling
And a lone figure in the distance
That I can see and I can feel

Chorus:
What could I see under this Hunters Moon?
Something real or imagined, but gone far too soon
Under a star-less night and the light soft and bright
Don’t know who she is, but I have to find out who…

Verse2/
The Shadow moves through the field
But doesn’t move a single leaf
Her arms open wide, her head gently leans to one side
I watch her sway for a moment and then she’s gone…

Pt2

Verse 3/
Now the local legend sings an old song
And the tale gets taller as the nights they grow long,
Of the wife of a soldier, but no one knows who
His name almost forgotten, along with hers too

Verse 4
Born into a broken family was she
Mother ruined by gin and her father long since lost to the sea
Spent her childhood in fields of green
Carefree, abandoned but with a hope of what could be…

Chorus/hook repeat:

As she danced one night under the Hunters Moon,
Her smile caught his languid gaze not a moment too soon
Such a beautiful sight on this star-less night,
He didn’t know her name but he had to find out who…

Verse 5/
He couldn’t hide the glint in his eye
Felt himself fall for her, but couldn’t work out why
Why here, why her, and why but why tonight?
And she danced in his arms, until the morning birds took flight

(solo)

Pt3.

Wartime

Verse 6/
Days came and went, endless months would fly by
Like so many mothers sons, the war exacts a price
Kept herself beautiful, waiting for him to come home
But still she’d dance in the moonlight on her own
Every night she’d watch the trails cross the night sky
She counted them all out and counted back the ones that could still fly
She longed for the church bells to ring for the end of the war
To be reunited under the moon for evermore

Verse 7/
She couldn’t sleep no matter how she tried
Dreading the knock on the door in the middle of the night
Solemn military man in a black car as the rain poured
Carrying a folded flag and a telegram from King George
Took off his hat as he strode across the floor
The church bells rang a day too soon,
On a day after a Hunters Moon

Pt4

Verse 8/
So many years have hurried on by
Nothing is now left of those long winter nights
Generations moved on and that was true for hers too,
All thats left is a legend for the locals to tell
Of winter nights, star-less fields and the sound of church bells
Where you’ll see in the night, under a light cool and bright,
A young girl dancing alone
Under a Hunters Moon.

(c) Steve McCarthy-Hunt 2014