we had written a song that was the title track, "I Gave You the Moon", that appears on this release as the half studio version and appears on the IGYTM demos as my home version, and though that song never quite hit the mark, i felt there was a beauty in that riff and progression.

after some playing around, i stumbled across this arrangement.

this version is the closest home version to the studio recording.

from this, we re-recorded the keyboard part (still using a Fender Rhodes Mark II plus another key sound with the same MIDI overtop for some additional bite), re-recorded vocals, drums, and guitars. but all the rest of the MIDI instruments (strings, recorders, FX) were kept.

the best part of that second batch of IGYTM sessions was that we were able to utilize those things i spent hours experimenting on at home since, for once, they were all done to a click track. if it weren't for that foresight on my part, and that ability for me to mess around in the privacy of my basement in the wee hours, this song wouldn't have happened and much of what this record became wouldn't have happened.

real bands with real budgets have the time to do this stuff in the studio, but i never did, so it was a blessing to be able to noodle around at home and bring that to the studio and build on it.

i would take the experience with this song and others (things fall apart, diet coke, etc) and build on that with the next record, where i fleshed everything out top to bottom with the idea of finalizing the key instruments in the studio but keeping the weird effects and edits from my home recordings intact.