I wrote The Sky Away on an airplane from NYC to San Francisco. I was going there to find an apartment for my impending move. It was the first thing I recorded after I got my studio set up in my new apartment. Steve and I recorded version 2.0 in 02/97. It isn't much different from version 1.0, but it made me very happy because everything was cleaned up and perfected, and my vocals are much better.

Ok, so this song really sticks out. But it does actually fit. You'll notice that it's just way TOO sweet. Sick Beauty. Huge contrasts. For those of you who were wondering, yes, the sickly-sweet delivery on the vocals is intentionally overdone. That is not to say, however that I don't mean it. I do. Sometimes over-doing things has its own meaning.
You'll also recognize that classic 50's song structure.

This song is a vague attempt to express that strange combination of hope, despair and beauty that strike sometimes. I think it's "about" letting go while continuing to put effort into your life.

The little child voice singing "The Sky" and "Away" have always seemed indescribably beautiful to me. I was very pleased when I succeeded in fitting them into a song. The female vocals were done by ONX. I recorded those vocals in 1993, and we used the same soundfiles again for version 2.0. The guitar sounds are seriously stretched out, which is why they sound so sour. Most of the orchestral sounds are standard sounds out of the boxes. The Roland JV-880 really saved this song.