“To the Moon and Back” by Savage Garden

Despite being metaphorical in nature, the narrative featured in Savage Garden’s “To the Moon and Back” is pretty easy-to-follow. It centers on  a young lady suffering from a love deficiency, if you will. That means that she was never shown an ample amount of affection by her parents. Moreover “all her friends” are more or less depicted as backstabbers. So you can say that she has serious interpersonal issues due to the way people have treated her.

Yet she is still looking for someone to ‘be her baby’. More specifically it seems that the addressee, at least during the chorus of the song, is a potential romantic interest of this lady. And she is basically telling him that if he were to actually love her, she would give her all to him. This is what the metaphor of ‘flying to the moon and back’ means within the context of this song. It is indicative of this lady’s willingness to go all out for this guy, if only he will be the one to give the type of meaningful affection which thus far has been lacking in her life.

A True Love Song

So at the end of the day it is safe to classify “To the Moon and Back” as a love song. The singer depicts the subject of the track as an individual who from an emotional standpoint was given a raw deal in life. But that person herself isn’t harping on the past. Rather she is clearly excited by the prospect of experiencing true, apparently romantic love. And as such, her focus is more on the future shall we say, as this may finally be the moment when she realizes the type of feelings that she has long been denied. Or let’s say that the fact she has been depressed for so long has made her even more eager to love once she actually does find that special someone.

Music Video

This track has three different official videos. The first one, which is a black-and-white feature, was directed by Chris Bentley and Catherine Caine. The second, which was shot in Los Angeles, had Nigel Dick as its director. And the final version, which was recorded in New York City, was directed by Adolfo Doring. And it is the last of those three which is recognized as being the most-popular version.

Facts about “To the Moon and Back”

This song is from the duo’s maiden album, which is also entitled “Savage Garden”. Columbia Records released “To the Moon and Back” as the second single from that project on 18 November 1996. The first song to be released as a single from the aforementioned project was the international hit “I Want You“.

“To the Moon and Back” made it to number one on Australia’s ARIA chart, marking the first time Savage Garden had managed to do so in their home country.

And overall it has charted in 25 nations, including peaking at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact during the month of May 1997, it is said to have been the song which was played the most on American radio.

It also peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, making “To the Moon and Back” Savage Garden’s most-impressive showing in the United Kingdom.

Moreover this track has been certified Platinum in Australia and Gold in a handful of other countries.

Who wrote “To the Moon and Back”?

This classic love song was penned by the members of Savage Garden (Daniel Jones in conjunction with Darren Hayes). And the track was produced by one of their regular collaborators, who goes by the name Charles Fisher.