The Way You Move Me

Album: Burnt Toast And Offerings (2007)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Although not reflected in the sequencing of the CD, this is the first song singer/songwriter Gretchen Peters wrote for this album. And when she wrote it, she was not thinking about her husband. "In this whole course of this thing, I ended up falling in love with - and ultimately living with - my piano player (Barry Walsh). At the time, 14 years I guess we'd been playing together, touring together, doing everything together. We were old, old friends. And at that point we were still friends. But that is who it is about."

    And this many-layered triangle was particularly tough to straighten out. "I was still married, but I was dealing with how do I get out of this? How's this going to work?" she confesses. "In a marriage of 23 years, which is not just a marriage but a very complicated business relationship, too. It wasn't so much I left one day; it was a coming undone that took probably a couple of years. So it's not as though there was a point where I left him and it was over."

    She continues, "I think it's hard for people that haven't been together that long, and also with this added layer of the whole business relationship, which is a big part of a marriage, it's hard for them to understand just how unthinkable it is, just the logistics of it. How do we untangle this? I mean, how in the world do we untangle this? I think that we both knew at that point that it was going to have to be untangled. But it wasn't just like undoing a long-term marriage. There's all the business stuff. I mean, I was leaving my manager, my record producer, my booking agent, my publishing liaison, everything, all wrapped up in one person. So it was quite overwhelming. And it took quite a while to figure out how that was all going to work. It was terrifying."
  • Peters doesn't believe in the term "amicable divorce." Though in the grand scheme, she says, hers was. But whatever strands of a working relationship that still clung together during that time have been severed. Peters, however, has no regrets. "It became obvious to me that part of what I needed to do was give him the independence. And so I don't work with him anymore. I really needed my professional freedom."
  • This song turned out to be precognitive. Peters wrote it for her piano player of 14 years before their relationship became anything outside of friends and colleagues. "It has happened many times when I've written a song and the song has sort of come true later. And that was definitely the case with this one." (Check out our interview with Gretchen Peters. Her website is gretchenpeters.com.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Name the Character in the Song

Name the Character in the SongMusic Quiz

With a few clues (Works at a diner, dreams of running away), can you name the character in the song?

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks

Ron and Russell Mael of SparksSongwriter Interviews

The men of Sparks on their album Hippopotamus, and how Morrissey handled it when they suggested he lighten up.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Jon Anderson

Jon AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.

Gavin Rossdale of Bush

Gavin Rossdale of BushSongwriter Interviews

On the "schizoid element" of his lyrics, and a famous line from "Everything Zen."