Moonlit Floor
by Lisa

Album: Alter Ego (2024)
Charted: 121
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Moonlit Floor" finds Lisa in love with a debonair green-eyed Frenchman while in Paris. She wasn't in the City of Light on some romantic quest. No, she was there for work. But as these things often go, business quickly turned into pleasure.
  • During the chorus Lisa interpolates Sixpence None the Richer's 1998 hit "Kiss Me," replacing their hook with her own Parisian twist. So instead of:

    Kiss me beneath the milky twilight
    Lead me out on the moonlit floor


    We get:
    Kiss me under the Paris twilight
    Kiss me out on the moonlit floor
  • This isn't Lisa's first time borrowing an American pop hit. On BlackPink's "Pink Venom," she playfully slips in a line from Rihanna's 2005 smash "Pon De Replay."
  • Singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez wrote "Moonlit Floor" with producer Ryan "Rykeyz" Williamson, who worked with her on her 2022 Yessie album. Sixpence's Matt Slocum, who penned "Kiss Me," is also credited.
  • Reyez and Rykeyz wrote the song at Chalice Studios in Los Angeles during a late-night session. Rykeyz was tinkering on a Roland Juno-106 synthesizer - an old '80s classic. He recalled to Billboard how as he started to play, "Jessie immediately started writing as I built up the production."

    "When she sang it down, I thought it was so fresh but thought it needed something to take the chorus overboard," he said. "I jokingly started singing 'Kiss Me' by Sixpence None the Richer."

    "Jessie flipped out and made the most amazing lyrical flip on the song," Rykeyz added. "We were both big fans of the original ["Kiss Me"] and felt it was exactly what the song needed to take it to that next level."
  • Getting permission to use that "Kiss Me" hook wasn't easy. Reyez had originally planned to include "Moonlit Floor" on Yessie, but her label couldn't clear the sample. So Reyez did her own internet detective work to track down Sixpence None the Richer's singer, Leigh Nash, and get the green light.

    Her Instagram sleuthing paid off, and once the interpolation was cleared, Reyez tucked it away in her "songs to pitch" folder. That's how it ended up in Lisa's hands.
  • Fans are convinced Lisa is singing about her rumored boyfriend, Frédéric Arnault, the CEO of LVMH Watches. Sure, he has green eyes, but so do plenty of other French men. It is likely Lisa was attracted to the song because of its French romantic interest.
  • Lisa gave "Moonlit Floor" its live debut at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City's Central Park on September 28, 2024, before officially releasing it on October 3.

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?

Francis Rossi of Status Quo

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song

Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.