Passing Through by Marshall Crenshaw

Album: Jaggedland (2009)

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Crenshaw wrote this with pop singer-songwriter Kelley Ryan, formerly known by the moniker astroPuppees. Ryan covered the song on her 2017 album, Telescope. In a Songfacts interview, she explained how the track came together: "Marshall had a melody and the title and a very specific idea about what he wanted it to be about. I wrote a few words for it but it is mostly his baby. I took it as a song about non-permanence and treasuring each and every moment in our fleeting lives. It's just a cool, loping reminder to be in the moment. Enjoy memories, yes, but be in the moment. It is really all we have."
While writing this, Crenshaw imagined walking the streets of New York with his wife, Ione. He told Stereo Embers Magazine: "The song is sort of a dream-like description of Ione and me walking through all the neighborhoods we used to live in – the song also contemplates mortality, talks about ghosts, etc... It's a place we both love, and we never want to be too far away from it."

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