One Shining Moment

“It is fair to say that I’m still both thrilled & mystified by the way this song has worked out. As a writer, I just write songs…big songs, small songs, funny songs, sad songs, sentimental songs, inspirational songs. There once was a time where I tried to think about whether they were “good” or not. But that time mercifully has long since past…and “One Shining Moment” was one of the first in the batch of songs where I just quit worrying about the value of my writing. I suppose one might draw some conclusions from this.

The whole process of “One Shining Moment” was simply to write about something I genuinely knew about. The lyrics were written on a napkin at a restaurant while waiting for a friend. I went home and wrote the music in 15 minutes. That simple. I tucked it away in my sock drawer for a few months…finally playing it for a friend who insisted I record it (thank you Debby). At that point, I resisted the idea (so much for my judgment), but relented after she offered to pay for the session. In any case, I think we managed to get some lightning in a bottle with the recording, and nearly thirty years later, CBS seems to agree.

On a personal level, I still plain & simple enjoy the song.”