Thursday, June 24, 2021 • The BuLLeTIn
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 3
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Moon song lunacy
The Earth’s natural satellite inspires countless songwriters
BY DAVID JASPER • The Bulletin
A
s far as heavenly orbs go, the moon gets more than its fair share of tribute from songsmiths. As an inspiring subject matter, it seems to be up there with
love. As a symbol used in song, it seems to rival the sun. The moon even manages to wedge itself into songs that mention the sun, a la Love and Rockets’
“Earth, Sun, Moon,” an acoustic tune from the British trio’s 1987 album “Earth Sun Moon.” Six years later, Aussie greats Midnight Oil’s dropped the full-
length “Earth and Sun and Moon.” Also replete with a song of the same title, the great Peter Garrett sings in its chorus, “Earth and sun and moon, human tribe, thin
blue line / Earth and sun and moon will survive, yeah.” So far, so good!
LET’S GET LITERAL
When you’re singing about something as
omnipresent as the moon, there’s really no
need to dress the subject matter up a million
different ways. Paul Simon’s “Song About
the Moon” doesn’t mince words. There are
two versions of “The Moon Song” from the
“Her” soundtrack, so take your pick: Ezra
Koenig and Karen O doing the studio ver-
sion, or Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin
Phoenix from the film.
Both Patty Griffin and Phoebe Bridgers
have a “Moon Song,” with Griffin’s having
been recorded by the likes of Emmylou Har-
ris. Writer Sam Thomas described Bridgers’
“Moon Song” as “one of the saddest songs
Jeff Tweedy
and Wilco
are seen per-
forming at
Les Schwab
Amphitheater
in 2015, al-
though prob-
ably not the
song “Black
Moon,” which
is included
in our list of
songs about
the moon.
I’ve ever heard.”
Here are some more songs exploring the
moon:
BEING THERE
“Fly me to the Moon (In Other Words)”
— Kaye Ballard, Peggy Lee and, of course,
Frank Sinatra all took turns at this light-
hearted ditty about love, written in the mid-
’50s by veteran songwriter Bart Howard and
originally titled “In Other Words.”
“Sail to the Moon,” Radiohead — Thom
Yorke and his compatriots in the iconic Brit-
ish band hit a high note with this ethereal
tune from 2003’s “Hail to the Thief.”
Bulletin file photo
Continued on Page 5
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