By the Light of the Silvery Moon (song)
Encyclopedia
"By The Light of the Silvery Moon" is a popular
song
. The music was written by Gus Edwards
, and the lyrics by Edward Madden
. The song was published in 1909
and first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine
. It was one of a series of moon
-related Tin Pan Alley
songs of the era.
The song has been used in a great many television shows and motion pictures. A film of the same title
was released in 1953, starring Doris Day
. It served as a sequel to On Moonlight Bay
, which also starred Doris Day.
recorded the song Stand Up and Sing for Your Father an Old Time Tune in 1923. The lyrics of Murray's song parody By the Light of the Silvery Moon, portraying an old man who found this new song frivolous.
In the 1933 film Turn Back the Clock
, The Three Stooges make an early cameo appearance and sing the song.
The song was featured in the film "By the Light of the Silvery Moon
" (1953), and performed by Doris Day
, Gordon MacRae
, Leon Ames
, Rosemary DeCamp
and others throughout the film.
The song was also featured in the film "The Producers
" (1968), Zero Mostel
puts a coin in the jukebox of the bar where he is having a drink with Gene Wilder
.The title he selects is By The Light of the Silvery Moon. They both, accompanied by a drunkard, start singing the tune
The song's patter is parodied in a popular "The Rocky Horror Picture Show
" Audience Participation line for the song Eddie (Rocky Horror song). lines like "By the light (not the dark but the light)" become lines like "From the day he was born (not the night but the day)" and "She tried in vain (not the artery but the vein)"
The song is featured in the second episode of Boardwalk Empire.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
. The music was written by Gus Edwards
Gus Edwards (songwriter)
Gus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudevillian. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher.-Early life:...
, and the lyrics by Edward Madden
Edward Madden
Edward Madden was an American lyricist.Madden was born in New York City and graduated from Fordham University. After graduation he wrote material for many singers including Fanny Brice and for vaudeville acts...
. The song was published in 1909
1909 in music
-Events:*November 28 - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is premièred in New York City-Albums Released:*Tchailkovsky's Nutcracker Suite - Mark Hamburg And The Royal Albert Hall Orchestra-Published popular music:...
and first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine
Lillian Lorraine
Lillian Lorraine was a stage and screen actress of the 1910s and 1920s, best known for her beauty and for being perhaps the most famous Ziegfeld Girl in the Broadway revues Ziegfeld Follies during the 1910s....
. It was one of a series of moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
-related Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
songs of the era.
The song has been used in a great many television shows and motion pictures. A film of the same title
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (film)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a 1953 musical film. It is the sequel to On Moonlight Bay. Like its predecessor, the movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington.-Plot:...
was released in 1953, starring Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
. It served as a sequel to On Moonlight Bay
On Moonlight Bay (film)
On Moonlight Bay is a 1951 musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth which tells the story of the Winfield family at the turn of the century. The movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington. There was a 1953 sequel, By the Light of the Silvery Moon.-Plot:On Moonlight Bay centers on...
, which also starred Doris Day.
Lyrics
- Place park, scene dark, silvery moon is shining through the trees;
- Cast two, me, you, sound of kisses floating on the breeze.
- Act one, begun. Dialogue, "Where would you like to spoon?"
- My cue, with you, underneath the silvery moon.
- By the light of the silvery moon,
- I want to spoon, to my honey I'll croon love's tune,
- Honeymoon keep a-shining in June,
- Your silvery beams will bring love dreams, we'll be cuddling soon,
- By the silvery moon.
- Act two, scene new, roses blooming all around the place;
- Cast three, you, me, Preacher with a solemn looking face.
- Choir sings, bell rings, Preacher: "You are wed for evermore."
- Act two, all through, every night the same encore.
- By the light, (By the light, By the light),
- Of the silvery moon, (The silvery moon).
- I want to spoon, (Want to spoon, Want to spoon)
- To my honey I'll croon love's tune.
- Honeymoon, (Honeymoon, Honeymoon),
- Keep a-shining in June. (Keep a-shining in June)
- Your silvery beams will bring love dreams,
- We'll be cuddling soon,
- By the silvery moon.
- Your silvery beams will bring love dreams,
- We'll be cuddling soon,
- By the silvery moon. (The silvery moon).
Parody
Billy MurrayBilly Murray (singer)
William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
recorded the song Stand Up and Sing for Your Father an Old Time Tune in 1923. The lyrics of Murray's song parody By the Light of the Silvery Moon, portraying an old man who found this new song frivolous.
- Oh, I'm sick of all these ditties about "moon" and "spoon" and "June"
- So, will you stand up, and sing for your father, an old time tune!
Notable Recordings
- Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
for her album By the Light of the Silvery MoonBy the Light of the Silvery Moon (album)By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a Doris Day album featuring songs from the movie of the same name. It was issued by Columbia Records as a 10" long-playing record, catalog number CL-6248.... - Gene VincentGene VincentVincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
for his album Gene Vincent Rocks and the Blue Caps Roll, Capitol RecordsCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, 1958 - Fats WallerFats WallerFats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
and His Rhythm Vocal and piano by Fats Waller with Deep River BoysDeep River BoysThe Deep River Boys were an American gospel music group active from the mid 1930s and into the 1980s. The group performed spirituals, gospel, and R&B.-Members:...
. Recorded in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on July 13, 1942. It was released by Bluebird RecordsBluebird RecordsBluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
as catalog number B-11569, RCA Victor Recordsas catalog number 20-2448A (in USA) and by EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10748. - Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, SpecialtySpecialtySpecialty or speciality may refer to:* Deed, a contract in law* Index of speciality, a geometrical invariant* Speciality , an album by J-Pop singer Nami Tamaki* Specialty , a field within medicine...
, 1959
In popular culture
See all of the above for the importance of the song in popular culture.In the 1933 film Turn Back the Clock
Turn Back the Clock (film)
Turn Back the Clock is an MGM comedy drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn, written by Edgar Selwyn and Ben Hecht, and starring by Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke...
, The Three Stooges make an early cameo appearance and sing the song.
The song was featured in the film "By the Light of the Silvery Moon
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (film)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a 1953 musical film. It is the sequel to On Moonlight Bay. Like its predecessor, the movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington.-Plot:...
" (1953), and performed by Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
, Leon Ames
Leon Ames (actor)
Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women ....
, Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
and others throughout the film.
The song was also featured in the film "The Producers
The Producers
The Producers commonly refers to Mel Brooks' series of comedic works about two con-men who attempt to cheat theater investors out of their money, only to have the scheme improbably backfire:...
" (1968), Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
puts a coin in the jukebox of the bar where he is having a drink with Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
.The title he selects is By The Light of the Silvery Moon. They both, accompanied by a drunkard, start singing the tune
The song's patter is parodied in a popular "The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
" Audience Participation line for the song Eddie (Rocky Horror song). lines like "By the light (not the dark but the light)" become lines like "From the day he was born (not the night but the day)" and "She tried in vain (not the artery but the vein)"
The song is featured in the second episode of Boardwalk Empire.
External multimedia
- By the Light of the Silvery Moon, RealAudioRealAudioRealAudio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fidelity formats for music. It can also be used as a streaming audio format, that is...
file of 1910 performance by Ada JonesAda JonesAda Jones was a popular mezzo-soprano who recorded from 1905 to the early 1920s. She was born in Lancashire, England but moved with her family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of six in 1879... - By the Light of the Silvery Moon