40 Songs About The Moon

This July marks the 40 year anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission in which man first set foot on the moon. And what better way to celebrate than with a lunar-loving playlist? Pop in those earbuds, fix yourself a big glass of Tang, and do a little stargazing this month.

• 40. “Defy the Moon” – Drag the River
  Punks turned twang-enthusiasts deliver this midtempo heartbreaker anchored by the pedal steel of Spacey Casey Prestwood. The band hasn’t completely deserted their roots, however: at under two minutes, this song’s about the length of your average Ramones tune.
• 39. “Moon and Sun/Sun and Moon” – King Wilkie
  These two tracks bookend delightfully eccentric concept album The Wilkie Family Singers with jangly, Byrds and Beatles-influenced rootsy pop. If only the Wilkie Family Singers—and their associated housecat-percussionists, wacky neighbors, and therapists—were real…
• 38. “Man on the Moon” – Roosevelt Dime
  Brooklyn-based Americana trio offers up mopey, indie-rock-friendly lyrics set to banjo and horns.
• 37. “Buicks to the Moon” – Alan Jackson
  The day Alan Jackson will stop loving you is so far in the future that all the stars will have been counted and we’ll be driving Buicks to the moon. Um, let’s hurry this up a little, because to be honest, having a rocket car sounds way more awesome than the love of a good man and his mullet.
• 36. “Jealous Moon” – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
  This is Matraca Berg’s first appearance on this month’s playlist (here she teamed up with co-writers Jeff Hanna and Tim Krekel). It only takes one listen to the mellow harmonies on “Jealous Moon” to realize what an influence this band had on The Eagles and Alabama.
• 35. “This Side of the Moon” – Elizabeth Cook
  The title track from Cook’s 2005 album is a sweetly sung ballad with all the pedal steel a country music lover could ask for. Oh, and the lyrics are pretty good too. Why isn’t Ms. Cook on Hazel Smith’s list of country music blondes?
• 34. “Missouri Moon” – Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
  Ms. Vincent is straight outta Kirksville, MO (Pop. 17, 057), so even though she didn’t write this song, there may be a touch of the autobiographical on this recording as the moon bears witness to the beginning and end of a love thought eternal.
• 33. “New Moon” – Pine Box Boys
  With lyrics “Our Lord is like the new moon/Hidden from our sight/But I have faith that she’ll make peace with Him tonight,” it’s pretty obvious that things are not going to end well for the faithless woman in this song. These West Coast murdergrassers may only stick to one topic, but they sure do it well.
• 32. “Moon Over Madison” – Hasil Adkins
  The Haze gets lovelorn on this track from the album of the same name. It’s far less spirited than his songs about chicken and decapitation, but it’s still worth a listen or two.
• 31. “Moonlight and Skies” – Jimmie Rodgers
  A botched robbery ends up with a man in jail and his best friend in the morgue. This is all well and good, but one stanza is something of an eyebrow-raiser: “A pale moon is shining, is shining so bright/And lovers are strolling by my window tonight/Their laughter so merry brings heartaches and sighs/To a prisoner who’s lonely for the moonlight and skies.” Note to dudes everywhere: don’t take your girl for a romantic stroll outside the penitentiary.
• 30. “Where Is the Moon” – Southern Culture on the Skids
  Rockabilly trio tones down their high energy sleaze for this midtempo number from Mojo Box. Hard to believe that the folks who sing about luchadores and pelt their audience with fried chicken during live shows can be so sensitive.
• 29. “Pale Moon” – Uncle Earl
  These incredibly talented gals deliver a collection of images set to string band sound. The lyrics of “Pale Moon” also gave the group’s 2005 major label debut She Waits for Night its name.
• 28. “Sugar Moon” – Bob Wills
  Ain’t nothing better than walking with your sugar beneath the sugar moon during sugarcane time. At least, that’s what I think Wills is getting at here.
• 27. “It’s Only a Paper Moon” – Jim Reeves
  Another American songbook classic done up Nashville Sound style. No “honky tonk parade” here, but the lunarcentric album this track comes from, Moonlight and Roses (1964), would be a good one to add to your listening library this month.
• 26. “Blue Moon” – Steve Holy
  One of four moderately successful singles from 2000’s Blue Moon, “Blue Moon” showcases Holy’s beautiful falsetto. Too bad he’s all but disappeared from country radio.
• 25. “Shame on the Moon” – Rodney Crowell
  This Crowell-penned tune achieved crossover success when Bob Seger covered it on The Distance in 1982, but we’re partial to the version on Crowell’s eponymous 1981 record. Other recordings of note: Mac Davis, Tanya Tucker.
• 24. “Indigo Moon” – Heather Myles
  Honkytonk queen Heather Myles is simultaneously tough and vulnerable on this one from Rum & Rodeo. Of course it’s about lost love; in a Myles song, is there any other kind?
• 23. “Moon River” – Raul Malo
  Malo’s operatic voice was made to cover this Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer classic.
• 22. “Paper Moon” – Whiskeytown
  Despite the intraband struggles that were no doubt occurring during the recording of Pneumonia, it’s a beautifully crafted album. This is one of the standout tracks.
• 21. “Bad Moon Rising” – The Seldom Scene
  Numerous country singers have covered this Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, but this bluegrass version is one of the more unique interpretations out there.
• 20. “Mister Moon” – Carl Smith
  Smith asks for some help setting the mood as he pitches some woo at his “cutie.” He even offers thanks in advance for “helping [their] romance.” What celestial body could refuse such politeness?
• 19. “Honky Tonk Moon” – Randy Travis
  Here’s a nice little respite from all these depressing moon songs. This one is peaceful, even happy, thanks to Travis’ instantly recognizable voice singing about one of life’s simple pleasures: dancing with the one you love.
• 18. “Just Beyond the Moon” – Tex Ritter
  Ritter delivers a lovely story about a couple separated by death after 50 years of marriage. But death doesn’t seem so sad or so scary when you’ve got someone waiting for you: “I’ll just sit there by a star and I’ll watch you from afar/’Til I see you walking toward me someday soon/Then together hand in hand, we’ll find our promised land/And we’ll settle down forever, darlin’, just beyond the moon.”
• 17. “I Wish I Was the Moon” – Neko Case
  Anyone who’s heard Case sing this minimalist stunner live will never forget it. But for those of you who haven’t made it out to one of her shows, the studio version on seminal country-noir album Blacklisted is a worthy substitute.
• 16. “Shine on Harvest Moon” – Bobby Bare
  This standard was a perfect choice for Bare’s retirement ending 2005 covers album The Moon Was Blue.
• 15. “Lying to the Moon” – Trisha Yearwood
  This version of Matraca Berg’s song is proof positive that Trisha Yearwood is one of the most incredibly talented singers in the business. Yes, the lyrics are slightly overwrought, but the sheer beauty of Yearwood’s vocal performance makes this one a keeper.
• 14. “Full Moon Full of Love” – k.d. lang and The Reclines
  The Canadian chanteuse was far too briefly a country singer. Here lang addresses her lament to an anthropomorphic coyote, who responds “It’s not because I’m sad/That I sing all night long/I’m looking for someone to love/And this is my love song.” Okay, then.
• 13. “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again” – Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan
  Everyone’s covered this song (including Cindy Walker, Bill Monroe, Elvis Presley, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Slim Whitman, just to name a few), and with good reason. Painfully evocative lyrics such as “When my blue moon turns to gold again/You’ll be back in my arms to stay” make this a classic country song.
• 12. “Puttin’ People on the Moon” – Drive-By Truckers
  Patterson Hood asks life’s tough questions in this cut from The Dirty South: “And if you say I’m being punished/Ain’t He got better things to do?/Turnin’ mountains into oceans/Puttin’ people on the moon.”
• 11. “Cajun Moon” – Ricky Skaggs
  This country song about a Louisiana hootenanny hit Number One in the U.S. and Canada back in 1986. Son of a gun, there is big fun on the bayou!
• 10. “Throwin’ Horseshoes at the Moon” – Tom Russell
  “My father was a gambler/He threw horseshoes at the moon/He won a million dollars/He lost a million too.” These opening lines are your first hint that “Throwin’ Horseshoes at the Moon” isn’t a happy folk song. But it sure is beautiful. Russell traces the rise and fall of his father’s fortunes, ending with the all important question “How can you be a loser if you never lose your pride?”
• 9. “No More the Moon Shines on Lorena” – The Carter Family
  The Carter Family recorded this one in 1930. It’s a tale of love among two plantation slaves, clearly outdated in this age—and with lyrics about “darkie’s chains,” it’s also representative of certain racial attitudes of an earlier America. Despite all this, “No More the Moon Shines on Lorena” is a beautiful song with a compelling story and empathetic vocals from Sara Carter.
• 8. “Moonlight in Vermont” – Willie Nelson
  A ’40s classic
  Covered on Nelson’s Stardust
  Each verse a haiku

  (Except for the bridge, but mentioning that ruins the above masterpiece).

• 7. “Fly Me to the Moon” – George Strait & Frank Sinatra
  Sinatra’s version of this American songbook classic was played for the Apollo 10 astronauts during their lunar mission. The Commander, Thomas Stafford, is an Oklahoma native, so he’d probably approve of this version too.
• 6. “Cruel Moon” – Buddy Miller
  The moon is…kind of a bastard, according to Miller: “Oh cruel moon don’t shine on me/You’ll bring me to her memory/Why can’t you leave me in the dark/You never had a broken heart.”
• 5. “Moon Song/How High the Moon/Bad Moon Rising” – Emmylou Harris
  Picking just one Emmylou song for a playlist is a tough decision. Meryl Streep will be making a movie about it any day now, we hear.
• 4. “Slow Dancing with the Moon” – Dolly Parton
  “I’ve lived my life like a lovesick clown/In a bittersweet cartoon.” Clowns are scary as hell. But this is one of our favorite Dolly songs.
• 3. “Howlin’ at the Moon” – Hank Williams
  Love sure will make a person crazy. If the lyrics from this 1951 hit are anything to go by, it might also turn you into a werewolf, or just some jackass who’s forgotten how to use silverware.
• 2. “Southern Moon” – The Delmore Brothers
  Alton and Rabon Delmore are the very definition of brother harmony on this song, right down to the tandem yodels. Charlie and Ira Louvin did a damn fine job with this song on their 1960 record A Tribute to the Delmore Brothers.
• 1. “Blue Moon of Kentucky” – Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
  Could there be any other choice for the #1 spot on this list? It’s Monroe’s best known song, covered most famously by Elvis, though there’ve been scores of others. The lyrics, however, do raise one important question: is there anybody really magnanimous enough to beg the moon to keep shining on someone who’s “proved untrue”?