One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.

~Bob Marley

 

Music is one of the most expressive art forms, and it has come out of every culture on the planet. And for so many of these songs the artists have taken their love for music, and their love for the moon, to a perfect mix right in the middle with songs about music. Collected are 13 of the best songs about the moon, with an emphasis on the 20^th century.

 

1. “Moon Shadow” by Cat Stevens, from the album “Teaser and the Firecat”, which was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith at A&M Records and released in 1971. It’s a beautiful song that has been covered several different times, including one by Mandy Moore in 2003.
2. “Dancin’ in the Moonlight” is a song by Thin Lizzy off of the album “Bad Reputation”. It shares the album with the title song, which while being more famous, isn’t quite as beautiful as the song of the moon. It was released in 1977, produced by Tony Visconti of Vertigo Records. It’s classified as a hard rock album, but now it’s as classic a rock as the moon is!
3. “Moonage Daydream” from the classic album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” is a song by the late and great David Bowie. It was self-produced, and released by the label RCA Victor in June of 1972. It’s part of his famous concept album and plays a major role in the story of Ziggy that unfolds.
4. “Moonlight Drive” by the Doors, is an amazing song off their album “Strange Days” which was released in 1967. It was one of the first songs the lead singer Jim Morrison wrote, and has been a favorite with the fans since. It plays off the romance of the moonlight, and that’s a sentiment that everyone can share.
5. “Bad Moon Rising” is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the lead single to their album “Green River.” It was released about 4 months before the album came out in 1969, and reached Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 1 on the UK Single’s chart for three weeks in a row. It was CCR’s second gold single.
   There really is no such thing as a "bad moon" though the full moon has pleanty of myths associated with it. Click here to learn more.
6. “Moondance” by Van Morrison is the title song for the 1970 album “Moondance”. It was the third studio album by the singer and songwriter, and was much more successful than the commercial failure of “Astral Weeks”.
7. “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra is probably one of the most romantic songs to stand the test of time as it has. It was originally titled “In Other Words”, when it was written by Brent Howard. It came off the 1964 frank Sinatra album “I t Might as Well Be Swing.”
8. “Half Moon” by Janis Joplin is most notably from the album “Wicked Woman.” Wicked Woman is a bootleg album from her last performance less than two months before she died. The recordings on the album are courtesy of the audience members recording it at the time.
9. “Havana Moon”, which is mostly known as a solo project album by the same name from artist Carlos Santana. It features the cover of the Chuck Berry classic, as well as several others. It was self produced, and released in 1983.
10. “Brother Wolf, Sister Moon” by The Cult is a great song that draws a reference to the connection between wolves, and the power of the moon, it also speaks very strongly about human feeling, and echoes the moon’s power to help you move on. 
    Interested in learning more about wolves and the Moon? Check out our blog post agout it right here! 
11. “Man on the Moon” from R.E.M.is part of the album “Automatic for the People” that was released in 1992. It was released by Warner Bros. Records, was nominated for a Grammy for “Album of the Year”, and even though it didn’t take that, it did take the NME Award for Best Album.
12. “Sisters of the Moon”  from the Fleetwood Mac album titled “Tusk” that was released in October of 1979, it was their 12^th album, which makes it the perfect 12^th entry for our list of beautiful songs inspired by the moon. But don’t fret, there’s one left!
13. “Moon at the Window” by Joni Mitchell brings us in at a full 13. It’s from her transitional album “Wild Things Run Fast” which recorded her transition from jazz into the more 1980s style pop genre. IT was released in 1982, produced by herself, and released by the label Geffen Records.

Music runs through the blood of everyone and these songs, with the moon as their inspiration, rock as hard as the moon itself!