Shine On, Harvest Moon

"Shine On, Harvest Moon"
Cover, sheet music, 1908
Music by	Nora Bayes
Lyrics by	Jack Norworth
Published	1908
Language	English

"Shine On, Harvest Moon" is the name of a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 to great acclaim. It became a pop standard, and continues to be performed and recorded into the 21st century.

During the vaudeville era, songs were often sold outright, and the purchaser would become the songwriter of record. John Kenrick's Who's Who In Musicals credits songwriters Edward Madden and Gus Edwards, while David Ewen's All the Years of American Popular Music credits Dave Stamper, who contributed songs to 21 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies and was Bayes' pianist from 1903 to 1908. Vaudeville comic Eddie Cantor also credited Stamper in his 1934 book Ziegfeld - The Great Glorifier.

Lyrics

First verse

The night was mighty dark so you could hardly see,

For the moon refused to shine.

Couple sitting underneath a willow tree,

For love they did pine.

Little maid was kinda 'fraid of darkness

So she said, "I guess I'll go."

Boy began to sigh, looked up at the sky,

And told the moon his little tale of woe

Chorus

Oh, Shine on, shine on, harvest moon

Up in the sky;

I ain't had no lovin'

Since April, January, June or July.

Snow time ain't no time to stay

Outdoors and spoon;

So shine on, shine on, harvest moon,

For me and my gal.

Note: The months in the chorus have been sung is several different orders. The Ada Jones and Billy Murray song linked on this article has:

April, January, Ju-une or July

Leon Redbone's cover on his album Double Time had the lyric as:

January, February, June or July.

Second verse

I can't see why a boy should sigh when by his side

Is the girl he loves so true,

All he has to say is: "Won't you be my bride,

For I love you,

I can't see why I'm telling you this secret,

When I know that you can guess."

Harvest moon will smile,

Shine on all the while,

If the little girl should answer "yes."

(repeat chorus)

Film and television connections

The song has had a long history with the movies. In 1932, animation great Dave Fleischer directed a short titled Shine on Harvest Moon. A 1938 Roy Rogers western was also named after the song, as was a 1944 biographical film about Bayes and Norworth.

Popular British 1980s comedy drama, Shine on Harvey Moon.

The song has been featured in dozens of movies including Along Came Ruth (1933), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), and Pennies from Heaven (1978).

Other references

• Billy Murray did not hesitate to record parodies and other songs that made fun of popular hits, including his own. Today's hits quickly become tomorrow's oldies. At the time this song was popular, Murray recorded a song whose title is the last line, gently poking fun at this "modern" song:

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?!

By the time Murray was recording "follow the bouncing ball" cartoons in the 1930s, Shine On, Harvest Moon was also very much an "old time tune".

Other recordings

• Kirsten Cooke and Arthur Bostrom perform it as Michelle Dubois of the resistance and officer Crabtree in the sitcom 'Allo 'Allo (Season 8 Episode 7). Carmen Silvera as Madame Edith also sings the number during the closing credits of the same episode.
• Jerry Gray and his orchestra (recorded August 24, 1951, Decca Records catalog number 27868)
• Laurel and Hardy perform it in their film The Flying Deuces (1939).
• Marah recorded the song for their 2007 EP, Can't Take it With You.
• Allan Shermann parodied the song as "Shine On, Harvey Bloom" on his 1964 album For Swingin' Livers Only.
• Moon Mullican performed the song live in 1955.
• Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster both perform sax in a nearly five-minute jazz version on the 1957 album, "Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster".
• Leon Redbone recorded the song for his 1976 album, Double Time (album).
• Art Gillham's recording of the song for Columbia in 1931 was praised by Walter Winchell.
• Ruth Etting revived the song in the 1931 Ziegfeld Follies.
• Mance Lipscomb recorded the song live in 1965 for Arhoolie Records on Mance Lipscomb Vol. 3 Texas Songster in a Live Performance.
• Eight-year-old Britney Spears sang a rendition of the song in her video audition for the Mickey Mouse Club.
• In an early I Love Lucy episode, the group sings the song at the piano.