Moonlight Bay
 |
| "Moonlight Bay" | |
|---|---|
 Cover, sheet music, 1912 | |
| Song |
"Moonlight Bay" is a popular song. It is commonly referred to as "On Moonlight Bay".
The lyrics were written by Edward Madden, the music by Percy Wenrich, and was published in 1912. It was often sung in a Barbershop Quartet style. There has been some controversy about whether the original lyrics are, "We could hear the voices ringing." or "We could hear the darkies singing." The latter appears in several movies (e.g., "Ship Ahoy" starring Red Skelton and others); however the original sheet music and the 1912 Edison wax cylinder recording use "voices."
The song was one of a number of early-20th-century songs which were used as titles of musical films made by Doris Day in the late 1940s and early 1950s. See On Moonlight Bay.
Verses
- Voices hum, crooning over Moonlight Bay
- Banjos strum, tuning while the moonbeams play
- All alone, unknown they find me
- Memories like these remind me
- Of the girl I left behind me
- Down on Moonlight Bay
- Candle lights gleaming on the silent shore
- Lonely nights, dreaming till we meet once more
- Far apart, her heart, is yearning
- With a sigh for my returning
- With the light of love still burning
- As in of days of yore
Chorus
- We were sailing along
- On Moonlight Bay.
- We could hear the voices ringing;
- They seemed to say,
- "You have stolen her heart"
- "Now don't go 'way!"
- As we sang Love's Old Sweet Song
- On Moonlight Bay
Notable covers
- A 1951 duet performance by Bing Crosby and Gary Crosby reached hit status.
See also
- On Moonlight Bay (film)