Moon River

This article is about the song. For other uses, see Moon River (disambiguation).

"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Henry Mancini (music) in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song.^[1] It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn,^[1] although it has been covered by many other artists. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.^[2]

It became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1961 and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremonies in 1962. He sang the first eight bars at the beginning of his television show and also named his production company and venue in Branson, Missouri after it. Williams' version was disliked by Cadence Records president Archie Bleyer, who believed it had little or no appeal to teenagers.^{[citation needed]} Andy Williams' version never charted, except as an LP track, which he recorded for Columbia in a hit album of 1962.

The success of the song was responsible for re-launching Mercer's career as a songwriter, which had stalled in the mid-1950s because rock and roll replaced jazz standards as the popular music of the time. An inlet near Savannah, Georgia, Johnny Mercer's hometown, was named Moon River in honor of him and this song. The popularity of the song is such that it has been used as a test sample in a study on people's memories of popular songs.^[3]

Comments about the song have noted that it is particularly reminiscent of Mercer's youth in the Southern United States.^[4]

Versions

Original

Mercer and Mancini wrote the song for Audrey Hepburn to fit her vocal range. Initially, the lyrics started, "I'm Holly, like I want to be / like Holly on a tree back home ..."; however, they were later changed to fit the theme of the film Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Although an instrumental version is played over the film's opening titles, the lyrics are first heard in a scene where Paul "Fred" Varjak (George Peppard) discovers Holly Golightly (Hepburn) singing them, accompanied by her guitar, on the fire escape outside their apartments.

There was an eruption of much behind-the-scenes consternation when a Paramount Pictures executive suggested deleting the song from the film immediately after a very successful San Francisco preview. Hepburn's reaction was described by Mancini and others in degrees varying from her saying "over my dead body" to her using somewhat more colorful language to make the same point.^{[citation needed]}

Hepburn's version was not included in the original movie soundtrack. Instead, an album version recorded by Mancini and his chorus was released as a single and became a number 11 hit. In different versions, Joel Whitburn's "Top Adult (Contemporary) Songs" reported the song as a #3 or #1 easy listening hit, due to unpublished charts in Billboard. Only months after Hepburn's death in 1993 her version was released on an album titled Music from the Films of Audrey Hepburn.

Recordings

"Moon River" was a hit single for Jerry Butler in late 1961, reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December^[5], two weeks before Mancini's recording reached the same spot. Meanwhile across the Atlantic, South African singer Danny Williams had a hit version of the song that reached number one in the UK in the final week of 1961.^[1] Although Andy Williams never released the song as a single, his LP Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes, released in the spring of 1962, was certified Gold in October 1963 for sales of over a million copies^[6]. Other artists that have covered the song are Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers (instrumental), Aretha Franklin, Ann Margret in 1962, Jonny Fair (Live), Lena Horne, Nico Fidenco in italian (1962), Joni James (1963), Jay and the Americans (1962), Bobby Solo in italian (1966), The Afghan Whigs,^[7] Paul Anka, Blake, Louis Armstrong, Vic Damone, Billy Stewart in 1965, Bobby Vinton in 1965, Vince Guaraldi, Beru Revue, Mary Black, Sarah Brightman, Liz Callaway, Perry Como, Ben E. King, Ray Conniff, Bobby Darin, Ania Dąbrowska, Dr. John, Dump, Billy Eckstine, The Four Freshmen, Connie Francis, Bill Frisell (instrumental), Emi Fujita, Judy Garland, Duane Eddy (instrumental in 1962), Karel Gott, Grant Green (instrumental), Patty Griffin, The Innocence Mission (this version is sometimes incorrectly attributed to actress Milla Jovovich), Josh Ritter in his acoustic session for the website Daytrotter^[8], Bradley Joseph (instrumental), Kim Yoo-jin, James Last, Trini Lopez, Lisa Ono, Joey McIntyre, Johnny Mathis, Brad Mehldau, Jane Monheit, Morrissey, Willie Nelson, Patsy Ann Noble, Eddi Reader, Jim Reeves, John Barrowman, R.E.M., Katie Melua, Andrea Ross, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, The Killers, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand for The Movie Album (2003), Sarah Vaughan, Nan Vernon, Kid Koala, Westlife, Victoria Williams, The Divine Comedy, Tata Young, Tommy Emmanuel (2010), Helmut Lotti, Chiara Civello, Christine Collister, Oscar Peterson (solo piano), Hirai Ken, Rumer, Kazumasa Oda from his 1988 album "Between the Word and the Heart", and Khalil Fong.

Mercer himself recorded the song in 1974 for his album My Huckleberry Friend.

In 2007, saxophonist Dave Koz recorded a version from his standards music album, At the Movies. The song featured Barry Manilow on vocals.^[9][10][11]

Clay Aiken recorded the song on his 2010 album Tried and True. Aiken's version features a guitar solo by country artist Vince Gill.

Performances

• Mina performed the song in Canzonissima, the Italian Broadcasting Service series of variety.
• Elton John performed the song in his Solo Tour 2003, including the Palais de Festival in Cannes.
• Jennifer Love Hewitt performs the song in the biopic The Audrey Hepburn Story, in which Hewitt portrays the actress.
• On the singing contest American Idol, Anwar Robinson performed the song during the 2005 season, and Jason Yeager performed the song during the 2008 season.
• Canadian turntablist Kid Koala has performed a live version of "Moon River" as part of his sets, mixing and scratching the song on 3 turntables.
• In the 1996 Hong Kong film Si Mian Xia Wa ('Four Faces of Eve'), a drunken Chinese man in a nightclub attempts to sing a karaoke version of "Moon River". He sings the lyric in English but with a strong Kowloon accent. His pronunciation of "huckleberry friend" sounds very much like "huckerbelly flend".
• Singer/songwriter Patrick Wolf has also sung the opening four lines live as an introduction to his song "The Stars".
• It was sung by Niamh on I'd Do Anything.
• On the 2003 show, American Juniors, the song was performed by 11 year old contestant, Chauncey Matthews.
• In 2009, fashion designer^[12] Malan Breton of Project Runway Season 3 performed the song live at a dedication ceremony to Johnny Mercer's 100th.
• Eric Clapton performed the song at the London O2 Arena on February 13 and 14 and at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 17 and 18 of 2010 as part of his shows with fellow guitar great Jeff Beck.
• Morrissey occasionally performs the song in concert performances, changing the lyrics slightly and adding sound effects in the background.
• Ryuichi Kawamura, the vocalist of the Japanese rock band Luna Sea covered the song in his album, The Voice, released on March 16, 2011.
• Covered by The Killers during their headline performance at Hard Rock Calling 2011 in Hyde Park London on 24th June 2011, it was played immediately after their song A Dustland Fairytale, in which Moon River is mentioned.

Other appearances

• In Episode 3.4 of the situation comedy Cheers, the version of the song sung by Andy Williams can be heard on the tape played by Sam.
• In the TV series Northern Exposure Louis Armstrong's version of "Moon River" is featured during the show "Aurora Borealis, A Fairy Tale for Big People".
• In the TV series Gossip Girl the instrumental of "Moon River" plays when Blair Waldorf dreams of being in Serena Van Der Woodsen's shadow, and when Blair finds out Serena is the model that replaced her for the photo shoot of her mother's clothing line.
• In the 1985 film Fletch when the lead character, portrayed by Chevy Chase, starts singing the song as he is given a rectal examination.
• The song makes an appearance in an episode of Family Matters when Steve Urkel sings it to Carl Winslow
• The song has appeared three times on The Simpsons: once on the season seven episode "Bart on the Road" in the sequence where Bart, Milhouse, Nelson, and Martin travel to Branson, Missouri and Nelson forces Bart to stop at an Andy Williams concert where Williams sings Moon River, again in the chapter "Smart and Smarter" in season fifteen when Lisa stays one night in the Springfield Natural History Museum after she runs away from home, and a third time on the season 21 episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" where, after Krusty dumps Penelope (Anne Hathaway) at the altar, Penelope moves to Paris, France and performs a sad, guitar rendition of Moon River for cafe patrons.
• The song was played twice on the situation comedy Frasier twice. The first time was on the season 1 episode "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast" (1994), in which the tune of the song is played while Frasier tries to convince one of his listeners to reconcile with his father, and he later hums the tune to himself. The second time is on the season 11 episode "SeaBee Jeebies" (2003), in which the botched award ceremony culminates with Frasier singing the Seabies' song to the tune of Moon River.
• The song was the background music of the hit Korean TV series Lovers in Paris, where it was always played when the mood of the scenes become dramatic.
• The song was played in a dance sequence involving Prior Walter and Louis Ironson in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Angels in America.
• The Andy Williams version of the song was chosen as the wake-up call on Day 5 of STS-95 for Payload Specialist John Glenn. It was played on Day 2 of the STS-115 mission for Commander Brent Jett.
• The song is played in the 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July during the dance scene between Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) and Donna (Kyra Sedgwick). Later in the film, Ron tells her that it was the most memorable thing he remembers back in high school and proceeds to sing the chorus to her.
• The Blake Edwards film, Curse of the Pink Panther features the Sûreté's main computer humming a backwards version of the song as a result of Dreyfus tampering with its programming.
• The video "Moon River" from the debut album of Andrea Ross features the Piscataqua River and was filmed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
• The Andy Williams version of the song appears in the season four finale of Sex and the City titled "I Heart NY". This is one of many examples people use connecting Carrie to Holly from Breakfast in Tiffany's and is available on the Sex and the City Official Soundtrack album.
• "Moon River" was played at John F. Kennedy's funeral.
• In the 1978 film The Deer Hunter, it's played for some of the dances in the wedding scenes.
• In the 1995 film The Net, Angela Bennett (played by Sandra Bullock) is talking with Jack Devlin (played by Jeremy Northam) about the film Breakfast At Tiffany's in which "Moon River" is sung. They both sing the first line to the song together.
• In the 2001 film Kate & Leopold, Kate (Meg Ryan) and Leopold (Hugh Jackman) listen to the song with a neighbor.
• An elevator music version is featured in the 2002 film Minority Report.
• In 2002 Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big danced to this song in episode 18 of Season 4 of Sex and the City.
• In 2003, "Moon River" instrumental was played in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days when Philip wanted to find out whether Andie has feelings for Benjamin.
• The song is sung in Spanish with a guitar accompaniment by the main character in a pivotal scene of the 2004 film La Mala educación (Bad Education) directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
• In the 2004 film Shall We Dance the song "Moon River" is played when one of the main characters (played by Jennifer Lopez) is giving a dance demonstration
• The 2005 film Elizabethtown contains a scene where Susan Sarandon's character tap dances at her husband's memorial service as a tribute to his "favorite song to dance to on a Saturday night." The song is also played during the closing credits.
• In the 2006 film Take the Lead, an instrumental version of "Moon River" can be heard in the background as Antonio Banderas' character (Pierre Dulaine) is dancing in the first four minutes of the movie.
• In the season 5 episode of Gilmore Girls, when Emily and Richard renew their wedding vows, "Moon River" is played in the background when Rory and Logan dance.
• In season 3 of Cold Case - ep. "Debut", the song is played several times through the episode, with a vocal version closing the episode.
• In 2010, a series of joint concerts by Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, the song was played as an encore number with Beck playing the melody on the guitar and then Clapton singing the lyrics.
• The instrumental can be heard playing during the Glee episode "New York", while Rachel and Kurt are having breakfast in front of Tiffany & Co., paying tribute to Breakfast at Tiffany's.

See also

• Moon River radio program
• List of number-one singles from the 1960s (UK)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 135. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
2. ^ Moon River Songfacts
3. ^ Bartlett, James C., and Snelus, Paul; Snelus, Paul (September 1980). "Lifespan Memory for Popular Songs". The American Journal of Psychology (University of Illinois Press) 93 (3): 551–560. doi:10.2307/1422730. JSTOR 1422730. 
4. ^ Stephen Holden (30 March 1997). "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of Mercer's Lyrics". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05EFDA1E3BF933A05750C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 
5. ^ "Hot 100 for Week Ending December 17". Billboard Music Week. December 11, 1961. 
6. ^ "RIAA.com Searchable Database results for artist 'Williams, Andy' and award 'Gold'". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 
7. ^ Exploration of "Moon River" covers focusing on Afghan Whigs version on Synconation
8. ^ Stories Of American Majesty And Wandering
9. ^ "Dave Koz's Secret Symphony Gig". SmoothVibes.com. http://www.smoothvibes.com/movabletype/archives/000853.html. 
10. ^ "Dave Koz - At The Movies". SmoothViews.com. http://smoothviews.com/cdreviews/koz_atthemovies.htm. 
11. ^ "At The Movies overview". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r948020. 
12. ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=moon+river+malan+breton+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

External links

• Melody with printed lyrics
• Song lyrics
• AllMusic review of Mancini's version of the song
• Andy Williams website
• Johnny Mercer in Hollywood