By the Light of the Silvery Moon (song)

Infobox Standard
title = By The Light of the Silvery Moon
english_title =
comment =


image_size =
caption = Cover of sheet music, 1909.
writer =
composer = Gus Edwards
lyricist = Edward Madden
published = 1909
written =
language = English
form =
original_artist =
recorded_by = Many artists
performed_by =

"By The Light of the Silvery Moon" is a popular song.

The music was written by Gus Edwards, the lyrics by Edward Madden. The song was published in 1909. It was one of a series of moon related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era.

This popular tune has been used in a great many television shows and motion pictures.

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 "By the Light of the Silvery Moon (film)."

Lyrics

The original lyrics of the song, now in the public domain due to expired copyright, are as follows.

Verse one

: Place: Park: Scene: Dark: Silv'ry Moon is shining through the trees,: Cast: Two,: Me, you,: Sound of kisses floating on the breeze;: Act one: begun,: Dialogue "Where would ya like to spoon?": My cue: with you, : Underneath the silv'ry moon.

Chorus

: By the light, of the silvery moon,: I want to spoon,: To my honey I'll croon love's tune.: Honey moon, keep a-shinin' in June.: Your silv'ry beams will bring love's dreams,: We'll be cuddlin' soon,: By the silvery moon.

Verse two

: Act two.: Scene: new.: Roses blooming all around the place.: Cast: three: You, me,: Preacher with a solemn looking face.: Choir sings, bell rings,: Preacher: "You are wed forever more": Act two, all through. : Ev'ry night the same encore.

(Repeat chorus)

Variation

A variation on the chorus has some patter:::By the light (not the dark but the light):Of the silvery moon (not the sun but the moon):I wanna spoon (not croon, but spoon):To my honey I'll croon love's tune:Honey moon, honey moon, honey moon:Keep a-shinin' in June:Your silv'ry beams will bring love's dreams:We'll be cuddlin' soon:By the silvery moon:The silv'ry moon...

atires

Every old song was once new. Billy Murray recorded a song around the time this song was new, portraying an old man who found this new song frivolous. The title of this song is the second line, below:

: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!

External multimedia

* [http://www.tinfoil.com/e10362~.ram By the Light of the Silvery Moon] , RealAudio file of 1910 performance by Ada Jones
* [http://nwc-scriptorium.org/ftp/tinpanalley/edwsilver.html By the Light of the Silvery Moon]