\n<\/p>\n
The list below of 50 Songs About the Moon isn’t necessarily the top lunar tracks or even our favorites. Still, we believe it represents that incredible astronomical body orbiting our planet in all its shades and influences. They also evoke nearly every emotion you can think of: joy, fear, and sadness.<\/p>\n
And they span all the different offshoots of rock ‘n’ roll out there, from early pioneers and British Invasion stars to metal and indie acts. We even made room for\u00a0a Frank Sinatra classic, because, really, no list of songs about the Moon is complete without that one.<\/p>\n
Plus, you’ll find the Moon represented by a galaxy of colors. Name one, and it’s probably been applied to the Moon in one form or another. It’s been black, blue, white, yellow, pink and lavender over the years. It’s also been the source for some magical happenings and some ominous chills. Basically, the Moon was there before people started writing songs about it, before they landed on it and before the day they’ll colonize it.<\/p>\n
Pink Floyd, “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse” (1973)<\/strong><\/p>\n Pink Floyd<\/a>‘s epic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon<\/a><\/em> isn’t actually about\u00a0the Moon \u2013 it’s mostly about madness and greed and fame \u2013 but the orb plays a big part in its underlying concept and, duh, gives the LP its name.\u00a0“Brain Damage” and “Eclipse”\u00a0are nearly inseparable and close the album on a cathartic note, drawing to an end one of the most perfect records ever made.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Ozzy Osbourne, “Bark at the Moon” (1983)<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course, the Prince of Darkness barks at the Moon. What else is he gonna do underneath it? Fall in love? Find inspiration for a new song about puppies? The Bark at the Moon<\/em> LP cover and video for the title track feature Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> in full monster makeup, driving home the horror theme and pretty much Osbourne’s career aesthetic.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Paul Simon, “Song About the Moon” (1983)<\/strong><\/p>\n Closing out the first side of Paul Simon<\/a>‘s 1983 album Hearts and Bones<\/a><\/em>, “Song About the Moon” is a wistful look at the songwriting process as well as a meditative love song. Simon’s advice for both? Keep it simple; no need to over-complicate things. Sometimes the answer is right above you. “Na na na na na na\/Yeah yeah yeah<\/em>,” he sings. “Presto, a song about the Moon<\/em>.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Top 100 Albums of the ’70s<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Rolling Stones, “Child of the Moon” (1968)<\/strong><\/p>\n “Moonlight Mile” may be the more popular Rolling Stones<\/a> song to mention the Moon, but we prefer the B-side to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” “Child of the Moon” was recorded at the very start of the Beggars Banquet<\/em><\/a> sessions and, like its flip side, ended up on a single instead. In a sense, the song acts as a bridge between the hazy psychedelia of\u00a0Their Satanic Majesties Request<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0back-to-basics blues of Beggars Banquet<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Iron Maiden, “Moonchild” (1988)<\/strong><\/p>\n The opening track on Iron Maiden<\/a>‘s 1988 concept album,\u00a0Seventh Son of a Seventh Son<\/em><\/a>, pretty much sets up the theme based on the old folk tale about the seventh son possessing special powers. The album has somewhat of a polarizing reputation among metal fans because of its use of keyboards, but they fit the record’s proggy shift. “Moonchild” serves as an appropriate introduction.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cat Stevens, “Moonshadow” (1970)<\/strong><\/p>\n Unlike many of the songs on this list, Cat Stevens<\/a>‘ “Moonshadow” was\u00a0directly inspired by the Moon. The London-born singer-songwriter was in Spain and witnessed a clear night \u2014 free of streetlights and other big-city obstructions \u2014 for the first time. Seeing his shadow reflected by the glow, he wrote this Top 40 hit from 1970 that later appeared on his fifth album,\u00a0Teaser and the Firecat<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Prince, “Moonbeam Levels” (2016)<\/strong><\/p>\n “Moonbeam Levels” was recorded during the sessions for Prince<\/a>‘s 1999<\/em> album in 1982, but it sat in his vault until after he died in 2016. It was eventually released on his first posthumous album, 4Ever<\/em>, a\u00a040-track compilation of Prince’s most popular songs. It’s the only new track on the 2016 collection, and a worthy addition to his catalog, a scorching ballad from the artist’s peak period.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Firm, “Midnight Moonlight” (1985)<\/strong><\/p>\n The ’80s supergroup featuring Jimmy Page <\/a>and Paul Rodgers<\/a> ended their self-titled 1985 debut album<\/a> with this nine-minute, slow-building rocker that started life in Page’s old band, Led Zeppelin<\/a>. Back during the Physical Graffiti<\/em><\/a> sessions, it was an instrumental known as “Swan Song,” but singer Rodgers worked some lyrics into it for the Firm <\/a>LP and turned it into one of the album’s highlights.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Elvis Presley, “Blue Moon\u00a0of Kentucky” (1954)<\/strong><\/p>\n Like several artists here, Elvis Presley has more than one song about the Moon. There’s “Blue Moon,” “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again” and probably a couple of things recorded for those crappy ’60s movies. But we went with “Blue Moon of Kentucky” because of its significance:\u00a0The Bill Monroe cover\u00a0was the B-side of the King’s first-ever single, 1954’s “That’s All Right.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Genesis. “Dancing With the Moonlit Knight” (1973)<\/strong><\/p>\n Genesis<\/a>\u00a0was entering a peak progressive era when the band released its\u00a0fifth album,\u00a0Selling England by the Pound<\/em><\/a>, in 1973. The album’s epic opening track runs eight minutes and bridges ancient English history with a look at the nation in the ’70s. The moonlit knight here represents a past that’s bound to repeat itself in the future … or something like that. Either way, it’s a great start to a great album.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Nick Drake, “Pink Moon” (1972)<\/strong><\/p>\n Drake’s career consisted of three albums before he killed himself at age 26 in 1974. Pink Moon<\/em>, from 1972, was his final LP and, like its predecessors, didn’t find much of an audience. By the early ’90s, his music was rediscovered and reevaluated to the point where Pink Moon<\/em>‘s title song\u00a0found new life in a popular Volkswagen commercial. It was by far the most exposure the long-gone Drake ever received.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Van Morrison, “Moondance” (1970)<\/strong><\/p>\n Van Morrison<\/a>‘s second solo LP, 1968’s Astral Weeks<\/em>, was a reaction against his former record company’s demands for more commercial appeal. Point made with that free-form classic, he returned in 1970 with the more accessible Moondance<\/em>, his only platinum-selling LP in the States. It’s filled with timeless classics, including the jazz-kissed romantic title track, the song Morrison has played most often in concert.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Waterboys, “The Whole of the Mo<\/strong>on” (1985)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Edinburgh-bred Waterboys have gone through several iterations over the past three decades, trying their hand at everything from folk and traditional Celtic music to post-punk and straight-up rock. “The Whole of the Moon” comes from the period when they wanted to be U2<\/a>\u00a0and is their big arena-sized single from 1985’s This Is the Sea<\/em> album, the pinnacle of their long career.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Mothers of Invention, “Concentration Moon” (1968)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Mothers of Invention<\/a>‘s third\u00a0LP, We’re Only in It for the Money<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0continued the group’s takedown of right-wing politics, the counterculture and specific pop-culture moments (the 1968 LP was a parody of Sgt. Pepper<\/a><\/em>, both in its conceptual nature and with its inside artwork). “Concentration Moon” is a stitched-together audio collage featuring tape-altered vocals, found sounds and the usual Frank Zappa<\/a> weirdness.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n David Bowie, “Moonage Daydream” (1972)<\/strong><\/p>\n Davis Bowie<\/a>‘s 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars<\/em><\/a> is all about outer space. Even though the song debuted a year earlier in a different version, “Moonage Daydream” plays a key role in Ziggy<\/em>‘s concept: It’s the moment where the rock-star messiah is born. It’s also one of Bowie’s best songs from a period where he was untouchable.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Can, “Moonshake” (1973)<\/strong><\/p>\n “Moonshake” is the shortest track on German krautrock band Can’s acclaimed fifth album,\u00a0Future Days<\/em>, and the only one under nine minutes. In that sense, it’s about as close to a traditional rock song as this wildly experimental band gets. There’s no mention of the Moon in the 1973 song; mostly, it’s just the refrain “Let me free no more, let me free no more<\/em>” sung over and over.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Top 50 Hard Rock Songs of the ’70s<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dennis Wilson, “Moonshine” (1977)<\/strong><\/p>\n The late Beach Boys<\/a> drummer released only one solo album before his 1983 death at age 39, 1977’s Pacific Ocean Blue<\/em>. It’s laid-back, expertly arranged and better than anything his group was doing at the time. “Moonshine,” like several of the album’s songs, was co-written with Blue<\/em>‘s producer, Gregg Jakobson, who also happened to be a prosecution witness in the Manson Family murder trials.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Radiohead, “Sail to the Moon” (2003)<\/strong><\/p>\n Radiohead <\/a>are really into the Moon. They even named their 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool\u00a0<\/em>after it; 13 years earlier, they sang a song all about it (and laced it with a political undercurrent). “I sail to the moon,\u00a0I spoke too soon<\/em>,” Thom Yorke sings. “I was dropped from a moonbeam and sailed on shooting stars<\/em>.” Like all of Hail to the Thief<\/em><\/a>‘s songs, this one comes with a subtitle: “Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Janis Joplin, “Half Moon” (1971)<\/strong><\/p>\n Janis Joplin<\/a>\u00a0recorded her final album up to the day she died: The a cappella “Mercedes Benz” was laid down just three days before her Oct. 4, 1970, death at age 27. Month-long sessions yielded some of her strongest work, which ended up on the Pearl<\/em> <\/a>LP the following January. It quickly shot to No. 1. The typically bluesy rocker “Half Moon” showcases her soaring voice.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Neil Young, “Harvest Moon” (1992)<\/strong><\/p>\n Neil Young <\/a>was on a creative roll when he released the\u00a0stripped-down Harvest Moon<\/a><\/em> in 1992. Originally conceived as a sorta sequel to 1972’s No. 1 Harvest<\/a><\/em>, the album featured many of the same country and folk musicians who played on the earlier classic. Harvest Moon<\/em>‘s title track is one of Young’s most affecting love songs, a tribute to his now-former wife and the romantic power of nature.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U2, “Hawkmoon 269” (1988)<\/strong><\/p>\n U2’s 1988 album Rattle and Hum<\/em><\/a> is part concert souvenir, part continuation of the previous year’s breakthrough LP\u00a0The Joshua Tree<\/a><\/em>. The new studio tracks are highlights, including this slow-building, moody piece inspired by a town in North Dakota. Rattle and Hum<\/em> once again surveyed the U.S. landscape, as the Irish band found stories in its corners while on tour. “Hawkmoon 269” feels like the dusty Midwest.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Television, “Marquee Moon” (1977)<\/strong><\/p>\n The centerpiece of one of punk’s all-time great albums, “Marquee Moon” clocks in at 10 minutes and proved that\u00a0not everyone in this new wave of bands at the end of the ’70s wanted to break down rock’s traditional signposts. New York quartet Television flashed guitar heroics like classic rockers, and their 1977 debut,\u00a0Marquee Moon<\/em>, is a taut exercise in art-punk filtered through decades-old sentiments.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n King Crimson, “Moonchild” (1969)<\/strong><\/p>\n This 12-minute epic from King Crimson<\/a>‘s debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King<\/em><\/a>, is actually made up of two pieces: “The Dream” and “The Illusion,” which includes a Rodgers & Hammerstein quote by band leader and guitarist Robert Fripp. Like most of the songs on the pivotal 1969 LP, “Moonchild” features some insanely tricky instrumental performances by the group.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Drive-By Truckers, “Puttin’ People on the Moon” (2004)<\/strong><\/p>\n Space travel didn’t excite everyone. In the Drive-By Truckers<\/a>‘ 2004 character study “Puttin’ People on the Moon” (from their excellent The Dirty South<\/em> album), NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in an Alabama town didn’t affect all citizens equally. “Double-digit unemployment, TVA be shutting soon\/While over there in Huntsville, they’re puttin’ people on the Moon<\/em>,” sings Patterson Hood, barely\u00a0hiding his spite.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Nilsson, “The Moonbeam Song” (1971)<\/strong><\/p>\n Harry Nilsson<\/a> was better known as a songwriter than a performer before his cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin'” took him into the Top 10 in 1969. Two years later, a cover of Badfinger’s “Without You” reached No. 1. That hit song’s album, Nilsson Schmilsson<\/em><\/a>, is Nilsson’s masterpiece, and features seven originals, including the wistful “The Moonbeam Song.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Bad Moon Rising” (1969)<\/strong><\/p>\n Even though Creedence Clearwater Revival <\/a>had a\u00a0productive 1969, releasing three classic albums that year, frontman John Fogerty<\/a> probably had no idea just how great it would be when the band released “Bad Moon Rising” that April (it later showed up on August’s Green River<\/em><\/a> LP). In fact, he was pretty sure an apocalypse was looming: “Don’t go ’round tonight<\/em>,” he sings. “It’s bound to take your life<\/em>.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Thin Lizzy, “Dancing in the Moonlight” (1978)<\/strong><\/p>\n Thin Lizzy <\/a>released the celebratory “Dancing in the Moonlight,” parenthetically subtitled “It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight,” as a single in 1977, a couple of months before it showed up on their eighth album, Bad Reputation<\/a><\/em>. We personally prefer the\u00a0concert version found on 1978’s excellent Live and Dangerous<\/a><\/em>. Years later, the Smashing Pumpkins <\/a>covered the song as a B-side.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wilco, “Black Moon” (2011)<\/strong><\/p>\n There are plenty of songs about brightly hued moons out there, but Wilco takes a different route on their song from 2011’s The Whole Love<\/em>. “I am always one without a warning\/Whole days reappear, lift away, past the gate\/Desert keeps forming underneath the black moon<\/em>,” Jeff Tweedy somewhat cryptically sings on “Black Moon.” The song’s moody ambiance is reflected in its title.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Beck, “Blue Moon” (2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n Not to be confused with that other<\/em> “Blue Moon” \u2013 the standard everyone from Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan<\/a> has covered \u2013 Beck<\/a>‘s “Blue Moon” was the first single released from his 2014 album Morning Phase<\/em>, a sequel of sorts to the old-school singer-songwriter turn the alt-rock smart-ass took a decade earlier on Sea Change<\/em>. Things are equally stripped-down and personal here.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Grateful Dead, “Mountains of the Moon” (1969)<\/strong><\/p>\n Aoxomoxoa<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/a>is often overlooked in the\u00a0Grateful Dead<\/a>\u00a0catalog because it came between the breakthrough\u00a0Anthem of the Sun<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and the career-defining\u00a0Live\/Dead<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(or the pivotal\u00a0Workingman’s Dead<\/em><\/a>, if you prefer to focus on studio albums).\u00a0But the Dead’s third LP continues the experimental streak of its predecessor while hinting at their stripped-down future. “Mountains of the Moon” has a direct line to the band’s acoustic classics.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Los Lobos, “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” (1992)<\/strong><\/p>\n By the time they made their ninth album in 1992, Los Lobos had evolved from spirited roots rockers to art-pop adventurers. Kiko<\/em> is the pinnacle of this experimental period, layered with instrumental textures and haunted soundscapes courtesy of co-producer Mitchell Froom. The sorta title track, “Kiko and the Lavender Moon,” is a highlight of the LP. The band later showed up on Sesame Street<\/em> to perform the song with Elmo.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Doors, “Moonlight Drive” (1967)<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the first songs written by Jim Morrison<\/a>, and included on their original demo tape, even though it didn’t appear until their second album, Strange Days<\/a><\/em>, “Moonlight Drive,” in its earliest lyrical form, reportedly inspired keyboardist Ray Manzarek<\/a> to start a band with the budding poet and singer. Like many of the Doors<\/a>‘ early\u00a0songs, “Moonlight Drive” is blues-based, though spiked with some of the wooziness of\u00a0Strange Days<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, “Moonlight on Vermont” (1969)<\/strong><\/p>\n We’re not going to pretend Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band’s 1969 masterpiece\u00a0Trout Mask Replica<\/em><\/a> is an easy listen. It isn’t. And we’re not totally sure we’d call “Moonlight on Vermont” its most accessible song. Still, the track remains one of Beefheart’s greatest works, an abstract blues siphoned through a singular form of art-rock that still sounds decades ahead of its time.<\/p>\n The Beatles, “Mr. Moonlight” (1964)<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0Beatles<\/a>‘ fourth album,\u00a0Beatles for Sale<\/em><\/a>, was released in late 1964 during the peak of Beatlemania.\u00a0They were rushed back into the studio, even though they didn’t have too many new songs written. So they filled out the record with covers, including Roy Lee Johnson’s “Mr. Moonlight,” a staple of the Beatles’ early live sets. Paul McCartney<\/a> provides an odd\u00a0organ solo; otherwise, it’s pretty forgettable.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Top 35 Hard Rock Songs of the ’70s<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Echo and the Bunnymen, “The Killing Moon” (1984)<\/strong><\/p>\n Like much of Echo and the Bunnymen’s work, “The Killing Moon” is a bit on the vague side. Singer Ian McCulloch has said the song was inspired by both a dream and a childhood fascination with space. Plus, the chords are\u00a0cribbed from David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” but played backward. The result is the post-punk band’s greatest song and one of the era’s most defining tracks.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Soft Machine, “Moon in June” (1970)<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.K. band’s third album in 1970 marked its transition from psychedelic and prog music to jazzier elements. The 19-minute “Moon in June” filled the third side of the four-track, double LP, and stands as a highlight of the period. The song is noteworthy for being the last Soft Machine song to include lyrics. From this point forward, they became solely an instrumental group, dropping their progressive style for fusion.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Police, “Walking on the Moon” (1979)<\/strong><\/p>\n Years before Katrina and the Waves walked on sunshine, the Police<\/a> were getting their Neil Armstrong on. Released as the second single from their second album, 1979’s Reggatta de Blanc<\/em><\/a>, “Walking on the Moon” is a love song written by Sting<\/a> about that otherworldly feeling one gets from a blissful relationship. He wrote it while drunk in a Munich hotel room, which inspired the original lyrics: “Walking round the room<\/em>.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Black Crowes, “Black Moon Creeping” (1992)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Black Crowes’ second album, and only No. 1, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion<\/em>, stands as their greatest LP. The slithering “Black Moon Creeping” sounds exactly like you’d expect it to, all fuzzy guitars and menacing tone, right down to the talk box that oozes throughout the song. “What you got buried in your backyard?\u00a0What secret do you sleep with when the black moon comes?<\/em>” Chris Robinson asks.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Talking Heads, “Moon Rocks” (1983)<\/strong><\/p>\n “Moon Rocks” tends to get lost among the other songs on Talking Heads<\/a>‘ 1983 album, Speaking in Tongues<\/a><\/em>. “Burning Down the House” is on there, and gave the band its only Top 10 hit. And other tracks became showpieces on the tour that resulted in the Stop Making Sense<\/a><\/em> movie and soundtrack. But “Moon Rocks” features the same sinewy blend of slinky New Wave and elastic funk as other songs on the classic LP.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0The White Stripes, “White Moon” (2005)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Moon comes in all sorts of colors: blue, pink, yellow, lavender. And on their 2005 album Get Behind Me Satan<\/em>, the White Stripes<\/a>, appropriately, added “white” to the list. And like many of the songs on that transitional LP, “White Moon” is a sparse ballad that plays down the duo’s garage-rock past and replaces the guitars with pianos and other unplugged instruments.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Robbie Robertson, “Sonny Got Caught in the Moonlight” (1987)<\/strong><\/p>\n More than 10\u00a0years after the Band<\/a> said goodbye with The Last Waltz<\/a><\/em>, the group’s main songwriter finally released his first solo album.\u00a0Robbie Robertson<\/a>\u00a0brought in others for help (Peter Gabriel<\/a>, members of U2 and some of his old bandmates all show up), but unlike his Band years, where he rarely sang, he stepped up to the mic\u00a0throughout