35 Best Songs About the Moon of All Time

The Moon has prompted incalculable musings throughout the centuries. Sometimes it’s an enthusiastic, “Look at the Moon!” Other times it’s an expression of longing through lines of poetry. And then there’s the sort of lunar lyricism that’s set to music.

Music tends to elicit an emotional response, whether you intend for it to happen or not. It’s as if you can feel, rather than hear, the lyrics and the rhythm. The Moon also evokes all manner of emotions. According to astrology, it’s the keeper of things kept hidden in the shadows. The things we desperately want. The feelings we desperately try to elude. There’s nothing the Moon doesn’t witness and mirror back to us.

The following songs about the Moon take you straight to your feels. The ecstatic, the impulsive, the vulnerable, the depressed, the unrepressed—it’s all there. As with astrology, it’s up to you to draw your own interpretation and disentangle whatever complicated emotions may or may not lurk. Just let yourself feel. (Talking to you, Virgo.)

35 Most Iconic Songs About the Moon

The memorable tracks that follow appear in no particular order as different songs will resonate in different ways at different moments in time. Let them.

1. Moondance | Van Morrison

If you’ve never caught yourself humming “It’s a marvelous night for a Moon dance” on a moonlit night, you may want to rethink your priorities in life. Legendary songwriter Van Morrison doesn’t pretend to know what it is that makes us think about the person we love when we look at the Moon, but he certainly captures that felt sense in this track.

Incidentally, the iconic album of the same name introduced the world to “Crazy Love,” “Into the Mystic,” And “It Stoned Me.” Rolling Stone ranked it among the 500 best albums ever, declaring it sufficiently brilliant to define Van Morrion’s sound for decades.

2. Blue Moon | Various Artists

The precise origins of the classic song are disputed, although it’s been crooned by countless artists, among them the lovely Billie Holiday as well as Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, and The Marcels, whose doo-wop rendition made the number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B Singles in 1961. Written before codependency was a known thing, “Blue Moon” captures that human longing to love and be loved.

3. That Moon Song | Gregory Alan Isakov

The intro notes of this indie folk number are reminiscent of the surprise vibe when a friend grabs a guitar and starts low-key strumming while you’re hanging out late at night. The strumming crescendos to lyrics both self-indulgent and woeful, as are those in most breakup songs. Technically, Isakov is a Libra, although his birthdate falls on the cusp of Scorpio, and that’s apparent.

4. Moonlight Sonata | Beethoven

“Moonlight Sonata” has always conjured a dramatic, brooding, vibe along with many other intense emotions that tend to feel more so when we’re under the Moon’s sway. Perhaps that’s due to Beethoven’s Sagittarian stubborn tendency to ignore boundaries. Whatever the reason, it compelled him compose what remains a classic centuries later that’s proof emotions needn’t be expressed in words to be shared.

5. Pink Moon | Nick Drake

If you tuned into This is Us largely for the soundtrack, you probably already appreciate the work of the late Drake. The lyrics of “Pink Moon,” written a couple of years before the 26-year-old’s unfortunate death, are disarmingly simple. The Guardian reported that it was a time when Drake was struggling with what some referred to as depression and others thought was a loosening grasp of reality. Despite the tragic circumstances around its origins, the song’s robust early 70s-style strumming takes you straight into your feels.

6. The Killing Moon |  Echo & the Bunnymen

Moody and melancholic with its existential and vengeful overtones, this 1984 smash aligns with the band’s iconic and indefinable sound. Although their style has been dubbed “gloomy post-punk,” “Doors-inspired psychedelia,” and “a tinge of goth-pop,”  forget what others want to tell you to think. Focus instead on how it makes you feel. Careful not to cut yourself on all its sharp edges.

In starlit nights, I saw you
So cruelly, you kissed me
Your lips, a magic world
Your sky, all hung with jewels
The killing moon
Will come too soon

7. Shoot the Moon | Norah Jones

A lovely homage to the inevitability of disappointment, this single from Norah Jones brings some intentional discordance between the disappointment in the relatable lyrics and the seeming optimism of the music. Perhaps because the lyrics would be too self-destructive if you let yourself languish in that sad reality without a little jauntiness.

The summer days are gone too soon
You shoot the moon and miss completely
And now you’re left to face the gloom
The empty room that once smelled sweetly

8. Moonlight | Grace VanderWaal

Written by America’s Got Talent winner VanderWaal when she was 13 years old, the track has a jaunty beat and lyrics that seem to explore what the light of the moon both reveals and hides. Everything about it belies a youthful spirit as well as an old soul. Spoiler alert: She plucks the notes on a ukulele.

9. Sisters of the Moon | Fleetwood Mac

You already know from seeing the band that this is going to be dark. It doesn’t disappoint.

10. Moonlight Drive | The Doors

All the telltale traces of vintage Jim Morrison are at play on this track, including, as one Reddit thread commenter wrote, “that Crooner-esque voice of Jim’s accompanied by that groovy guitar.” There’s also talk of swimming to the Moon, which you can interpret as either unintelligible or mystical AF. The sleeper song was the B side companion to “Love Me Two Times” and has prompted much speculating as to any IRL meaning behind the lyrics. Maybe it was just the drugs talking.

11. Dancing in the Moonlight | Thin Lizzy

Released in 1977, the track has Jackson Brown-ish vibes in its sound and its simple lyrics. It may seem to fall short on drudging up the emotional world ruled by the Moon, although it doesn’t disappoint in terms of rhythm or vibe.

12. Culver Moon | Jackson Brown

Speaking of Brown, he seemed a little moonstruck himself, not by the moon but by Culver City, a suburb of Los Angeles that’s been home to movie sets since the early 1900s and known for its Old Hollywood charm. His insider references will be funny to those who know Culver City, he explained in an interview, but “you don’t have to be from Culver City to know what we’re talking about.” The rest of us can imagine. His insertion of the Moon in his telling of the story make it all the more compelling.

13. Moon River | Various Artists

Introduced in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, this Oscar award-winning classic was recognized as one of the most memorable songs in a movie by the American Film Institute. One of the most iconic of all songs about the Moon, the bittersweet track of just 10 lines and 58 words that was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn speak of a “dreammaker” and “heartbreaker” in the same breath. Interpretations have been performed by Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, and others, including The Killers.

14. Half Moon | Blind Pilot

The Moon plays an actual character in these lyrics about being human by the indie band Blind Pilot from Portland. It appears to be about the desire to run away from one’s wrongs while knowing that some form of emotional comeuppance is inescapable, even as the rest of your life awaits. In other words, reality.

15. Bark at the Moon | Ozzy Osbourne

Is the maligned subject of these lyrics in this classic Ozzy himself? No one is quite certain. (No bats were harmed in the making of this song.)

16. Moon | Kid Francescoli

The title of this 2017 hit may not sound familiar, although chances are the up-tempo, gotta-move-your-body beat will be from the initial note. The rhythm overshadows the sparse lyrics, which are a string of “Hmm-mh” followed by “And it went like…” If the Moon went dancing to techno late at night, chances are it would be to this track.

17. Half Moon | Janis Joplin

Joplin brings her indefinable approach to playing rock and roll to this track that’s informed by the blues and riddled with guitar jams. The lyrics, of course, scream about a guy. And then there’s that voice. Miss you, Janis.

18. Dancing in the Moonlight | Toploader

The feel-good song from the British indie rock band is, unlike most other songs about the Moon, an ode to the actual “supernatural delight” that occurs on a nightly basis. May it remind you, too, to dance in the moonlight.

19. Luna | Smashing Pumpkins

Straightforward yet not simple, the music and lyrics from this track on the smash album Siamese Dream made for ideal makeout music then and now. There’s melancholy tinged with beauty throughout the words.

20. You and Me and the Moon | The Magnetic Fields

That almost manic mood that possesses everyone who is newly in love comes through everywhere in this indie rock track. Except that exuberance comes through as a threesome—you and me and the Moon.

21. Blue Moon | Elvis Presley

Little-studied fact: Presley performed two versions of “Blue Moon.” The more iconic rendition brings a subdued, soothing, put-it-on-repeat vibe to love, loss, and longing.

22. Blue Moon of Kentucky | Elvis Presley

Completely the opposite of the more well-known rendition by Presley, this track’s quick trajectory takes us from anticipation to disappointment in few words with an almost annoyingly upbeat vibe that was characteristic of the Capricorn early in his career.

23. Stand By Me | Ben E. King

The strumming. The lyrics. The voice.

24. The Moon is Down | John Prine

Something changes in a person after experiencing lyrics written by the late John Prine. It happens in that moment of understanding that what seems like simple and silly rhyming actually betrays some unpretty truths about life and love. Prine is masterful at coaxing you into his world with ease and then letting that truth bomb hit you. He doesn’t deviate from that or disappoint with “The Moon is Down,” which features stoic lyrics alongside soulful strumming.  (Honorable mention to “Mexican Home,” also by Prine, for the line “And the moon is just holding its breath.”)

The stars in the skies
Fell out of her eyes
They shattered when they hit the ground
And now the moon is down

25. Song About the Moon | Paul Simon

These lyrics are simultaneously nonsensical and insightful, as the best ones often are. Essentially, Simon conveys “life happens,” a (not surprisingly) balanced perspective from a Libra.

26. Child of the Moon | Rolling Stones

Let’s simply acknowledge that if you like the Stones, you’re going to like this song.

27. Talking to the Moon | Bruno Mars

No, you’re not the only one who has quietly conversed with the Moon in the way Mars’ lyrics describe.

At night, when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself
Talking to the moon
Trying to get to you

28. Shame on the Moon | Bob Seger

Just going to drop these lyrics here from a logical and grounded Taurus…

Until you’ve been beside a man
You don’t know what he wants
You don’t know if he cries at night
You don’t know if he don’t
Where nothing comes easy, old nightmares are real
Until you’ve been beside a man
You don’t know how he feels
Once inside a woman’s heart
A man must keep his head
Heaven opens up the door
Where angels fear to tread
Some men go crazy, some men go slow
Some men go just where they want
Some men never go
Oh, blame it on midnight
Ooh, shame on the moon

29. Walking on the Moon | The Police

There’s no shortage of different stories about the origin of these lyrics. Not knowing which holds the truth lets you interpret its meaning as you will rather than as you were told. After all, truth, like gravity, can also be relative.

30. Fly Me to the Moon | Frank Sinatra

If you have yet to experience the classic crooned by Frank Sinatra and backed by a big band, cease whatever you are doing. The lyrics, written by Bart Howard, may just instill in you a reminder of what optimism (or just plain love) can do for a person’s mood.

31. What a Little Moonlight Can Do | Billie Holiday

The artist who has (unofficially) recorded the most ditties about the Moon, Holiday brings her characteristic lilt and loveliness to this song, which captures the thrill of what a little moonlight can do.

32. Moon Song | Phoebe Bridgers

If the emotion of somewhat hesitant awe could be captured in a song, it would be this slow, understated melody written by someone who clearly understands the assignment of love. “And if I could give you the Moon, I would give you the Moon.” Truth.

33. This is How We Walk on the Moon | Arthur Russell

Part disco and part experimental is basically how Pitchfork describes Russell’s life work. That certainly comes through in this tune with minimal lyrics and a distinct beat—or should we say groove? Best appreciated late at night.

34. Moonglow | Various Artists

Simple and sweet, this 1933 ballad is evocative of the romantic appreciation and bewilderment that come from knowing you’ve found your person. As such, these lyrics attribute their luck to the Moon rather than blame it for their melancholy. In the last century, Moonglow has been recorded by many artists, among them Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Doris Day, Carly Simon, and a duet with Tony Bennett and K.D. Lang.

35. If Moon Was Cookie | Cookie Monster

The innocence that comes with childhood can be fanciful, silly, and wise all at once. In the Sesame Street skit that’s a prelude to  Cookie Monster belting out lyrics, they explain, “Me love to look out window at night. See all the pretty stars. Twinkle, twinkle. But you know what me like to look at best of all? The Moon.” Same, Cookie Monster.

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