Monday has arrived – and you know what that means… music! For the month of July, our Spotlight Dancer is our very own Alana from Rambling with AM! She has chosen the theme for this week, which is “Songs about, or mentioning, the Moon” – let’s get this astronomical party started!

Let’s start with a classic, released in April 1969. According to the artist the lyrics were inspired by a movie called The Devil And Daniel Webster, in which a hurricane wipes out most of a town. This is where he got the idea for the words “I feel the hurricane blowin’, I hope you’re quite prepared to die.” Overall, he said the song is about the “apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us.”

This was used in two science-fiction movies of the 1980s: An American Werewolf In London (1981) and Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982). In the former, it plays as the main character is awaiting a full moon and wondering if he will turn into a werewolf.

This contains a classic misheard lyric. The line “There’s a bad moon on the rise” is often heard as “There’s a bathroom on the right.” Not only do many people sing the wrong lyrics, but the lead singer himself sang the “bathroom on the right” lyric once during the “Premonition” concert. It can be heard after the last verse of the song quite plainly.

He would often have fun with this trope, sometimes pointing to a nearby bathroom from the stage when he got to the famous misheard line.

Here’s Creedence Clearwater Revival with “Bad Moon Rising”:

Next up, this favorite artist invites Americans to dream big again on this song, because, “I mean, after all, there’s an American flag on the moon.” The track was inspired by the singer’s son, Jasper, who was 5 years old at the time. He was quoted as saying:

“He looked up at the sky – after he heard about the moon landing – and squinted and said, ‘I think I can see the flag.’ My wife thought that was the cutest thing ever. What a great thing for the kid to say!”

“It stuck with me for a while and I started thinking about watching the news and all the negatives. The naysayers saying, ‘We’re going down the tubes,’ and all of that as a country and thought to myself, ‘Why can’t we just be proud to be Americans?’ In spite of everything that’s wrong, let’s be proud of what we’ve done so far, and maybe that’s the trick to figuring out the future is looking back a little bit.”

“The phrase just caught my attention. After all, there’s an American flag on the moon. To me, that’s mind-blowing to think about that that thing is sitting up there 45 years.”

The song was leaked on August 16, 2014 when the artist sent the tune to NASA astronaut Reid Weisman on the International Space Station, while standing at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B.

Here’s my boy, Brad Paisley, with “American Flag on the Moon”:

Next up is a song from the frontman of one of my favorite groups who created this song on his Twitch live stream. I haven’t found much info about the song, and don’t know if the group itself will ultimately record this song in the future, but I love it (as I do most of the stuff this artist comes up with).

It’s fun to have some songs that artists have done when they’re pretty much  just ‘playing around’, don’t you think?

Without further ado, here’s the inimitable Dan Reynolds with ”:

Last, but certainly not least, this artist wrote this emotional ballad for his son Barrett and also for the daughter he was expecting at the time. The tough-guy singer addresses his children unabashedly.

Lost my breath when I saw you take your first / My whole world stopped like that / And I ain’t the cryin’ type / But I just saw your eyes / Words just can’t describe what I see / You look just like me

The artist wrote the song in September 2018, on the same day he found out his wife Amber was pregnant with their baby girl. He was quoted as saying:

“I sat down to write them a letter. But I’m a songwriter first, so I ended up with this song.”

He has spoken publicly about his heavy-drinking past and other ups and downs. In the final verse, he concludes that one day his children will realize he’s only human.

And you’ll need more than me / You’ll know to hit your knees / If I’ve done my job right, you’ll know where to find / The man that really hung the moon

He explained that he wrote the song in anticipation of the day his kids will see his flaws:

“They’re gonna know sooner than other [children know about their dads] that I’m not a superhero. I don’t have a cape, and I can’t fly. I wanted them to have a song that they could listen to and know, ‘At one point, you’re gonna figure out I’m not a superhero, and you’re gonna need more than me. Hopefully, I’ve done my job well enough to show you that when that time comes, there is a man who really did hang the moon, and who’s got your back now, and always will.'”

He ends the song with a spoken-word recitation in which he addresses his kids directly:

No matter what / No matter where I am / Just know I love you / With all I am / Me and your Mama both

Without further ado, here’s Brantley Gilbert with “Man That Hung The Moon”:

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday and see you on the dance floor! Please stay safe and healthy!

Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:   Photobucket

I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, Callie of JAmerican Spice, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!

 

INTRODUCING OUR “SPOTLIGHT DANCER”:

Alana from Rambling with AM



8 Comments

  1. long time my friend! glad to see you’re still posting the music hop Monday’s 🙌. Here’s to a fantastic week.

  2. Great selections here. Brad Paisley and Brantley Gilbert are my favorites in this list. Brantley’s song points to the importance and responsibility of fatherhood. We need to be worthy of our children’s admiration and this song says is very eloquently. Thanks for sharing your music today. Have a blessed week.

  3. Stacy,

    CCR totally rocks anytime! I used a cover artist’s version of ‘Bad Moon Rising’ today. I tried to do a little something different. 🙂 I enjoyed the direction of your mewsic choices which was an excellent idea in remembering the historical event of man’s first step on the moon. Thanks for sharing the dance floor with me, darlin’. Stay safe, be well, and have a boogietastic week! 😉

  4. Good selection! The CCR song is a favorite, and yes, I sing “There’s a bathroom on the right” whenever it comes up. And personally, I hope we visit the moon one more time before I shuffle off this mortal plain…

  5. Great songs for the Theme, Stacy. We love CCR and Brad Paisley, so they were definitely our favourites. We have seen Twilight Zone the serie, but can’t remember if I have have seen the movie. Love the way you purresented the Theme💗 Now let’s dance the Night away with the New Moon and some Musical Pawkisses🐾😽💞

  6. Oh, I just laughed and laughed at the “bathroom on the right” and CCR’s tribute to it- I’ve done posts here and there on misheard lyrics (mondegreens) and the “there’s a bathroom on the right” lyric is a classic. That’s the only one of your songs I knew (Bad Moon Rising). Of the new to me songs, I enjoyed the Dan Reynolds song the most.

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