Fly Me to the Moon

But in the world, it seems like we have to live with all these people – although many of them end up murdering each other. But things will be different when Jesus returns.

Revelation 6:16 “They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!’”

Of course, it’ll be God, not me, that does the judging. It’s not just my “bad guys” that face his wrath. The Bible says that we all do, which is why we need a Saviour. And I should be praying for those who I want to banish. In fact some of them have already come to Christ – if Microsoft Copilot is to be believed 🙂.

Getting back to how much I’d pay to go to the moon, the only way that I can answer this question is to imagine that someone has discovered a safe way of going to the moon. I’d probably pay 1000 euro, no more. Back in 1969, when the first moon landing occurred, people said that pretty soon we’ll all be going to the moon for our holidays 🙂. That never happened. We are almost at the stage where we can replicate walking on the moon through Virtual Reality (VR). That’s good enough for me. But I find earth more impressive. And it’s great to look at the moon. I remember, as a child, I was walking down a street, and I was convinced that the moon was following me. I still feel that at times and, it looks really strange at times too. And of course, it has a significant effect on the earth, gravity-wise, and it’s thought that it affects us in all sorts of ways. Think of where the word lunatic comes from 🙂.

I always like to talk about music and Christianity in my blog. Music will be easy today because there are many songs that I’ve heard about the moon. I’ll only mention the ones that I’ve heard. I realize that there are many more.

Christianity will be more tricky, but I’ll see what I can do.

Pre-1960s

• “Shine On, Harvest Moon” – Nora Bayes & Jack Norworth (1908) A vaudeville hit that became a Tin Pan Alley staple. I’m surprised that some of these songs go back that far. I associate these with 1950s movies that my parents would have been familiar with, and that we would have watched on TV.
• “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” – Gus Edwards & Edward Madden (1909) A classic singalong tune featured in Doris Day’s 1953 film of the same name.
• “Moonlight Bay” – Bing Crosby & Gary Crosby (1951) A father-son duet of the 1912 standard. In Anthology (1995) I remember an old clip of the Beatles singing that on the Morecambe and Wise show.
• “Moonlight and Roses” – Edwin Lemare, Ben Black & Neil Moret (1921) A sentimental ballad popular in early 20th-century parlors.
• “It’s Only a Paper Moon” – Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg & Billy Rose (1933) A jazz standard recorded by Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. I think that this was the theme of Paper Moon, a TV show about a father and daughter selling Bibles, and doing it in a scammy way.
• “Blue Moon” – Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (1934) A timeless standard covered by countless artists, including Elvis Presley and The Marcels. Showaddywaddy also released this in November 1980.
• “Moonlight Serenade” – Glenn Miller (1939) A romantic big band classic that became Miller’s signature tune. Glenn Miller was one of my father’s favourite artists. We knew this at home from childhood days.
• “I See the Moon” – (1953) The most popular early versions were by The Mariners in the U.S. and The Stargazers in the U.K. Nancy Sinatra recorded a version in 1963.

1960s

• “Moon River” – Andy Williams (1961) Written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, this dreamy ballad won an Academy Award. Confusingly, this was a hit in the UK for Danny Williams, not Andy Williams. The song was well loved in our home.
• “Fly Me to the Moon” – Frank Sinatra (1964 version) Originally written in 1954, Sinatra’s swinging rendition became iconic during the space race era.
• “Mr. Moonlight” – The Beatles (1964) A cover of a 1962 song by Roy Lee Johnson, featured on Beatles for Sale. I heard this one in the 1970s. I think that someone sold me Beatles for Sale and A Hard Day’s Night in late 1977.
• “Bad Moon Rising” – Creedance Clearwater Revival (1969) – I only heard this one in recent years.
• “Rising of the Moon” – Tommy Drennan and the Monarchs (1969) – Tommy Drennan was from Limerick, which is where I live. He passed away recently. The song is about an 18th Century Irish rebellion. We used to sing it in school. I think we might have even performed it at a school choral festival in the Cork City Hall back in 1974.

1970s

This is when I got into pop music.

• “Moondance” – Van Morrison (1970)
• “Moonshadow” – Cat Stevens (1971) A hopeful, philosophical tune about resilience and acceptance.
• “Moonage Daydream” – David Bowie (1972) A glam rock masterpiece from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.
• “Dark Side of the Moon” – Pink Floyd (1973) While not a single song, this concept album explores human emotion and cosmic themes. The term features in Brain Damage.
• “C-Moon” – Wings (1973) This was a double A side with Hi Hi Hi.
• “Moon Behind the Hill” – Brian Coll & the Buckaroos (1973). I’m probably the only one who knows this one. It was an Irish country ballad. Maybe, I’m not the only one. I remember watching a TV show about people from Japan collecting some 1960s Christian LPs, only because they were rare and odd. So maybe some collect old Irish records too 🙂.
• “Moonchild” – Rory Gallagher (1976) – released on October 24, 1976. It appears on his eighth studio album, Calling Card
• “Under the Moon of Love” – Showaddywaddy (1976)
• “Dancing in the Moonlight” – Thin Lizzy (1977) It was a single from their album Bad Reputation and became one of their most beloved tracks.
• “Moonraker” – Shirley Bassey (1979) – The James Bond theme.
• “Walking on the Moon” – The Police (1979) – I saw them perform this in Leixlip in 1980. They were supported by Q-tips, Squeeze, and U2. I remember Sting playing a strange looking upright bass that he called Seamus. And he got cross with a guy who threw a bottle. That guy who threw the bottle – that’s another person that I’d like to send to the moon 🙂.

Post-1980s

I suppose that I had a more distant relationship with pop music once I became an adult, and some Christians disapprove of it. So, here are the ones I remember over the last 45 years. I hardly know any from the 21st Century, but I did get to know some old songs that mention the moon.

• “Moonlight Shadow” – Mike Oldfield (1983) A haunting pop-rock ballad featuring vocals by Maggie Reilly, telling a mysterious tale of loss under the moonlight.
• “New Moon on Monday” – Duran Duran (1984)
• “The Killing Moon” – Echo & the Bunnymen (1984) A dark, atmospheric post-punk classic with one of the most iconic moon metaphors of the decade.
• “Ticket to the Moon” – ELO (1981) The song is part of a sci-fi narrative woven throughout the Time album, which explores themes of time travel, nostalgia, and isolation
• “The Whole of the Moon” – The Waterboys (1985)
• “Man on the Moon” – R.E.M. (1992) A tribute to comedian Andy Kaufman, filled with lunar metaphors and existential musings.
• “Harvest Moon” – Neil Young (1992)
• “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” – LeAnn Rimes (2000)
• “Dancing in the Moonlight” – Toploader (2000) – I found a few others that share this title, but I only know this one and the Thin Lizzy one.

I’ll probably think of more, so I’ll regularly update this list. Make sure to check it every day. I know that you’re all busy, but don’t bother with the rest of the Internet. You need to focus on songs about the moon 🙂.

I always like to end with something spiritual. What can I say about the moon? Don’t worship it anyway 🙂. What else? As with all creation, it points us to God. It’s true that some scientists prefer to keep God out of the picture, and I respect scientists. But deep down, I see God’s work in it all.

Genesis 1:16
“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”

Psalm 8:3-4
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, ⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them“

What about hymns?

Many hymns mention the sun, moon, and stars. Maybe they’re all a reminder that there’s more out there. I did find one song specifically about the moon. And For the Beauty of the Earth does mention the moon.

And a good number of Christians walked on the moon or flew into space. Here’s a list that Copilot gave me:

• Charlie Duke
  • Apollo 16 astronaut and the youngest person to walk on the moon.
  • Became a born-again Christian after his NASA career and now shares his testimony worldwide.
• Jeffrey Williams
  • Spent 534 days in space across multiple missions.
  • Known for documenting Earth’s beauty from orbit and expressing awe at God’s creation.
  • Butch Wilmore
  • NASA astronaut and Navy pilot.
  • Publicly shares his Christian faith and how spaceflight strengthened his belief in a divine Creator.
• Victor Glover
  • Pilot of the upcoming Artemis II moon mission (2024).
  • Worships with Churches of Christ and has spoken about his faith guiding his life and career.
• James Irwin
  • Apollo 15 astronaut.
  • After walking on the moon, he became a Christian evangelist, saying, “Jesus walking on the Earth is more important than man walking on the moon.”
• Guy Gardner
  • Flew on two Space Shuttle missions.
  • Active in Christian ministry and youth outreach.
• Patrick Forrester
  • Space Shuttle astronaut and Army officer.
  • Known for integrating faith into his leadership and mission work.
• Barry Wilmore
  • Veteran of multiple spaceflights.
  • Frequently discusses how viewing Earth from space reinforced his belief in intelligent design.