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On Moonlight Bay (song)
Encyclopedia
"On Moonlight Bay" is a popular
song
.
The music was written by Percy Wenrich
, the lyrics by Edward Madden
. The song was published in 1912. It was often sung in a Barbershop Quartet
style, such as by Billy Murray
and the American Quartet:
The song was one of a number of early-20th-century songs which were used as titles of musical film
s made by Doris Day
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. See On Moonlight Bay
.
category.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
.
The music was written by Percy Wenrich
Percy Wenrich
Percy Wenrich was a United States composer of ragtime and popular music.Born in Joplin, Missouri, he left for Chicago in 1901 and moved on to New York City around 1907 to work as a Tin Pan Alley composer, but his music retains a Missouri folk flavor...
, the lyrics by Edward Madden
Edward Madden
Edward Madden was an American lyricist.Madden was born in New York City and graduated from Fordham University. After graduation he wrote material for many singers including Fanny Brice and for vaudeville acts...
. The song was published in 1912. It was often sung in a Barbershop Quartet
Barbershop music
Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era , is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture...
style, such as by Billy Murray
Billy Murray (singer)
William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
and the American Quartet:
The song was one of a number of early-20th-century songs which were used as titles of musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s made by Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. See On Moonlight Bay
On Moonlight Bay (film)
On Moonlight Bay is a 1951 musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth which tells the story of the Winfield family at the turn of the century. The movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington. There was a 1953 sequel, By the Light of the Silvery Moon.-Plot:On Moonlight Bay centers on...
.
Verses
- Voices hum, crooning over Moonlight Bay
- Banjos strum, tuning while the moonbeams play
- All alone, unknown they find me
- Memories like these remind me
- Of the girl I left behind me
- Down on Moonlight Bay
- Candle lights gleaming on the silent shore
- Lonely nights, dreaming till we meet once more
- Far apart, her heart, is yearning
- With a sigh for my returning
- With the light of love still burning
- As in of days of yore
Chorus
- We were sailing along
- On Moonlight Bay
- We could hear the voices ringing
- They seemed to say:
- "You have stolen her heart"
- "Now don't go 'way!"
- As we sang love's old sweet song
- On Moonlight Bay
Pop culture
- It has appeared in many Looney TunesLooney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
/Merrie MelodiesMerrie MelodiesMerrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
shorts, often as a drinking song. Examples:- It is sung by a quintet of drunk fish in Porky's Duck HuntPorky's Duck HuntPorky's Duck Hunt is an animated short film produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, directed by Tex Avery, and released on April 17, 1937 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Porky's Hare Hunt was the sequel to this one....
in a rowboat, after they swim through a sunken whiskey barrel shot by Porky PigPorky PigPorky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
(1937). It is again sung by PorkyPorky PigPorky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
himself in the ironically titled 1942 cartoon, My Favorite DuckMy Favorite DuckMy Favorite Duck is a 1942 color Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck . It was the second color entry in the Looney Tunes series, and the first pairing of Porky and Daffy produced in Technicolor...
, in which Porky is tormented by Daffy DuckDaffy DuckDaffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
while on a camping trip. It well fits Porky's speech impediment — which is especially noticeable with M's and B's. Daffy, meanwhile, keeps singing "Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me)Blues in the Night"Blues in the Night" is a popular song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun with the working title Hot Nocturne, but finally released as Blues...
". At one point, Porky unconsciously starts to sing Daffy's number, then stops, looks into the camera with a "Harumph!" and returns to his stuttering version of "Moonlight Bay.". The song was also used in another Porky cartoon, entitled "Trap Happy Porky" (1945), and it was sung by a quintet of drunk cats (one of them was playing the piano). - It is also sung by Sylvester the Cat in the 1948 cartoon Back Alley OproarBack Alley OproarBack Alley Oproar is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short originally released in theaters on March 27, 1948. The short features Sylvester and Elmer Fudd as its main characters, voiced by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan respectively...
. - Michigan J. FrogMichigan J. FrogMichigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character who debuted in the Looney Tunes cartoon One Froggy Evening , written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones...
sings the chorus in Another Froggy EveningAnother Froggy EveningAnother Froggy Evening is a 1995 cartoon by Chuck Jones and a sequel to his 1955 cartoon One Froggy Evening.The short features Michigan J. Frog and Marvin the Martian who reveals that Michigan's croaking noise is actually Martian for "Would you like to hear me sing?" This sequel is actually a...
.
- It is sung by a quintet of drunk fish in Porky's Duck Hunt
- The song was featured in the films On Moonlight BayOn Moonlight BayOn Moonlight Bay may refer to:* "On Moonlight Bay" , a popular song by Percy Wenrich * On Moonlight Bay , a musical starring Doris Day...
(1951) and By the Light of the Silvery MoonBy the Light of the Silvery Moon (film)By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a 1953 musical film. It is the sequel to On Moonlight Bay. Like its predecessor, the movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington.-Plot:...
(1953), performed by Leon AmesLeon Ames (actor)Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women ....
, Gordon MacRae, Doris Day. - The tune prominently featured in Louis MalleLouis MalleLouis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
's Pretty Baby (1978), which won an Academy Award for Original Music ScoreAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
in the "Adaptation Score" - On Season 2, Episode 3 of TaxiTaxi (TV series)Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...
, Louie DePalma (Danny DeVitoDanny DeVitoDaniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
) sings Moonlight Bay while under the influence of whatever "Reverend" Jim IgnatowskiJim IgnatowskiThe Reverend Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski, played by Christopher Lloyd, was a fictional character in the 1970s television series Taxi. A gentle soul, Jim was, in his own words, "the living embodiment of the sixties". His most noticeable character trait was his extreme "spaced-out" behavior as a result of...
(Christopher LloydChristopher LloydChristopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
) has slipped into his coffee. It is part of an effort by the cabbies to get Louie to hire Jim at the cab company, something he has refused to do. Louie's final words, just before drifting off, are, "Everyone works on Moonlight Bay". - It is revealed in episode 107Brian: Portrait of a Dog"Brian: Portrait of a Dog" is the seventh episode and the season finale of the first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 16, 1999. The episode features anthropomorphic dog Brian after he swallows his pride, and joins a dog show,...
of Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
that Brian GriffinBrian GriffinBrian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
can simultaneously sing all four parts of four-part harmony. In a flashbackFlashback (narrative)Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
scene, Brian sings “On Moonlight Bay.” - It is sung several times in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold.
- A spoofParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of this song was made by The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
with Morecambe and WiseMorecambe and WiseEric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
. It is found on Anthology 1Anthology 1Anthology 1 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in November 1995. It was released as the first part of the Anthology trilogy of albums with Anthology 2 and Anthology 3, all of which tie-in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. It contains "Free as a Bird",...
.
category.