New to Bells In Motion’s music library is It’s Only a Paper Moon by Harold Arlen, EY Harburg, Billy Rose, and arranged for handbells by Ron Mallory.  So I thought I would investigate the who, what, when, why, and how of this “paper moon.”

The song “It’s Only a Paper Moon" was sung, performed and recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr, Nat King Cole, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, and Lionel Hampton, just to name a few.

It’s been on Broadway in The Great Magoo; in a play called A Streetcar Named Desire; a movie called Paper Moon; an ABC situational comedy Paper Moon; a season seven episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; and a video game called Bioshock 2. In literature it represents innocence and fragility. In photography it’s used as a backdrop for young lovers.

In Asian culture, the “moon” represents calmness, serenity, and reflection. In Western culture, it is associated with the Great Depression, as well as traveling caravans. In Middle Eastern culture, it takes on religious significance.

But regardless of all this information, it represents C H A N G E. It means different things to different people. It brings an infinite number of memories to the surface depending on its shape. What does the moon mean to YOU?