From Bowie to Sinatra: The Ultimate Ranking of Moon-Themed Songs
As the Artemis II crew prepares for the first crewed moon mission since 1972, the lunar landscape continues to inspire artists across musical genres. From romantic jazz standards to biting social commentary, the moon has served as a powerful muse for decades. Here, we present a definitive ranking of the 20 greatest songs about Earth's celestial neighbor, celebrating the diverse ways musicians have interpreted its mystique.
20. REM – Man on the Moon (1992)
This tribute to comedian Andy Kaufman arrived at the peak of REM's commercial success, yet it remains characteristically enigmatic. The chorus subtly connects moon landing conspiracy theories with speculation about Kaufman's death, while the bassline pays homage to Echo and the Bunnymen's The Killing Moon. Michael Stipe's delivery adds layers of ambiguity to this lunar contemplation.
19. The Police – Walking on the Moon (1979)
Sting's lyrics might verge on doggerel with lines like "Giant steps are what you take ... I hope my leg don't break," but the song's atmospheric arrangement perfectly captures its true subject: the weightless euphoria of walking home from a lover's house. The Police's only UK number one single transforms a simple walk into a lunar expedition.
18. Shakespears Sister – Moonchild (1992)
Following their massive hit Stay, Shakespears Sister delivered this synth-rock anthem that thrives on vocal contrast. Siobhan Fahey's theatrical delivery intertwines with Marcella Detroit's soaring vocals as they offer solace to outsiders: "Oh, little moonchild, you're not the only one." The moon becomes a symbol of belonging for society's misfits.
17. Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon (1983)
Ozzy Osbourne fully embraces the moon's dark side with this gothic horror masterpiece. Depicting a terrifying beast rising from "a nameless grave," the track layers howls and cackles over heavy metal instrumentation. It makes Michael Jackson's Thriller and Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London seem almost tame by comparison.
16. The Walkmen – Red Moon (2008)
New York indie-rock stalwarts The Walkmen create a tidal pull with this brass-dominated ballad. The "riptide pulling me under" in the lyrics mirrors the gravitational force of the titular red moon, yet singer Hamilton Leithauser offers hope: "tomorrow the sun will be brighter." The arrangement perfectly balances tension and release.
15. Radiohead – Sail to the Moon (2003)
Thom Yorke wrote this piano-led lullaby for his young son Noah, musing whether the next generation might produce better leadership than George W. Bush. Characteristically unsettling with its seasick time signature shifts and Yorke's keening falsetto, the song transforms parental concern into cosmic speculation.
14. The Microphones – The Moon (2001)
DIY pioneer Phil Elverum crafts a lo-fi reverie about a couple visiting their hometowns before returning home to bask in moonlight. The moon's "strength and light" center them after their disquieting journey, with rubbery guitar eventually giving way to a clattering wall of sound that mirrors emotional catharsis.
13. Neko Case – I Wish I Was the Moon (2002)
Neko Case's spacious country ballad feels like a mid-century standard, though fans often associate it with her troubled relationship with her estranged father. "How will you know / If you found me at last?" she belts with abandon over a seesawing accordion, transforming personal longing into universal yearning.
12. Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1972)
The title track of Drake's final album evokes an ethereal moon appearing and disappearing behind clouds. Beneath the pretty piano figure and gently chopping acoustic guitar lies something menacing: "None of you stand so tall / Pink moon gonna get ye all," Drake predicts coolly, creating haunting beauty from apocalyptic imagery.
11. Frank Sinatra and Count Basie – Fly Me to the Moon (1964)
Originally titled In Other Words and first recorded by Kaye Ballard in 1954, this standard was retitled by Sinatra and Basie a decade later. In 1964, Bart Howard's celestial metaphors bordered on realism as space exploration made seeing "what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars" seem imminent.
10. Ella Fitzgerald and the Delta Rhythm Boys – It’s Only a Paper Moon (1945)
This jazz standard declares that a world without love is as false as a paper moon, "but it wouldn't be make-believe / If you believed in me." Two years later, Tennessee Williams had Blanche DuBois sing it in A Streetcar Named Desire as her secret past unravels, calling it a "saccharine popular ballad" in stage directions.
9. Benny Goodman and Helen Forrest – The Moon Won’t Talk (1940)
In this big band number, the moon sees and knows all but remains silent. Swing vocalist Helen Forrest intuits something suspicious about her lover's moonlight walk: "I spoke to the moon," she sings, "but the moon won't talk." Goodman's clarinet adds sophisticated intrigue to this tale of romantic suspicion.
8. Public Service Broadcasting – Go! (2015)
PSB's album The Race for Space sets NASA audio and contemporaneous broadcasts to music, telling the cold war space race story. Over a propulsive beat, mission controllers bark consent for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to make history: "Retro? Go! Fido? Go! Guidance? Go!" Obscure codenames heighten the drama.
7. David Bowie – Space Oddity (1969)
Released five days before Apollo 11's launch and used by the BBC during moon mission coverage, this Bowie classic begins with astronaut as celebrity but quickly subverts expectations. Instead of a capable space traveler, we get the alienated, queasy Major Tom, isolated in his "tin can" 100,000 miles from Earth.
6. Julie Byrne – Moonless (2023)
From Byrne's album The Greater Wings, which explores grief for her late soulmate Eric Littmann, this track uses the moon's absence to represent loss: "The sky is moonless / And the sea surrounds me." Her glacial, stately voice over gentle keys suggests hard-won acceptance: "I'm not waiting for your love."
5. The Three Degrees – Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon (1971)
Few songs capture the space age's giddy rush like this Jimmy Webb cover, memorably performed in The French Connection. "Don't you think it's a miracle that we're the generation that's going to one day populate the moon!" the song enthuses before blasting off like a Saturn V rocket with infectious optimism.
4. Audrey Hepburn – Moon River (1961)
Impossible to hear without picturing Hepburn playing it on her mini-acoustic guitar in Breakfast at Tiffany's. The song was nearly cut after a poor test screening ("Over my dead body!" Hepburn retorted). Johnny Mercer's lyrics evoke the American dream with unusual companionship: "Two drifters off to see the world ... Moon River and me."
3. Gil Scott-Heron – Whitey on the Moon (1970)
A fierce corrective to the Apollo program's phenomenal cost and all-white, male personnel (unlike Artemis II). This acerbic forerunner of early hip-hop contrasts late-60s urban America's dire state with the lunar mission's expense: "No hot water, no toilets, no lights / But whitey's on the moon." Social commentary meets poetic critique.
2. Elvis Presley – Blue Moon (1956)
If you're accustomed to hearing this Rodgers and Hart masterpiece bellowed in football stadiums, Elvis's version offers unexpected delicacy. It creeps like the full moon rising over a deserted cornfield, Presley almost whispering until erupting into a high-pitched yodel. The King transforms a standard into something hauntingly intimate.
1. Paul Simon – Song About the Moon (1983)
Paul Simon contends the moon can illustrate any emotion: "If you want to write a song about the heart / And its ever-longing for a counterpart ... Write a song about the moon." Originally intended as a reunion album with Art Garfunkel, Hearts and Bones became a solo project after Simon deleted Garfunkel's parts, precipitating another rift. The version with cascading backing vocals on YouTube might be superior, but Simon's solo release stands as a masterclass in lunar metaphor, revealing how artists fear being eclipsed by their own creations.
From David Bowie's alienated astronaut to Frank Sinatra's romantic space traveler, these 20 songs demonstrate the moon's enduring power to inspire, comfort, and provoke. As humanity returns to lunar exploration with Artemis II, these musical interpretations remind us that the moon belongs not just to scientists and astronauts, but to poets and musicians who continue to find new meaning in its pale light.
