For those of you not aware that the full moons have names associated with them (who knew?!), this Saturday the 29th, in two days, is that old favorite, the Harvest Moon. It’s the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, which is apparently also time for the harvest to come in. Please note that whoever named it thusly did not live in Texas – today our high will be somewhere in the low nineties. But the nicest thing about the Harvest Moon is an old tune written back in the early 1900’s that, for one reason or another, has hung around for a very long time. I fear that, like so many other songs, it will be forgotten by the march of time; consider this my part in its preservation.
I probably first heard the tune on some garage-sale purchased VHS my folks bought for me back in my childhood days. While I initially attributed it to a Disney Donald Duck video (which included “The Spirit of ‘43”, a propaganda piece about paying your taxes), it seems that after a bit of research that it was a segment in a longer set called “Farm Foolery”. And lo and behold, it’s on Youtube. The song (along with a bouncing ball!) comes in at about the 4:30 mark. Make sure to watch through to the end for some actual animation.
With that lodged firmly in my adolescent brain, it was no wonder that many, many years later I would become quite endeared to Leon Redbone’s tin pan alley show. Part of it is in joy that someone else is trying to preserve all these old tunes, but mostly it’s a joy to realize that others actually like these old songs as well. Redbone is a delight at keeping this stuff alive. If you ever have a chance, see him live. He is even more of a delight in person than on the records. His fumbling, shuffling, mirthful voice comes through delightfully. Also, if you go to a show you are very likely to hear him whistle. And happily, he almost always plays a little “Harvest Moon” at each show.
It’s not that hard a tune to learn, and the chords are easily floating around on the internet. Some range is required to sing it, but not much. This Saturday try crooning it your gal, and enjoying the look on her face when she wonders why you’re singing a 100+ year old song to her. Plus, when was the last time you got to sing about spooning?
I probably first heard the tune on some garage-sale purchased VHS my folks bought for me back in my childhood days. While I initially attributed it to a Disney Donald Duck video (which included “The Spirit of ‘43”, a propaganda piece about paying your taxes), it seems that after a bit of research that it was a segment in a longer set called “Farm Foolery”. And lo and behold, it’s on Youtube. The song (along with a bouncing ball!) comes in at about the 4:30 mark. Make sure to watch through to the end for some actual animation.
With that lodged firmly in my adolescent brain, it was no wonder that many, many years later I would become quite endeared to Leon Redbone’s tin pan alley show. Part of it is in joy that someone else is trying to preserve all these old tunes, but mostly it’s a joy to realize that others actually like these old songs as well. Redbone is a delight at keeping this stuff alive. If you ever have a chance, see him live. He is even more of a delight in person than on the records. His fumbling, shuffling, mirthful voice comes through delightfully. Also, if you go to a show you are very likely to hear him whistle. And happily, he almost always plays a little “Harvest Moon” at each show.
It’s not that hard a tune to learn, and the chords are easily floating around on the internet. Some range is required to sing it, but not much. This Saturday try crooning it your gal, and enjoying the look on her face when she wonders why you’re singing a 100+ year old song to her. Plus, when was the last time you got to sing about spooning?
