It's Only A Paper Moon (song)

"It's Only a Paper Moon" is a popular song written by Harold Arlen and published in 1933, with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and Billy Rose. It was written originally for an unsuccessful Broadway play called The Great Magoo, set in Coney Island. It was subsequently used in the movie Take a Chance, in 1933, and Paul Whiteman recorded a successful version, sung by Peggy Healey. But its lasting fame stems from recordings by popular artists during the last years of World War II, when versions by Ella Fitzgerald and the Nat King Cole Trio became popular. It has endured as a vehicle for improvisation by many jazz musicians.

There was a resurgence of interest in the song when the Paul Whiteman Orchestra's recording was used in the 1973 Oscar-winning film Paper Moon.

Recorded versions

 * Harold Arlen
 * Count Basie
 * Tony Bennett
 * Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
 * Peter Bocage
 * Les Brown
 * Dave Brubeck
 * June Christy
 * Rosemary Clooney
 * Nat King Cole
 * Natalie Cole
 * Bing Crosby
 * Bobby Darin
 * James Darren
 * Miles Davis
 * Sammy Davis Jr.
 * Dion & the Belmonts
 * Cliff Edwards
 * Ella Fitzgerald with Ink Spots


 * Over the Rhine
 * The Four Freshmen
 * Erroll Garner
 * Marvin Gaye
 * Dizzy Gillespie
 * Benny Goodman
 * Dexter Gordon - "The Other Side of Round Midnight" (1985)
 * Betty Grable
 * Stephane Grappelli
 * Al Grey & J. J. Johnson
 * Lionel Hampton
 * Yip Harburg
 * Coleman Hawkins
 * Woody Herman
 * Earl Hines
 * Stan Kenton
 * Andre Kostelanetz
 * Gene Krupa
 * Ute Lemper
 * Johnny Mathis
 * Paul McCartney


 * Vaughn Monroe
 * Red Nichols
 * Harry Nilsson
 * Reg Owen
 * Les Paul Trio
 * Oscar Peterson
 * The Pied Pipers
 * Jim Reeves
 * Django Reinhardt
 * Buddy Rich
 * George Shearing
 * Frank Sinatra
 * Barbra Streisand
 * Art Tatum
 * James Taylor
 * Mel Tormé
 * Rufus Wainwright
 * Paul Whiteman Orchestra
 * Lee Wiley