Though it resembles a street light, the warm yellow orb in the middle of this photo is actually the recent full Blue Moon we had on Halloween. It’s usually a toss-up between a full moon or Mercury in retrograde as far as which will wreak the most havoc. Knowing we were in the midst of both, I’ve been keeping quiet at those times when I’m sure I’m right, because no one seems to like someone who’s always right. If I had a Q-Rating it would most certainly not be good. Back to the moon – this Blue Moon – and a song sung by Ella Fitzgerald to warm the not-so-chilly nights we’ve had of late.
BLUE MOON YOU SAW ME STANDING ALONE
WITHOUT A DREAM IN MY HEART
WITHOUT A LOVE OF MY OWN
BLUE MOON, YOU KNEW JUST WHAT I WAS THERE FOR
YOU HEARD ME SAYING A PRAYER FOR
SOMEONE I REALLY COULD CARE FOR
I don’t know where or when I first heard this song, but I’ve known it forever. It’s one of those songs most people know without knowing specifically how they know it. Tom Ford used it to romantic effect in his debut masterpiece ‘A Single Man’ but I knew it long before then, and I recall it hazily from solitary nights between Boston and Brandeis, when the moon would peek out from behind the turret where my dorm room was suspended in the sky, and I’d wonder at the beauty of it, and whether we were designed to share such beauty, or simply indulge in it alone.
AND THEN THERE SUDDENLY APPEARED BEFORE ME
THE ONLY ONE MY ARMS WILL EVER HOLD
I HEARD SOMEBODY WHISPER “PLEASE ADORE ME”
AND WHEN I LOOKED, THE MOON HAD TURNED TO GOLD
BLUE MOON NOW I’M NO LONGER ALONE
WITHOUT A DREAM IN MY HEART
WITHOUT A LOVE OF MY OWN
These days the moon holds a different allure, a more tentative grasp on romance. It sends us into fits of lunacy more often than not, especially when it’s pulling full, and the world goes slightly mad. Careful the things you wish for, it seems to say, before rocking us again and exerting its maniacal force. Not even Friday the 13thholds such sway. And so we eye it with trembling trepidation, respectful and somewhat in awe of its power. Blue or gold, harvest or wolf, it demands reverence, and a song.
AND THEN THERE SUDDENLY APPEARED BEFORE ME
THE ONLY ONE MY ARMS WILL EVER HOLD
I HEARD SOMEBODY WHISPER “PLEASE ADORE ME”
AND WHEN I LOOKED, THE MOON HAD TURNED TO GOLD
BLUE MOON NOW I’M NO LONGER ALONE
WITHOUT A DREAM IN MY HEART
WITHOUT A LOVE OF MY OWN
