IT'S ONLY A PAPER MOON

IT'S ONLY A PAPER MOON
This song was written for a play called The Great Magoo, which debuted on Broadway in 1932. The original title was "If You Believed In Me,". The play was a flop, but the song lived on with the title "It's Only A Paper Moon."
Cliff Edwards and Paul Whiteman both recorded it in 1933; Nat King Cole did it in 1944; and Ella Fitzgerald in 1945. Fitzgerald's version is the most popular, but the song was subsequently recorded by Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Benny Goodman, and even Paul McCartney.
In 1932, if you needed a moon for the set of a movie, you could hang one made of paper and it would do just fine. Of course, it isn't real - neither is the cardboard sea and canvas sky - but the singer believes it will all come to life with the love of their partner. Without this love, everything feels contrived, like a circus or a penny arcade.
#funmusicfact #itsonlyapapermoon #livejazz #livemusic #jazzduo

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