Day's film career began during the latter part of the Classical Hollywood Film era with the 1948 film Romance on the High Seas, and its success sparked her twenty-year career as a motion picture actress. She starred in a series of successful films, including musicals, comedies, and dramas. She played the title role in Calamity Jane (1953), and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. Her most successful films were the bedroom comedies she made co-starring Rock Hudson and James Garner, such as Pillow Talk (1959) and Move Over, Darling (1963), respectively. She also co-starred in films with such leading men as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, David Niven, and Rod Taylor. After her final film in 1968, she went on to star in the CBS sitcom The Doris Day Show (1968–1973).
Day was usually one of the top ten singers between 1951 and 1966. As an actress, she became the biggest female film star in the early 1960s, and ranked sixth among the box office performers by 2012. In 2011, she released her 29th studio album, My Heart, which became a UK Top 10 album featuring new material. Among her awards, Day has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 1960, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and in 1989 was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush followed in 2011 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award. She was one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Her death was announced by her charity, the Doris Day Animal Foundation, on Monday 13th May 2019.
Discography
chart hits
Year Title Chart Positions
US CB UK
1945 "Sentimental Journey" (w/ Les Brown) 1 — —
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" (w/ Les Brown) 1 — —
"'Tain't Me" (w/ Les Brown) 10 — —
"Till the End of Time" (w/ Les Brown) 3 — —
"Aren't You Glad You're You?" (w/ Les Brown) 11 — —
"Come to Baby Do" (w/ Les Brown) / 13 — —
1946 "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (w/ Les Brown) 4 — —
"Day by Day" (w/ Les Brown) 15 — —
"I Got the Sun in the Mornin' (and the Moon at Night)" (w/ Les Brown) 10 — —
"The Whole World Is Singing My Song" (w/ Les Brown) 6 — —
1947 "The Christmas Song" (w/ Les Brown) 12 — —
"Sooner or Later" (w/ Les Brown) 13 — —
"Papa, Won't You Dance With Me" 21 — —
1948 "Thoughtless" (w/ Modernaires) 24 — —
"Love Somebody" (w/ Buddy Clark) / 1 — —
"Confess" (w/ Buddy Clark) 16 — —
"Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon, and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea" / 27 — —
"It's Magic" 2 — —
"My Darling, My Darling" (w/ Buddy Clark) 7 — —
1949 "Powder Your Face with Sunshine" (w/ Buddy Clark) 16 — —
"Again" 2 — —
"Everywhere You Go" 22 — —
"Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk" (w/ Frank Sinatra) 17 — —
"Now That I Need You" 20 — —
"Canadian Capers" 15 — —
"Bluebird on Your Windowsill" 19 — —
1950 "Quicksilver" 20 — —
"I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Prayers)" 21 — —
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" 24 — —
"Hoop-Dee-Doo" 17 — —
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" 9 — —
"I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" 19 — —
"A Bushel and a Peck" 16 — —
1951 "It's a Lovely Day Today" 30 — —
"Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" 10 — —
"Shanghai" 7 — —
"Domino" 21 — —
1952 "A Guy Is a Guy" 1 — —
"Sugarbush" (w/ Frankie Laine) 7 12 8
"When I Fall in Love" 20 — —
"No Two People" (w/ Donald O'Connor) 25 — —
"My Love and Devotion" — 31 10
"The Cherries" — 39 —
"A Full Time Job" (w/ Johnnie Ray) / 20 21 11
"Ma Says, Pa Says" (w/ Johnnie Ray) 23 28 12
1953 "Mister Tap Toe" 10 11 —
"When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" 29 — —
"Candy Lips" (w/ Johnnie Ray) / 17 18 —
"Let's Walk That-a-Way" (w/ Johnnie Ray) — 31 4
"Kiss Me Again, Stranger" / 30 — —
"A Purple Cow" 25 — —
"Choo Choo Train (Ch-Ch-Foo) 20 — —
1954 "Secret Love" 1 1 1
"The Black Hills of Dakota" — — 7
"Lost in Loveliness" — 25 —
"I Speak to the Stars" 16 17 —
"Someone Else's Roses" — 32 —
"If I Give My Heart to You" / 3 2 4
"Anyone Can Fall in Love" 27 41 —
"Ready, Willing, and Able" / — 31 7
"Hold Me in Your Arms" — 39 —
1955 "Foolishly Yours" — 25 —
"Love Me Or Leave Me" — — 20
"I'll Never Stop Loving You" 13 14 17
"Ooh Bang Jiggily Jang" 83 — —
1956 "Let It Ring" 51 — —
"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" 2 3 1
"Julie" / 64 40 —
"Love in a Home" 79 — —
"The Party's Over" 63 47 —
1957 "Twelve O'Clock Tonight" 68 — —
1958 "Teacher's Pet" 56 36 —
"A Very Precious Love" — — 16
"Everybody Loves a Lover" 6 6 25
"Tunnel of Love" 43 53 —
1959 "Love Me in the Daytime" 100 51 —
1960 "Any Way the Wind Blows" 50 109 —
"Please Don't Eat the Daisies" 102 102 —
"A Perfect Understanding" 111 — —
1962 "Lover Come Back" 98 — —
1964 "Move Over Darling" — — 8
"Send Me No Flowers" 135 — —
1967 "Sorry" * — — —
* "Sorry" made the US AC charts at #19.
Albums
10" LP
You're My Thrill (1949)
Young Man with a Horn (1950, soundtrack with Harry James)
Tea for Two (1950, soundtrack)
Lullaby of Broadway (1951, soundtrack)
On Moonlight Bay (1951, soundtrack)
I'll See You in My Dreams (1951, soundtrack)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953, soundtrack)
Calamity Jane (1953, soundtrack)
Young at Heart (1954, soundtrack with Frank Sinatra)
12" LPs
Love Me or Leave Me (1955, soundtrack)
Day Dreams (1955, expanded re-issue of You're My Thrill)
Day By Day (1956)
The Pajama Game (1957, soundtrack)
Day by Night (1957)
Hooray for Hollywood (2 volumes, 1958)
Cuttin' Capers (1959)
What Every Girl Should Know (1960)
Show Time (1960)
Listen to Day (1960)
Bright and Shiny (1961)
I Have Dreamed (1961)
Duet (with André Previn, 1962)
You'll Never Walk Alone (1962)
Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, soundtrack with film cast)
Annie Get Your Gun (1963, with Robert Goulet)
Love Him (1963)
The Doris Day Christmas Album (1964)
With a Smile and a Song (1964)
Latin for Lovers (1965)
Doris Day's Sentimental Journey (1965)
The Love Album (recorded in 1967, released in 1994)
My Heart (2011)
Singles
Hit records:
(with Les Brown's Band of Renown)
"Sentimental Journey"
5,000,000+ sales
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time"
1,000,000+ sales
(As a solo performer)
"It's Magic"
1,000,000+ sales
"Again"
"Love Somebody" (duet with Buddy Clark)
1,000,000+ sales
"Confess" (duet with Buddy Clark) (also done by Patti Page)
"Bewitched"
1,000,000+ sales
"Shanghai"
"Sugarbush" (duet with Frankie Laine)
1,000,000+ sales
"Mister Tap Toe"
"Secret Love"
1,000,000+ sales
"If I Give My Heart to You" (also done by Denise Lor)
"I'll Never Stop Loving You"
1,000,000+ sales
"Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" ("Que Sera, Sera")
1,000,000+ sales
"Everybody Loves a Lover"
"Move Over Darling"
Moon Song
Doris Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Was like a melodious plea
Sweet moon song
That wasn't meant for me
Why is it always reminding me of
A love dream that never could be
Sweet moon song
It came gliding into my heart riding
on a moon beam from above
Sorrow ended and the whole world blended
In a rhapsody of love; then
I heard her singing to somebody else
What I thought was my melody
Sweet moon song
That wasn't meant for me
The lyrics of the song "Moon Song" by Doris Day talks about the bittersweet memories of a love that was never meant to be, accompanied by the melancholic melody of the moon song. The singer describes the moment when the moon song, like a melodious plea, glides into their heart, carrying their sorrows away and blending them into a rhapsody of love. The moment is dreamlike and surreal, as if it was an otherworldly experience. However, the dream soon fades away as the singer hears someone else singing the same melody that they thought was meant for them. The moon song now becomes a painful reminder of the love that could have been but never was.
Overall, the lyrics of the "Moon Song" portray a sense of loss and regret, as the singer acknowledges that the melody they heard on that fateful night was never meant for them. The song's wistful tone is emphasized by Doris Day's delicate vocals and the lush orchestration that accompanies the song.
Line by Line Meaning
It came from nowhere the night that we met
Our meeting was unexpected and sudden
Was like a melodious plea
It was like a beautiful request or desire
Sweet moon song
A song inspired by the moon's beauty and serenity
That wasn't meant for me
Unfortunately, the song was not intended for me
Why is it always reminding me of
Why does it constantly bring to my mind
A love dream that never could be
The dream of a love that can never happen
It came gliding into my heart riding
It entered my heart smoothly and effortlessly
on a moon beam from above
Through the light of the moon from the sky
Sorrow ended and the whole world blended
All sadness disappeared and the entire world seemed to harmonize
In a rhapsody of love; then
In a beautiful and emotional expression of love
I heard her singing to somebody else
I realized the song was actually meant for someone else
What I thought was my melody
The melody that I believed belonged to me
Sweet moon song
This beautiful and serene song inspired by the moon
That wasn't meant for me
Unfortunately, it was not intended for me to hear or enjoy
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: SAM COSLOW, ARTHUR JOHNSTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dayniac4324
I'm so happy this made your Day ! I really love this song. Love the whole album. Thanks - so happy you enjoyed !!
Dayniac4324
Yes - another romantic DD song. She's at her best when she sings like this. You'd probably like her Day by Night album. I think every song is a gem. Thanks !!
Muirmaiden
A romantic dream. Just perfection. I just love discovering more songs by Doris. Thanks for posting, Toni!
Marcos Souza
It´s definitely one of my fav ballads from Doris.You made my DAY!
Michele Bell
Perfection! A beautiful ballad sung beautifully!
Dayniac4324
Thank you Manfread. She has so many great songs...this is a really great album. Love all of them ! Hope you have a wonderful week ahead .. Take care.. Toni
Trombonology Erstwhile
One of my all-time favorite Doris sides. All the wistfulness in the melody and lyrics of this beautiful song are realized -- and then some -- in her perfect interpretation.
Ms. Prisha
Doris is timeless, you wrote that song is from a 1957 album - I can´t hear that the song growing old. Thanks a lot for your passion and your work Toni!!
Dayniac4324
Michele -- This definitely is a beautiful ballad - from a really great album Day by Night - one of my favorites. Doris is one of the best ballad singers. Thanks for watching - happy you enjoyed !!
manfreadstraw
This music is timeless; makes a guy yearn for the 1950s all over again, if only, and again tremendous pics of Ms Doris Day... what a great star! 5*****!! Thanks again Toni.