It's Only A Paper Moon
Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Lyrics
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ailin'over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
if you believed in me.
It's only a canvas sky,
hanging over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
Without your love,
it's a honky-tonk parade,
Without your love,
it's a melody played in a penny arcade.
It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
just as phoney as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
if you believed in me.
The lyrics to Frank Sinatra's "It's Only a Paper Moon" convey a sense of hope and wonder through whimsical comparisons. The song recognizes the artificiality of the world, but suggests that it can still be meaningful and real through the belief and support of another person. The central metaphor of the paper moon and canvas sky reveals the illusion and romanticism in our perceptions of the world. Despite knowing that some aspects of our lives may be, as the song suggests, a "Barnum and Bailey world", it invites us to experience the world with a sense of imagination and faith, to find a joy in life that is higher and more magical than the realities we face in the everyday.
In the final verse, it is suggested that the singer's love for the other is what is required to render the make-believe world in which they exist real. The honky-tonk parade and the melody that the penny arcade plays needs the fulfilment of love to become the magical something that grants the song's optimism and hopefulness. The song is essentially a plea for the transformative power of love, faith, and the imagination.
Line by Line Meaning
It's only a papermoon, sailin'over a cardboard sea,
This world seems illusory, like a papermoon sailing over a cardboard sea.
But it wouldn't be make believe, if you believed in me.
However, if the listener truly believed in the singer, then the world wouldn't seem so fake.
It's only a canvas sky, hanging over a muslin tree,
Like the previous lines, this line is commenting on the artificiality of the world the singer inhabits.
Without your love, it's a honky-tonk parade,
The singer acknowledges that, without the love of the listener, his life seems like a meaningless honky-tonk parade.
Without your love, it's a melody played in a penny arcade.
Without love, the singer's life becomes nothing more than a cheap, repetitive melody played in a penny arcade.
It's a Barnum and Bailey world, just as phony as it can be,
The singer believes that the world is like a circus, full of phoniness and deceit.
But it wouldn't be make believe, if you believed in me.
Despite his cynical descriptions of the world, the singer believes that things could be different if the listener truly believed in him.
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Billy Rose, E. Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind