Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986)
Was an American compo… Read Full Bio ↴Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986)
Was an American composer of popular music. Having written over 400 songs, a number of which have become known the world over, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. His 1938 song "Over the Rainbow” was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America

Biography

Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned the piano as a youth and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer and moved to New York City in his early 20s. He worked as an accompanist in vaudeville.[1] At this point, he changed his name to Harold Arlen. He performed on record with the "Buffalodians" orchestra, as well as those of Red Nichols, Henny Hendrickson and Arnold Johnson.

Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.

In 1929, Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen also continued to perform with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra.

Arlen's compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into conventional American popular songs.

Arlen and Koehler wrote several hit songs during the early and mid-1930s.

In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasingly more time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love", a song later featured in the 2003 movie Down with Love.

Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger who would star in The Wizard of Oz, the film for which "Over the Rainbow" was written.

In the 1940s, Arlen teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night" ("My Mama Done Tol' Me") and "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive".

Paper Moon
Harold Arlen Lyrics

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I never feel a thing is real
When I'm away from you
Out of your embrace
The world's a temporary parking place

Mmm, mm, mm, mm
A bubble for a minute
Mmm, mm, mm, mm

You smile, the bubble has a rainbow in it

Say, its only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me

Yes, it's only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me

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 phony as it can be

But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me

Overall Meaning

It's Only A Paper Moon is a romantic, dreamy, and whimsical song that talks about how the world seems dull and merely a temporary parking place when the singer is away from their lover. The first two lines express the singer's lack of belief in the reality of things in the absence of their lover, emphasizing the importance of that person in their life. The following lines illustrate the transitory and ephemeral nature of the world and how it seems like only a bubble, which pops in no time, taking away the colors of the rainbow. The imagery of a temporary, cardboard sea, and canvas sky only reinforce the singer's assertion.

Then comes the reassuring lyrics of the chorus that talk about the paper moon and make-believe world, indicating that in reality, everything is fake and mundane, but it can become meaningful and true if the lover believes in the relationship. The second verse again compares the meaningless and depressing world to a penny arcade and a honky-tonk parade, indicating that without the lover's presence, everything seems bleak and bleak. The final line of the chorus establishes the significance of the lover's belief, which creates a make-believe world that makes everything beautiful.

Line by Line Meaning

I never feel a thing is real
My feelings of reality vanish when we're apart

When I'm away from you
In your absence, reality's grip fades

Out of your embrace
When I'm not held by your love

The world's a temporary parking place
The world has no meaning outside of you

A bubble for a minute
Life is fleeting

You smile, the bubble has a rainbow in it
Your smile brings color to my life

Say, its only a paper moon
Let's recognize that reality is illusory

Sailing over a cardboard sea
Our journey is a fantasy

But it wouldn't be make-believe
Our love is genuine

If you believed in me
Believing in each other gives our love substance

Yes, it's only a canvas sky
Our world is an artifice