Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested in musical composition and close-harmony singing and was successful in having some of his songs recorded by various artists, such as the Monkees. In 1967, he debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Show, followed by a variety of releases that included a collaboration with Randy Newman (Nilsson Sings Newman, 1970) and the original children's story The Point! (1971).
He created the first remix album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, in 1971, and recorded the first mashup song ("You Can't Do That") in 1967. His most commercially successful album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), produced the international top 10 singles "Without You" and "Coconut". His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was featured prominently in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A version of Nilsson's "One," released by Three Dog Night in 1969, also reached the U.S. top 10.
During a 1968 press conference, The Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson." Sometimes called "the American Beatle," he soon formed close friendships with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, joining them in the Hollywood Vampires drinking club. He and Lennon produced one collaborative album, Pussy Cats (1974). After 1977, Nilsson left RCA, and his record output diminished. In response to Lennon's 1980 murder, he took a hiatus from the music industry to campaign for gun control. For the rest of his life, he recorded only sporadically. In 1994, Nilsson died of a heart attack while in the midst of recording what became his last album, Losst and Founnd (2019).
The craft of Nilsson's songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians. Nilsson was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time," where he was described as "a pioneer of the Los Angeles studio sound" and "a crucial bridge" between 1960s psychedelia and the 1970s singer-songwriter era. The RIAA certified Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson (1972) as gold records, indicating over 500,000 units sold each. He earned two Grammy Awards (for "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You").
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
Discography
Spotlight on Nilsson (1966)
Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
Aerial Ballet (1968)
Skidoo (1968) (soundtrack)
Harry (1969)
Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
The Point! (1970) (studio album and soundtrack)
Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
Son of Schmilsson (1972)
A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
Son of Dracula (1974) (soundtrack)
Pussy Cats (1974)
Duit on Mon Dei (1975)
Sandman (1976)
...That's the Way It Is (1976)
Knnillssonn (1977)
Flash Harry (1980)
Popeye (1980) (soundtrack)
Losst and Founnd (2019)
It's Only a Paper Moon
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
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
Say, it's 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
It's phony it's plain to see
How happy I would be
If you believed in me
The song "It's Only a Paper Moon" is a classic that has been covered by countless artists, but the original version by Harry Nilsson continues to stand out. The lyrics of the song describe a world that is a mere facade, where everything is fake and constructed out of cheap materials such as paper and canvas. However, the song suggests that even though the world may look like it is made of cardboard and muslin, it can become real and meaningful through the power of belief.
The first verse of the song sets the tone by expressing the idea that the world is just a cardboard sea with a paper moon sailing overhead. These objects are not made of real materials, but are just painted on flimsy surfaces. However, the singer suggests that they can be more meaningful than they appear to be, as long as someone believes in them. The second verse extends this theme by describing a canvas sky hanging over a muslin tree. Once again, the singer emphasizes that this is not a real sky, but a painted backdrop. However, he offers hope that it can become real if someone believes in it.
The chorus of the song reinforces the idea that the world is phony and hollow, but can become real through belief. The singer contrasts the world without love to a honky tonk parade, suggesting that it is unfulfilling and empty. However, he offers the hope that this same world can transform into something more meaningful if someone believes in it. Overall, the song expresses the belief that if we invest our hearts and minds in something, it can become real and meaningful to us.
Line by Line Meaning
Say, it's only a paper moon
Acknowledge that what we're looking at is merely a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
The paper moon is moving across a fake sea made out of cardboard
But it wouldn't be make-believe
Despite being made of paper and cardboard, it wouldn't be an illusion
If you believed in me
As long as you have trust in me, the paper moon would be real
Yes, it's only a canvas sky
Similarly, the sky in the backdrop is merely a canvas
Hanging over a muslin tree
The canvas sky is displayed above a fake muslin tree
Without your love
Without you in my life
It's a honky-tonk parade
Everything around me is like a cheap, noisy carnival
It's a melody played in a penny arcade
What I hear is just like the music played in a cheap, tacky arcade
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
The world around me is like the one created by P.T. Barnum, full of illusion and deception
Just as phony as it can be
Everything seems to be fake and insincere
But it wouldn't be make-believe
However, if I had your trust, all this would be real
If you believe in me
With your confidence in me, everything would seem true and sincere
It's phony it's plain to see
It's clear that everything is fake and bogus
How happy I would be
Despite all this, I would be so happy
If you believed in me
If only I had your trust and faith in me
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC, SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: BILLY ROSE, E.Y. HARBURG, HAROLD ARLEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind