It's Only A Paper Moon
Joe Reisman and His Orchestra 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" by Joe Reisman and His Orchestra is a love song that describes the power of believing in someone to make things seem more real and less fake. The lyrics use the metaphor of a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea and a canvas sky hanging over a muslin tree as examples of how things can seem unrealistic or fake, but believing in the love and connection between two people can make even the most artificial things feel genuine.
The first verse of the song talks about how the paper moon and cardboard sea would not be make-believe if the person being sung to believed in the singer. The second verse repeats this sentiment, but exchanges the paper moon for a canvas sky and the cardboard sea for a muslin tree. The chorus talks about how the absence of the person's love would make everything seem fake and unimportant, like a honky-tonk parade or a melody in a penny arcade. The song ends with the repetition of the first two verses and emphasizes how happy the singer would be if the person being sung to believed in them.
Line by Line Meaning
Say, it's only a paper moon
The moon mentioned here is not real and is only made of paper.
Sailing over a cardboard sea
The ocean mentioned here is not real, it's made of cardboard.
But it wouldn't be make-believe
However, it doesn't necessarily have to be pretend.
If you believed in me
As long as you put your faith in me.
Yes, it's only a canvas sky
The sky in this context is only made of canvas material.
Hanging over a muslin tree
The trees illustrated here are made of muslin fabric.
Without your love
My world is incomplete without you.
It's a honky-tonk parade
My world is empty and dull like an uninteresting parade.
Without your love
My world is incomplete without you.
It's a melody played in a penny arcade
Without you, my life has no music, which is like a basic melody played on a cheap arcade game.
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
This world is filled with illusions and exaggerations.
Just as phony as it can be
It's as artificial as something can get.
But it wouldn't be make-believe
It could be real.
If you believed in me
If you had faith in me.
It's phony it's plain to see
It's easy to see that everything is fake.
How happy I would be
My happiness would increase.
If you believed in me
If you had 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
Josh
on Heart And Soul
Learned of this stuff from an 8-track. Good relaxing music