Jones was born in Baltimore, Maryland to an African American father and mother of mixed Euro-American and Caribbean descent. Her multicultural background and upbringing in Boston, Washington DC, and Queens, New York, influenced her development into what The New Yorker termed a "multicultural mynah bird [who] lays our mongrel nation before us with gorgeous, pitch-perfect impersonations of the rarely heard or dramatized."
Jones attended The United Nations International School and Bryn Mawr College where she was the recipient of the Mellon Minority Fellowship. She originally planned a career as a lawyer, but left college early and eventually found her way to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC, where she began competing in poetry slams and won the citywide Grand Slam Championship in 1997, then began developing monologues based on her poetry which she performed in character.
Her first solo show, Surface Transit, debuted at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in 1998. After gaining the attention of feminist icon Gloria Steinem and human rights organization Equality Now, Jones was commissioned by the organization to write and perform her next project, Women Can't Wait!, to address discriminatory laws against women.
A second commission for the National Immigration Forum to raise awareness about immigrant rights issues yielded Waking the American Dream, the solo show that became the basis for Bridge & Tunnel, which set an Off-Broadway box office record during its six-month, sold-out run in New York in 2004.
In 2005, a commission from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to raise awareness of ethnic and racial health disparities in the U.S. resulted in A Right to Care, Jones' fourth solo piece, which premiered in 2005 at the Kellogg Foundation's 75th Anniversary conference alongside keynote speaker President Jimmy Carter.
Jones has performed for the United Nations, members of U.S. Congress and on tours of India, Nepal, Europe, and South Africa. In addition to live performance, Jones has appeared nationally and internationally on various television shows including her own eponymous Bravo special, in four films and on various music projects featuring her poetry.
One such project, a track by DJ Vadim, which featured Jones' hip hop-inspired poem "Your Revolution", led to her historic battle with, and eventual victory over, an FCC indecency ruling.
Jones and her work have garnered critical acclaim and awards including grants and commissions from the Lincoln Center Theater, the Ford Foundation, and others, as well as honors including a Helen Hayes Award, two Drama Desk nominations, and HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival's Best One Person Show Award.
The Moon
Sarah Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm crossin' you in style someday
Old dream maker, you heart-breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way
Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
Waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, Moon River, and me
The lyrics of Sarah Jones's "The Moon" is a beautiful message of companionship and the desire for exploration. The first line "Moon River, wider than a mile" is a direct reference to the Truman Capote's novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The novella was eventually made into a movie, and Hepburn sang this song while playing her ukulele, and the song has forever since been associated with her. The next lines "I'm crossin' you in style someday/Old dream maker, you heart-breaker" is essentially saying that the singer will find their way across the river - they will find a way to achieve their goals and dreams, without moon's help - moon being a metaphor for a dream maker or a god/goddess-like entity. The singer describes moon as a heart-breaker, hinting at the fickle nature of success.
The next set of lines "Wherever you're going, I'm going your way/Two drifters off to see the world/There's such a lot of world to see" is an invitation of sorts. The singer is telling moon that wherever it's going, she - the singer - would like to take the same route exploring the world. And in the company of moon, she feels like a "drifter," someone who's carefree and unbound by life's worries. That's the feeling the singer wishes to capture, to explore as much of the world as possible with someone who's a symbol of beauty and constantly reminds her of her dreams.
The last two lines "We're after the same rainbow's end/Waitin' around the bend/My huckleberry friend, Moon River, and me" is a beautiful ending to the song. The singer tells us that they're both after the same thing - the end of a rainbow, a metaphor for achieving their goals - and it's just around the bend. And then we get a hint of the freedom and fun the singer wishes to have with moon, referring to Moon as her "huckleberry friend." The huckleberry is a fruit that's hard to find and is considered to be worth its weight in gold. So with that, the singer calls moon her friend that's more precious than rare and hard-to-find fruit, symbolizing the trust and companionship they both share.
Line by Line Meaning
Moon River, wider than a mile
The river of dreams is vast and expansive
I'm crossin' you in style someday
I will succeed in achieving my dreams with determination and flair
Old dream maker, you heart-breaker
The dream maker can shatter aspirations just as easily as he can make them come true
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way
I will follow my dreams wherever they lead me
Two drifters off to see the world
Two wanderers are embarking on a journey of exploration
There's such a lot of world to see
There is an overwhelming amount of beauty and opportunity in the world
We're after the same rainbow's end
We share a common goal, to achieve our dreams
Waitin' 'round the bend
Our dreams are just around the corner, waiting for us to reach them
My huckleberry friend, Moon River, and me
I am accompanied by a dear friend, and the river of dreams, as I pursue my aspirations
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Johnny Mercer, Henry Mancini
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind