It's Only A Paper Moon
Stephane Grappelli - Martin Taylor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

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

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

Overall Meaning

The song “It's Only A Paper Moon” by music legends – Stephane Grappelli and Barney Kessel, addresses the power of belief and love, and how they could transform seemingly insignificant things into a world of endless possibilities. The opening lines, “Say, it's only a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea,” create a sense of a world that is not real, an illusion or a dream. The lyrics then suggest that even though it is imaginary, these things could become concrete and permanently existent if one chooses to believe in them. The persona begs the listener to believe in him and trust in his love. In the lines “Without your love, it's a honky tonk parade, a melody played in a penny arcade,” the persona describes how loveless life is a meaningless parade of phoniness, but with just one person to love and to believe in them, life could be a magical experience of endless possibilities that thrives on one's belief.

Furthermore, the lines, “It's a Barnum and Bailey world, just as phony as it can be,” could be interpreted as the world being a circus, and the listener is the only true thing in it. So, no matter how unreal or phony the world may seem, if the listener believes in the persona, everything would become authentic and the world becomes a harmonious place. The song highlights the importance of belief and trust in someone or something, and how it could transform one’s world.

Line by Line Meaning

Say, it's only a paper moon
Let's face the reality that what we're seeing is not real, it's just made of paper

Sailing over a cardboard sea
The world we see is just a result of our imagination

But it wouldn't be make-believe
It would become real if you accept it as it is

If you believed in me
If you have faith in me and in our world we've created together

Yes, it's only a canvas sky
The sky we see is just a canvas above us

Hanging over a muslin tree
It's not a real tree, it's just made of muslin

Without your love
If you're not here with me

It's a honky tonk parade
Everything just feels like a bunch of noise and chaos

Without your love
If you're not here with me

It's a melody played in a penny arcade
Everything just feels fake and cheap

It's a Barnum and Bailey world
It's a world full of tricks and illusions

Just as phony as it can be
Everything is as fake as it gets