Born to a musical family in Budapest, Tommy Vig was internationally recogni… Read Full Bio ↴Born to a musical family in Budapest, Tommy Vig was internationally recognized as a child prodigy by the age of 6, playing drums with his father, clarinetist Gyorgy Vig. He performed live concerts in Budapest on State Radio, at the City Theatre, the Academy of Music, and the National Circus. At the age of 8, he made an album (called "The World Champion Kid Drummer") with the best Austrian jazz players in Vienna, including Hans Koller, Ernst Landl and the Hot Club of Vienna (on Elite Special Label). At the age of 9, his drumming won him the 1947 MGM-Jazz Competition in Budapest. As a result, he made several recordings with the legendary Chappy's Mopex Big Band (on His Master's Voice Label).

Vig completed his studies at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 1955 and the Ferenc Erkel Music High School in 1956. Following the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he fled to Vienna where he played concerts with Fatty George and Joe Zawinul. After moving to the United States, he was given a scholarship at Juilliard School of Music. Since then he has been writing and conducting his own concerts. Vig worked with Red Rodney, Don Ellis, Cat Anderson, Terry Gibbs, Art Pepper, Milcho Leviev, Joe Pass, and the Miles Davis-Gil Evans Big Band amongst many others. In 1961 he settled in Las Vegas, where he performed with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Curtis, Woody Allen, Judy Garland, and Tony Bennett. He was the percussionist on many of Rod Stewart's albums.

In 1970, Vig moved to Los Angeles where he worked in Warner Brothers, Fox, Universal, CBS, Columbia, ABC, Disney, Goldwyn, MGM, and Paramount Studios. He participated in about 1500 studio sessions in Hollywood, including two Academy Awards, and produced, directed and conducted the official 1984 Olympic Jazz Festival for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC). He also organized and conducted the annual Las Vegas Caesars Palace Mini-Jazz Festivals for many years. He wrote the music for 30 films and television shows, including They Call Me Bruce? and The Kid with the Broken Halo. As a percussionist, Vig participated in the recording of Quincy Jones' soundtrack to Roots (TV miniseries). He played on the Jazz Festival Münster 1986 (album Mistral) with Lajos Dudas, and participated with the hr-Jazzensemble and Martin Breinschmid.

Vig gave master courses at California State University, Northridge, and at the Tatabánya Jazz Academy. Over the past fifty years his classical pieces were performed by symphony orchestras in the United States, Germany, and Hungary. He was the Vice President of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC). Vig was awarded the EmErTon Prize by the Hungarian State Radio in Budapest in 1994. The Hungarian Jazz Federation awarded him first prize in Musical Arrangement in 2006, while the Budapest Jazz Orchestra commissioned and performed his piece: "Budapest 1956" in front of U.S. Ambassador April H. Foley at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Since 2006, Vig lives with his wife Mia (of the famous Kim Sisters) in Hungary where they have been performing live concerts, appearing on radio and television, and recorded several albums, including ÜssDob ("Beat It!" on Tom-Tom Records), "Now and Then" (on Pannon Jazz), and most recently Welcome to Hungary! The Tommy Vig Orchestra 2012 Featuring David Murray (on Klasszikus Jazz label). They have one son, Roger, who appeared on television in Los Angeles playing the drums with Vig’s big band at the age of 3.

Vig invented the scientific method of Non-Subjective Valuing™ (U.S. Patent 6038554) which is fully detailed in his book How To Tell What Things Are Really Worth.

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It's Only A Paper Moon
Tommy Vig Orchestra 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 Tommy Vig Orchestra is a song about faith, belief and the power of love. The lyricist uses the image of a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea and a canvas sky hanging over a muslin tree to convey the idea that life is not always what it seems. The phony world described in the song is a metaphor for the artificiality that can be found in life, especially in modern society. However, the lyrics suggest that this world could be transformed if one had faith in something or someone.

The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "It wouldn't be make-believe, if you believed in me" multiple times. This phrase emphasizes the idea that belief can transform the world around us. The absence of love is described as a honky-tonk parade and a melody played in a penny arcade, which suggests that without love, life is empty and without substance. The song concludes with a plea for the listener to believe in the singer.

Overall, "It's Only A Paper Moon" is a beautiful song that speaks to the importance of belief and faith in our lives. It suggests that without these things, life can be empty and phony. By believing in something or someone, we can transform our world and make it more meaningful.

Line by Line Meaning

Say, it's only a paper moon
Let's be honest, this life we live in is just a facade

Sailing over a cardboard sea
We're living our lives just like a play on stage

But it wouldn't be make-believe
It may seem like we're faking it, but it's real if there's someone who supports us

If you believed in me
If someone supports us, then this facade suddenly becomes real

Yes, it's only a canvas sky
Our world is fake, but it's up to us how we perceive it

Hanging over a muslin tree
Everything we see is just an illusion

Without your love
Without the support of someone, our life becomes chaotic

It's a honky tonk parade
Our life is like a big parade of meaningless activities

It's a melody played in a penny arcade
Our life has no meaning, just like a cheap penny arcade game

It's a Barnum and Bailey world
We live in a world full of shams and deception

Just as phony as it can be
Everything around us is a facade