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BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY

(Bill Monroe)

Copyright 1947 and 1954 by Peer Intemational Corporation

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Performed by Bob Dylan and Paul Simon during their joint tour, June 1999.
Flanked by players from both bands, Dylan and Simon gamely joined voices in their second public partnership (after a debut the night before in a Denver club). The boomer icons cautiously tackled Sounds of Silence, reshaped by a country lilt and deliberate pace. Their tentative stance faded on a brawny medley of I Walk the Line/Blue Moon of Kentucky....

USA TODAY's review of the Colorado Springs concert, Jun 9, 1999.

Back in those days, it seems every trip we made was from Kentucky to Florida driving back and forth. I always thought about Kentucky, and I wanted to write a song about the moon we could always see over it. The best way to do this was to bring a girl into the song. I wanted words to this, because most of my songs were instrumentals. 'Kentucky Waltz' had come earlier and I knew I could write both words and music, so I wrote it in the car on the way home from one of those Florida trips.

Bill Monroe, "Uncle Pen" album notes (Decca DL 7 5348, 1972), reprinted in Dorothy Horstman,
Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy, New York, 1976, p. 160.

Lyrics as reprinted ibid., pp. 160-161.

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue
Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue

It was on one moonlight night
Stars shinin' bright
Whisper on high
Love said good-bye

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.

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