Did you see it? Last night it was time for the Harvest Moon to put in an appearance and I was lucky enough to catch sight of it before heading to bed. The moon in the picture I took on my phone is a bit blurry, but what with the clouds and the treeline, I thought it looked a bit like a celestial scene from an old master painting.
Harvest Moon by Neil Young:
So, September’s full moon appeared in our skies last night, and today is the Autumnal Equinox, one of only two dates in the annual calendar when there is an equal amount of night and day. Regulars around here might remember two of the series I’ve put together since starting this blog, the Full Moon Calendar in Song and nature’s Wheel of the Year in Song. Although both are now complete, I still take enjoyment from marking the relevant dates.
September by Earth, Wind & Fire:
I would like to say we’re planning a wee soiree tonight to give thanks for the harvests and the fact crops have yet again been stored for the coming winter, but I can’t, for two reasons. I don’t know about where you live but our supermarket shelves are all looking a bit empty. I had never thought much about supply chains until recently, as in the 21st century we are used to being able to quite easily source whatever we need. Now, not so much.
The national shortage of lorry drivers is causing real problems, especially for us here in the North of Scotland. With the anticipated CO2 shortage coming into play as well, it sounds as if fresh meat and vegetables will become a bit of a rarity. Will we have to be issued with ration books and queue up for a few under-the-counter sausages?
The second reason for the lack of a soiree is that my house looks as if a bomb has dropped. Who knew that putting in a new bathroom would cause such chaos (well I didn’t anyway) and if you have a smallish house it’s disruptive indeed. Again, because of supply chain issues we had to order the bits and bobs early to avoid problems with delivery, so currently have a bath in our living room and a toilet sitting in DD’s old bedroom (not plumbed in of course!).
With dustsheets and other bathroom paraphernalia spread liberally throughout the house, a get-together with friends really isn’t an option. I shouldn’t use wartime analogies yet again, as really not in the same league, but with the water and electricity also turned off for much of the day, you do need to muster up a bit of Blitz spirit.
But this is a music blog, so time for the song. It’s astronomical autumn as of today so it’s getting pretty dark early on in the evening. Although it’ll now be starting to wane, the moon will still look pretty full for a couple of days yet, so hopefully you’ll catch sight of it, cloud cover permitting. A moon-related song that failed to make the cut for my series first time around is this one by LeAnn Rimes, Can’t Fight The Moonlight. Here’s the official video clip showing Ms Rimes doing her thing standing on the bar, in the film Coyote Ugly.
The song was the film’s main theme and did really well in the charts, reaching the top spot in the UK Singles Chart in November 2000, and it did the same in another 12 countries. The rom-com got its inspiration from an article written about a real-life bar, the Coyote Ugly Saloon, which in the late ’90s became a favourite with New York’s Lower East Side hipsters. The film seems to have become a bit of a cult classic, an icon of early-2000s fashion and culture, but if I watched it again now I think I would be troubled by it. Twenty years on, is it still ok to enjoy a film about girls dancing on a bar, in wet T-shirts, for tips – It was supposed to be about female empowerment, but really, are we still buying that? As it turns out the ‘saloon’ is still in operation today and has spawned a franchise model that seems to be working well for them, so what do I know.
As for the song, it was written by that most prolific of songwriters Diane Warren and was produced by Trevor Horn, so it almost couldn’t fail. Just like most other moon-related songs, it’s all about being out at night in the moonlight with the one you love.
You can try to resist
Try to hide from my kiss
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
I’ve seen the day, but being quite honest, if Mr WIAA suggested we go out in the moonlight tonight I think I would find it quite easy to resist. It’s suddenly got quite cold around here so a mug of cocoa and a box-set it’ll have to be. The plumber has just left for the day but will be back in the morning so I need to get all those jobs out of the way that require water and power – That would be just about everything. Only a week of this still to go – Argh.
Until next time…
Can’t Fight The Moonlight Lyrics
(Song by Diane Warren)
Under a lovers’ sky
Gonna be with you
And no one’s gonna be around
If you think that you won’t fall
Well, just wait until
‘Til the sun goes down
Underneath the starlight, starlight
There’s a magical feeling, so right
It’ll steal your heart tonight
You can try to resist
Try to hide from my kiss
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
Deep in the dark
You’ll surrender your heart
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
No, you can’t fight it
It’s gonna get to your heart
There’s no escape from love
Once a gentle breeze
Weaves its spell upon your heart
No matter what you think
It won’t be too long
‘Til you’re in my arms
Underneath the starlight, starlight
We’ll be lost in the rhythm, so right
Feel it steal your heart tonight
You can try to resist
Try to hide from my kiss
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
Deep in the dark
You’ll surrender your heart
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
No you can’t fight it
No matter what you do
The night is gonna get to you
Don’t try then
You’re never gonna win
Underneath the starlight, starlight
There’s a magical feeling, so right
It will steal your heart tonight
You can try to resist
Try to hide from my kiss
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
Deep in the dark
You’ll surrender your heart
But you know
But you know that you can’t fight the moonlight
No, you can’t fight it
What's It All About? 
Home renovations can be a major hassle. I hope that your project is completed soon!
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They are indeed and when you’re trying to live and work in the house whilst they’re going on it’s tough. I had no idea modern day bathrooms were such complicated affairs to put in, so it’s a one-off, never to be repeated project!
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Isn’t Diane Warren a songwriting machine? In the 90s and the 00s, she seemed to constantly have songs on the charts. Doubly impressive is that she writes both music and lyrics. An earlier Le Ann Rimes song “How Do I Live” (also done by Trisha Yearwood) is a permanent fixture on my ‘Favourites’ playlist.
We used to save up our home reno projects and have them done while we were ‘down south’ golfing in the winter months. Now with the US border still closed to ground travel, we are stuck here in November and December. May have to find my hammer and do some work myself.
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She certainly is and some of her songs have appeared around here before. Thing that gets me about the songwriters is that they are some of the most successful and well-paid people in music yet you could walk past them in the street and not know who they are. Same goes for Bernie Taupin – Even after the biopic, I still wouldn’t know what he looks like. Jamie Bell!?
LeAnn (not a fan of how she spells her name) was really successful too around the turn of the millennium yet was only 17 when she appeared in that scene in the film. Ironically she was underage by about four years and in real life wouldn’t have been allowed in.
Our small but very disruptive project should have been done when we were away but with all the difficulties in sourcing materials and having them delivered at the moment, it’s happening when we are here instead. Didn’t realise the border was still closed for you in Canada – Life isn’t going to be the same again for a long time, if ever. Gonna have to look out that tool kit!
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Hope life is back to normal for you soon, Alyson.
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In the last few years I’ve written about my kitchen upheaval, the shower room upheaval (took 12 weeks because of lockdown happening in the middle) and now the bathroom upheaval. Once everything’s done we will never, ever do any more jobs like this again!
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I’m done with rehab jobs too, after also doing bathroom and kitchen in our house. I love the moon photo!
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If you stay in the same house for a long time it becomes inevitable BUT never again!
Glad you like my moon shot. There’s been cloud cover since so I was lucky on the night of the full moon.
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Oh, good luck with the bathroom – I feel your pain! We had ours done a few years back and in our teeny-tiny old cottage it was very disruptive too – our builder had to put a couple of false walls in the corner where the shower was going (we’d only had an icky 1980s apricot coloured bath) as the original ones weren’t perpendicular so it all added to the time and upheaval. Fortunately our neighbour’s holiday cottage wasn’t booked so we could use their shower and loo for a few days – I don’t know what we could have done without that option, but we had a bucket and spade at the ready…well, it was either that or a cat litter tray (sorry for that image!) I can imagine it’s even harder now with the delays in deliveries, etc. so hope yours gets finished very soon. The Blitz spirit is right.
Your moon shot is beautiful, so atmospheric. It brought to mind this lovely ink drawing by Samuel Palmer (I have it on an old postcard somewhere): https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/palmer-the-harvest-moon-drawing-for-a-pastoral-scene-n03699
I never fail to be captivated by moonlight.
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Oh C, it’s awful – I had no idea that the walls would have to come down and everything stripped back and started again. He’s here today as well, Saturday, but we’re having a day off tomorrow thankfully. It’s the same plumber friend who put the new shower room in last year (disrupted by lockdown 1) so at least we have ‘facilities’ when the water isn’t turned off! He was telling me that some people acquire a commode for the duration if they don’t have anywhere else to go – Argh…
I see what you mean about the moon picture by Samuel Palmer – A similar scene. I was lucky in that next door had their big outside light on so it lit up the tree and the moon lit up the clouds. The moon series was my favourite around here but after running through the Full Moon calendar twice, I kind of ran out of new things to write about, and new songs.
Yes, never fails to impress, moonlight. We’ve messed up our own planet but hope we never do anything to mess up the moon.
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There’s nothing worse than the stress of having your bathroom done (well, there is, obviously, but relatively to other renovations) so my thoughts go out to you.
Great photo of the moon though… why do my phone photos never come out that good?
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I had no idea it would be so bad, worse than the kitchen. Unlike you I don’t move house all the time so had to bite the bullet in the end. It wasn’t an avocado bathroom but definitely not from this millennium.
Yes was pleased with that iPhone picture. Although I was looking at a perfect circle, it’s so bright, it always comes out a blur – Still has a nice look to it though.
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It’s been fascinating reading your past posts about the Wheel of the Year in Song. My favourite months are August and September – so that’s roughly from Lughnasadh to Mabon. I can’t think of any songs featuring August, although I’m sure there must be some, but there are many which mention September – no doubt because it conveniently rhymes with “remember”!
I love September Song, J P Cooper’s 2017 tale of teen romance, and also a much earlier September Song, first recorded by Walter Huston in 1938. It was one of my mum’s favourite songs – it was featured in a 1950s film, September Affair, which she saw on one of her first visits to the cinema after she moved to London to begin her career as a teacher. As you may know, the song is about an ageing man wooing (now there’s an old-fashioned word!) a much younger woman, which might sound a bit creepy (although such relationships can work out – my granddad was 25 years older than my granny!) but it’s actually quite poignant. The man admits that he’s lost a tooth, and is a little lame – but on the plus side: “I have a little money and I have a little fame”. September Song has been recorded by many other artists since Walter Huston, from Frank Sinatra to Jeff Lynne, but I think they all leave out the reference to the lost tooth and the lameness!
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Hello again Lizza – Thanks for visiting those old posts from my Wheel of the Year series. I was a lot more prolific around here back then and when I discovered all those dates in the annual calendar (some were new to me) it made sense to attach a song to each of them. Always something that fits.
Yes, not many August songs but plenty of September ones. Maybe also like in the September Song you refer you it’s a good metaphor for the ageing process. I love Frank Sinatra’s version of It Was A Very Good Year when he gets to the autumn of his years he sees his various romances like vintage wine. Think I want to seek out that film your mum went to see too – Sounds as if it’s right up my street.
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One of the few jobs Mrs S and I successfully got ticked off at Swede Towers was to put in a new bathroom. It was very traumatic though, so I feel your pain! The house was spread over three floors, but we just had the one bathroom… containing our one loo, something the tradesmen hadn’t appreciated when they started ripping the old stuff out! We were using a bucket for a toilet for a few days and making a 40 mile round trip to Mrs S’s dad’s place to shower! I hope the new occupants of Swede Towers appreciate the results of our sacrifices!
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As of 5pm yesterday the plumber packed up his tools and left for the last time, so a massive relief – No more up at the crack of dawn laying down dust sheets, and always feeling really cold as the doors and windows open all day. The big clear up operation will start today as dust seems to have got to every corner of the house, and of course collateral damage to hall doors and carpet. He’s done a great job but i had no idea it was going to be so disruptive – 17 days since he first arrived! As you say, we’ve put up with an old-fashioned bathroom for 20 years, but if we ever sell up the new owners will get the benefit.
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