If the Moon Was a Great Big Banjo

From “The Earl and the Girls”, 1913
Words by Gene Buck
Music by Dave Stamper

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The sheet music:

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Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:

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Lyrics

1. If the moon was a great big banjo
   And it played every summer night
   Then lovers could spoon to a ragtime tune
   And their hearts would be filled with delight
   And when it got dark, every bench in the park
   Would be filled up with loving pairs
   Just watching the stars, turkey trotting with Mars
   To the banjo’s ragtime airs

Chorus:
Every cloud would start in a rolling
Each planet would commence to glide
Jupiter singing and Venus a swinging
Around and around, side by side
While the moon would be playing
The earth would be swaying
Yes swaying to and fro
Everything in the air would be doing the “bear”
If the moon was a great big banjo
Way up in the sky

2. There’s a jubilee up in the clouds
   They all hear the big banjo’s tune
   The evening star comes way from afar
   Just to flirt with the man in the moon
   The Dipper starts in, he’s a wooing to win
   The heart of the queen of the night
   The planets all smile, ’cause they know all the while
   That his chances don’t look bright

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Sung by Fred Feild: