What’s the Matter With the Moon Tonight

From “The Mocking Bird”, 1902
Words by Sydney Rosenfeld
Music by A. Baldwin Sloane

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The sheet music:

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Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:

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Lyrics

1. The bullfrogs huddle near the old bayou
   And they croak as in a dream
   And the owls hoot grimly “To whit, to whoo”
   In the fireflies’ fitful gleam
   And the frogs and the owls and the flies on wing
   Seem possessed of a solemn fright
   They are all of ’em asking the self-same thing
   “What’s the matter with the moon tonight?”

Refrain:
What’s the matter with the moon tonight?
She don’t seem the same old moon
She’s dreadful pale, she’s lost her light
She don’t seem the same old moon
She rolls unsteady in the starry sky
Hides her head as the cloud floats by
What’s the matter with the moon tonight?
She don’t seem the same old moon

2. The groundhog just for a spell creeps out
   From the home he’s made in a hole
   But he gives a shudder and he turns about
   And he says “Lord bless my soul”
   And he calls to the frog who calls to the owl
   Who blinks in the fireflies’ light
   There’s goblins a-watchin’ and a-waitin’ to prowl
   “What’s the matter with the moon tonight?”

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