The song of the day for Tuesday, March 17, 2015 is “Old Devil Moon.”

About This Song

“Old Devil Moon” was written by Burton Lane and Yip Harburg for the 1947 musical Finian’s Rainbow, which also gave us “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” While Alec Wilder was no fan of “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?”, in America Popular Song, he praises “Old Devil Moon” as “a well-written, wholly convincing song. It drives, and its initial intensity is sustained throughout.”

As today is St. Patrick’s Day, it is only fitting that we feature a song from that most Irish of musicals, Finians’ Rainbow, which is mostly about pots of gold at the end of the rainbow and leprechauns.

About This Version

Tony Bennett has recorded this song several times; in fact, we featured his first recording in January as part of the album of the month study of Cloud 7. Today’s version is from 1967; it was arranged and conducted by Marion Evans and was included on Tony Makes It Happen!

“Old Devil Moon,” as well as Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

Because I’m still feeling a bit guilty for missing Saturday’s song and YouTube video, here’s Tony singing today’s song from his 1994 MTV Unplugged concert. Enjoy! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!