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The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Lyrics
See her as she flies
Golden sails across the sky
Close enough to touch
But careful if you try
Though she looks as warm as gold
The moon's a harsh mistress
The moon can be so cold
Once the sun did shine
And lord it felt so fine
The moon a phantom rose
Through the mountains and the pine
And then the darkness fell
The moon's a harsh mistress
It's hard to love her well
I fell out of her eyes
I fell out of her heart
I fell down on my face, yes I did
And I tripped and I missed my star
And I fell and fell alone
The moon's a harsh mistress
The sky is made of stone
The moon's a harsh mistress
She's hard to call your own
Golden sails across the sky
Close enough to touch
But careful if you try
Though she looks as warm as gold
The moon's a harsh mistress
The moon can be so cold
And lord it felt so fine
The moon a phantom rose
Through the mountains and the pine
And then the darkness fell
The moon's a harsh mistress
It's hard to love her well
I fell out of her heart
I fell down on my face, yes I did
And I tripped and I missed my star
And I fell and fell alone
The moon's a harsh mistress
The sky is made of stone
She's hard to call your own
Song Info
Submitted by
bobo192 On Aug 28, 2002
More Linda Ronstadt
Long Long Time
Somewhere Out There
You're No Good
Someone To Lay Down Beside Me
Different Drum
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This song has been covered several times. This is the one I'm familiar with. I always thought this was a precursor to a better choice of music for LR. Penned by Jimmy Webb I think he borrowed the title from a Robert Heinlein book by the same name. However the book was about a revolt against a tyrannical government on the moon, the term "harsh mistress" means a cruel, brutal master in the feminine sense, the moon. I'd like to see this song as using the term mistress as someone soft as in a lover. The song refers to a nostalgic moment in the past "once the sun did shine" when things were wonderful. Yet the reality is that it really wasn't, the love fell out, the memory is false, etc. Thus the reality is the moon who is double edged, a lovely memory but yet harsh because it did break your heart somehow. On the other hand I wonder if harsh mistress means more literally the moon is a tough teacher, you can dream of what you want but the harsh reality is that you can't have it without hard work, risk, consequences. In any case this is not only a very pretty song, its beautiful poetry.