The Philosophy of Modern Song: from “Feel So Good” to “Blue Moon”

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Tony Attwood

 

By Tony Attwood

There is an index to our current series and recent articles on the home page.   If you would care to write an article about Bob Dylan, his music, or the music he influenced or was influenced by, please do write to Tony@schools.co.uk

This article looks at two songs Bob included in his “Philosophy of Modern Song”: “Feel So Good” and “Blue Moon”.

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This song really plays around with the classic 12 bar blues structure, adding lots of spoken parts before moving on to the second major chord in the progression.   As a result, we do have a much extended 12 bar blues, but with the early opening sections of each verse spoken, not sung.

In short it is a 12 bar blues taken in a completely different direction because of the spoken part at the start of each verse.   Thus this is an innovation, but not one that really leads anywhere, although around this time a number of artists did experiment with talking rather than singing part of the lyrics of the song they recorded.

The song was written by Herman Parker (generally known as Junior Parker) after the band were noticed and encouraged by Ike Turner, and eventually the band was signed by Sam Phillips to the Sun Records label in 1953.  The band had three hits of which this was the first, getting to number 5 in the Billboard R&B charts.

The idea of having part of the lyrics spoken never really caught on, seemingly because after a few listens to the song, it becomes a bit too predictable and “samey”.   Most fans of this type of music enjoy the combination of the melody and rhythm with the lyrics, although some singers have used the spoken introduction to a song on occasion since then.   The problem, however, seems to be that rock music generally consists of melody, accompaniment and the beat, as well as the lyrics, and reciting the lyrics tends to remove not only melody but also the beat, and highlights what can be a lack of insight within the lyrics.  As in this case, although the band keep playing, one can’t really sing or hum along with a spoken melody.

And interestingly, the next song on Bob’s collection for the Philosophy of Modern Song goes in exactly the opposite direction, having one of the most memorable melodies of all time.

Blue Moon was written (although there has been some dispute over this) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, and has remained popular ever since.  Although recorded several times in 1935 it was also a hit twice in one year, 14 years later, for both Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.   It was then a hit again in 1961 for the Marcels and has been performed ever since.

Thus even Bob himself has recorded the song, and this reveals an interesting new dimension to his singing voice….

One interesting point, given how popular the song has been ever since, is how limited the lyrics are, with two verses of just a couple of lines each …

Blue moon, you saw me standin' alone
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own

Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me sayin' a prayer for, someone I really could care for


And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will hold
I heard somebody whisper, "Please adore me"
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold

The song ends with a third verse, which is in fact just a minor alteration to the first verse

Blue moon, Now, I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own

And yet this incredibly simple song has been a hit several times and recorded by all of the famous crooners from Frank Sinatra to Bing Crosby, via Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan along the way, and has even become an anthem for an English Premier League football club.

There has even been a movie which looks into the origins of the piece and its subsequent success.  And indeed, the history of the song through multiple rewrites is really extraordinary and worth following up.   There are multiple contradictory stories in this regard, but if you are interested, you could start here  – but that is not to say I am volunteering this as the true story of its origins.

Previously in this series

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