When people can't explain something, whether it's erratic behavior or physical illness, they often blame the moon. Scientists have tried for centuries to dismiss this as only coincidence, but the popular view remains and has brought dozens of songs -- whether they be in pop music, folk, country & western and rock, all the way up the musical scale to opera and formal orchestral concerts -- to eager audiences.
By some estimates, the number of songs referencing the moon goes to nearly 200,000.
Examples include "Blue Moon," immensely popular in the 1950s, "Moonlight Serenade," recorded by Glenn Miller, "Moon River," sung by Andy Williams, "Fly Me to the Moon," offered by Frank Sinatra, or "It's Only a Paper Moon," noted by Ella Fitzgerald, as well as many hundreds of others.
As for whether the moon really does influence behavior, people start by noting wolves howl more often when the moon is full, and ocean tides run higher. Police and health care workers also point to changes in people's behavior when the moon is full. Another consequence of that belief is the naming of mental health facilities as "lunatic asylums."
Fair? Undoubtedly not, but that reflected the thinking at the time.
Scientists reject those behavior claims as only coincidence, and insist there is not sufficient evidence to support them.
Lunar advocates, however, cite this guideline: Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is interesting, but when the so-called "coincidence" happens dozens of times over the course of many years, it is evidence of a pattern.
Moreover, scientifically oriented health experts have leaned on this "coincidence" to explain something they could not. That's how the illness known as the flu came about. It was originally known by the Italian phrase "influenza della luna" -- which literally means "influence of the moon."
By some estimates, the number of songs referencing the moon goes to nearly 200,000.
Examples include "Blue Moon," immensely popular in the 1950s, "Moonlight Serenade," recorded by Glenn Miller, "Moon River," sung by Andy Williams, "Fly Me to the Moon," offered by Frank Sinatra, or "It's Only a Paper Moon," noted by Ella Fitzgerald, as well as many hundreds of others.
As for whether the moon really does influence behavior, people start by noting wolves howl more often when the moon is full, and ocean tides run higher. Police and health care workers also point to changes in people's behavior when the moon is full. Another consequence of that belief is the naming of mental health facilities as "lunatic asylums."
Fair? Undoubtedly not, but that reflected the thinking at the time.
Scientists reject those behavior claims as only coincidence, and insist there is not sufficient evidence to support them.
Lunar advocates, however, cite this guideline: Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is interesting, but when the so-called "coincidence" happens dozens of times over the course of many years, it is evidence of a pattern.
Moreover, scientifically oriented health experts have leaned on this "coincidence" to explain something they could not. That's how the illness known as the flu came about. It was originally known by the Italian phrase "influenza della luna" -- which literally means "influence of the moon."
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