By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Vaudeville Tune

The music, is by Gus Edwards (b. Aug. 18, 1887, Hohensalza, Germany, d. Nov. 7, 1945 Los Angeles, CA), and the word by Edward Madden.

By the Light of the Silvery Moon was written for Gus Edward's own vaudeville revue, 'School Boys and Girls'. (Gus wrote the act, directed it, and starred in it as well.) This act premiered in 1907 and was so successful that it 'ran' for over twenty years. It consisted of a school room filled with young singers, dancers, actors, mimes, etc. Over the years, Gus scoured the country looking for new, young talent to star in these revues. He found such future stars as Lila Lee; Groucho Marx; Eddie Cantor; Eddie Buzzell; George Jessel; The Duncan Sister; George Price, and many more. He became known as "The Star Maker". A popular saying of the day was, 'Pull your kids in, here come Gus Edwards'.

The Music
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
[ 2:57 ] [ 14k ]

The Song
The song in this book which is sung to the tune of
"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"

1. By the Light

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Place Park, scene dark,
Silvery moon is shing' thro' the trees;
Cast two, me, you,
Sound of kisses floating on the breeze;
Act one, begun,
Dialogue "Where would you like to spoon?"
My cue, with you, underneath the silvery moon...

Chorus:
By the Light of the Silvery Moon,
I want to spoon,
To my honey I'll croon love's tune.
Honeymoon, keep a-shinin' in June,
Your silv'ry beams will bring love' dreams.
We'll be cuddling soon,
By the silvery moon.

Act two, scene new,
Roses blooming all around the place;
Cast three, you, me
Preacher with a solemn looking face.
Choir sings, bell rings,
Preacher, "You are wed forever more"
Act two, all through, ev'ry night the same encore.

Chorus