Moonlight Shadow

Release

The single peaked at number 4 in the British charts, making it Oldfield's second highest ranked single after "Portsmouth", which reached number 3 in 1976. "Moonlight Shadow" was successful throughout Europe. It reached number 1 in many countries, including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number 2 in Germany, hit number 6 in Australia, and peaked at number 3 in New Zealand and France. It was re-released as a maxi-CD single in 1993 to promote Oldfield's Elements box set, charting at number 52.

A 12-inch single (later reissued on a 3" CD single) featured an extended version of the song with an extra verse, and the single B-side was "Rite of Man", which was a rare instance of Oldfield singing lead vocal. The extended mix also appears on his compilation album The Platinum Collection.

In 1991, the song was re-released in France, and in 1993 it was featured on promos for Elements in France and Spain. The 1993 reissue included "Bones" and "In the Pool" as B-sides, which had previously been released as B-sides with "To France". Furthermore, the name of the song was used for the 2013 Universal Music compilation album of Oldfield's music, Moonlight Shadow: The Collection.

Live performances

Maggie Reilly sang "Moonlight Shadow" live when she toured with Oldfield in the 1980s. However, since then, other singers have performed the song live with Oldfield including, Anita Hegerland (during the late 1980s), Pepsi Demacque (at the Tubular Bells III premiere and, at the Live Then & Now 1999 tour), Miriam Stockley (at the Millennium concert and at Nokia Night of the Proms in Germany) and Rosa Cedrón (at Nokia Night of the Proms in Spain).

Artwork

The original cover art is an enlargement of the lower right corner of the Crises album cover by UK artist Terry Ilott. This shows a man with his foot on a ledge with the sea and sky in the background. The moon, the tower and its shadow from the album cover cannot be seen on the single cover.

The artwork for the 1993 reissue followed the style of the Elements artwork in most countries.

Production

An early version of the song was entitled "Midnight Passion" with vocals by British singer Hazel O'Connor. Along with Maggie Reilly, a girlfriend of one of the roadies when Oldfield was on tour, Oldfield used a rhyming dictionary and recorded many of the lyrics word by word.

According to bassist Phil Spalding the initial tracks recorded simultaneously for "Moonlight Shadow" were acoustic guitar (Oldfield), bass (Spalding), drums (Phillips) and electric guitar (Tim Renwick) in early February 1983 at Oldfield's studio in Denham, Buckinghamshire. Renwick's guitar track was apparently not used in the final track. The remaining tracks including the vocals and Oldfield on electric guitar were later overdubs.

According to Oldfield, Virgin Records were immediately happy with the song and wanted more pieces similar to it. Reilly also sang on "Foreign Affair" on Crises. An unplugged mix of the song appears on the 2013 Mercury Records reissue of the Crises album.

Oldfield later sampled the drums from "Moonlight Shadow" for the song "Man in the Rain" on his 1998 album, Tubular Bells III.

Lyrical content

It has been suggested that the lyrics of the song are a reference to the murder of John Lennon despite the fact that the events in the song do not correspond with those of Lennon's murder. Lennon was shot four times just before 11pm, whereas in the song the time is 4am and the number of shots is six. When asked if "Moonlight Shadow" is a reference to John Lennon's murder in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:

Not really... well, perhaps, when I look back on it, maybe it was. I actually arrived in New York that awful evening when he was shot and I was staying at the Virgin Records house in Perry Street, which was just a few blocks [sic] down the road from the Dakota Building where it happened, so it probably sank into my subconscious. It was originally inspired by a film I loved – Houdini, starring Tony Curtis, which was about attempts to contact Houdini after he'd died, through spiritualism... it was originally a song influenced by that, but a lot of other things must have crept in there without me realizing it.

Video

There are two versions of the video: the full-length original, and a shorter one which omits a verse. The reason for the shorter version was for the requirements of some TV broadcasters, and the way both versions are edited suggests that Oldfield's touring guitarist "Ant" (Anthony Glynne) performs the second, overdriven half of the guitar solo, which is not the case. Also in the video is Oldfield's touring drummer, Pierre Moerlen, miming the part played by Simon Phillips on the recording. The music video was directed by Keith McMillan and shot on location at Hatfield House and Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, England.

7-inch vinyl

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (7" mix) – 3:37
2. "Rite of Man" – 2:21

12-inch vinyl

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18
2. "Rite of Man" – 2:21

German vinyl

1. "Moonlight Shadow" – 3:37
2. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18
3. "Rite of Man" – 2:21
4. "To France" – 4:43
5. "Jungle Gardenia" – 2:45 (Mike Oldfield)
6. "Taurus 3" – 2:25

1988 CD

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18
2. "Rite of Man" – 2:21
3. "To France" – 4:44
4. "Jungle Gardenia" – 2:44

1993 CD

1. "Moonlight Shadow" – 3:35
2. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18
3. "In the Pool" – 3:40
4. "Bones" – 3:19

Chart positions

The song performed particularly well in European charts, reaching number one in countries such as Norway, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

Personnel

Appearances and influence in other media

The song has been used in other media, such as:

Cover versions

Numerous cover versions of "Moonlight Shadow" have been recorded over the years, including one from 2002 that reached the German Top 10 by Groove Coverage.

Groove Coverage version

In 2002, a dance version of "Moonlight Shadow" by Groove Coverage reached the German Top 10 (simultaneously, a similar version of Oldfield's "To France" by Novaspace was in the German Top 30). "Moonlight Shadow" appeared on Groove Coverage's debut album, Covergirl. The vocals are by Melanie Munch, who is known by her stage name Mell. Aside from the single remixes, the album also contains a piano version, featuring piano by Verena Rehm.

Track listings

CD single

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Radio version) – 2:52
2. "Moonlight Shadow" (Original radio edit) – 2:54
3. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 6:56
4. "Moonlight Shadow" (Rocco remix) – 6:58
5. "Moonlight Shadow" (Warp Brothers remix) – 7:37
6. "Moonlight Shadow" (Video) – 2:53

Maxi single

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Radio version) – 2:52
2. "Moonlight Shadow" (Original radio edit) – 2:59
3. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 6:58
4. "Moonlight Shadow" (Rocco remix) – 6:58
5. "Beat Just Goes" – 3:53

Remix single

A-side

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version)

B-side

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Club version)
2. "Beat Just Goes" (Club mix)

US maxi single

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Josh Harris Radio Edit) – 3:46
2. "Moonlight Shadow" (Josh Harris Club Mix) – 7:21
3. "Moonlight Shadow" (Josh Harris Dub) – 6:39
4. "Moonlight Shadow" (French Club Mix) – 6:36
5. "Moonlight Shadow" (French Short Cut) – 3:05
6. "Moonlight Shadow" (Plastic Men UK Mix) – 6:16
7. "Moonlight Shadow" (Warp Brothers Remix) – 7:36
8. "Moonlight Shadow" (North Starz Remix) – 6:57
9. "Moonlight Shadow" (Alternate Radio Version) – 2:51
10. "Moonlight Shadow" (Original Mix) – 2:53
11. "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended Mix) – 6:54
12. "Moonlight Shadow" (Rocco Remix) – 6:56
13. "Moonlight Shadow" (A cappella) – 1:50
14. "Moonlight Shadow" (Pure & Direct Version) – 4:17