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Thin Lizzy - Dancing in the Moonlight




This uptempo, slightly jazzy number was clearly influenced by Van Morrison, of whom Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott was a big fan. One of Morrison's famous songs is "Moondance."

The subtitle was added by the band's American record company, Mercury, to distinguish it from the King Harvest song with the same title released four years earlier.


"Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" is a song by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. It appears on their 1977 album Bad Reputation and was also released as a single a few months before the album. The song reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1977. It should not be confused with a similarly named song, "Dancing in the Moonlight", recorded by King Harvest and Toploader, amongst others.


The song builds on the introductory bass riff played by Phil Lynott, adding the vocal melody line sung by Phil Lynott which contrasts and synergizes with the saxophone melodic counterpoint played by Supertramp's John Helliwell.






Lyrics


When I passed you in the doorway You took me with a glance I should have took that last bus home But I asked you for a dance

Now we go steady to the pictures I always get chocolate stains on my pants My father he's going crazy Say's I'm living in a trance

But I'm dancing in the moonlight It's caught me in its spotlight It's alright, alright Dancing in the moonlight On the long hot summer night

It's three o'clock in the morning And I'm on the streets again I disobeyed another warning I should have been in by ten

Now I won't get out until Sunday I'll have to say I stayed with friends But it's a habit worth forming If it means to justify the end



Songwriters: Sherman Kelly Dancing in the Moonlight lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC


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