Shine on, Harvest Moon

What is it about the harvest moon? What is it about the cosmic body that rolls perpetually about the earth, reflecting the light of the sun and causing the tides to swell and recede? Whatever it is, it always seems more potent at this time of year. It is partly geological, of course. It seems that at or near the eqinoxes, the moon appears larger in the sky because day and night are supposedly of equal length. No, I don’t understand why either. But I recognise a glorious beacon of light when I see one. But why has the spring moon, the one of six months’ earlier, not risen to the occasion and inspired not one but two great songs titled Springtime Moon, as in Harvest Moon?
The delectable later Harvest Moon, released by Neil Young in 1998 is still routinely played at weddings. The lyrics of the earlier version, redolent of ragtime bands and crooning vocalists “snow time is no time to go outside and spoon” seem rather odd today. But the song is ever evocative of lazy, sleepy late summer and early autumn. Before the advent of artificial lighting, the harvest moon may indeed have seemed magical, enabling workers to toil late into the evening, taking home those final stooks of grain before the autumnal rains set in. What with granaries groaning and barns bursting with food for the forthcoming winter, it was time to feast and dance, to hang out and make love, to reflect the heat and warmth absorbed in the days of the now-dying summer. From that point of view, the spring moon, though it is the same beacon that shines, does not have the same potency. Whenever, I’ll be out to greet the harvest moon when she arrives. So, shine on, harvest moon, oh shine on...