Fly Me to the Moon

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For other uses, see Fly Me to the Moon (disambiguation).

"Fly Me to the Moon" is a pop standard song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. When introduced by Felicia Sanders on the cabaret circuit, it was originally titled "In Other Words". The song became popularly called "Fly Me to the Moon" from its first line, but it took a few years for the publishers to change the title officially.

It was first recorded in 1954 by Kaye Ballard (of the television show The Mothers-In-Law). Ballard's 1954 version was released by Decca Records as catalog number 29114. In 1956 it was recorded by Portia Nelson for her album, Let Me Love You. The same year, Johnny Mathis recorded the song, the first time the title "Fly Me to the Moon" appeared on a record label.

Felicia Sanders, the original singer of the song (best known for her vocal on the Percy Faith Orchestra's "Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)"), finally got around to recording the song in 1959. It was released on Decca Records as catalog number 30937.

In 1962, an instrumental version was recorded as "Fly Me to the Moon – Bossa Nova" by Joe Harnell, which became the biggest chart hit version of the song, reaching #14 on the U.S. pop singles charts.

Frank Sinatra recorded the song in 1964 on his It Might as Well Be Swing collaboration with Count Basie, and this became the rendition that many people identified the song with.

Tony Bennett recorded the song in 1965 and had a minor hit with it. In subsequent years through the 2000s, he often performed the song in concert without using any amplification or sound system.

It has also been performed by Paul Anka, Shirley Bassey, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bobby Darin, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Groove Armada, Joni James, Jack Jones, Julie London, Bobby Womack, Utada Hikaru, Al Hirt, Diana Krall, Mabel Mercer (1960), Wes Montgomery, Anita O'Day, KT Sullivan (1997), Sarah Vaughn, the Irish boyband Westlife, Nancy Wilson (1959), Matt Dusk, Agnetha Fältskog, Paul Gilbert, Sjoerd van der Putten, Eva Cassidy and many others.

In film, "Fly Me to the Moon" was used as the theme song of Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987) and under the last frames of Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys (2000) (in Sinatra's version).

The song is also the ending theme of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, in several remixed versions and performed by multiple people, most notably the famous Japanese seiyū Megumi Hayashibara and Yuko Miyamura (all in English).