"It's Only a Paper Moon" — Arlen, Harburg, and Rose's 1933 constructed romance.
Writer(s): Rose/Harburg/Arlen
I never feel a thing is real
When I'm away from you
Out of your embrace
The world's a temporary parking place
Mmm, mm, mm, mm
A bubble for a minute
Mmm, mm, mm, mm
You smile, the bubble has a rainbow in it
Say, its only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
Yes, it's only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
Without your love
It's a honky-tonk parade
Without your love
It's a melody played in a penny arcade
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
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- Written by Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, and Billy Rose in 1933. The acknowledgment that the whole romantic scenario — the paper moon, the canvas sky — is fake, but love makes it real. The most self-aware love song in the Songbook.