"Sad Lookin' Moon" is a song written by

Randy Owen Randy Yeuell Owen (born December 13, 1949) is an American country music artist. He is best known for his role as the lead singer of Alabama, a country rock band that saw tremendous mainstream success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Alabama became ...

, Teddy Gentry and Greg Fowler, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. It was released in February 1997 as the lead-off single from the album ''

Dancin' on the Boulevard '' Dancin' on the Boulevard'' is the seventeenth studio album by American country music band Alabama, released in 1997 by RCA Records. It includes the singles "Dancin, Shaggin' on the Boulevard", "Sad Lookin' Moon," "She's Got That Look in Her Ey ...

''. It peaked at number 2 in the United States, while it was a number-one hit in Canada.

Background and writing

Owen told ''Billboard'' that the song was written while they were in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. "We'd been playing guitars on the bus, and I looked out the window...and said it's a sad-lookin' moon tonight,' and Teddy said, 'Wow. Let's write that song.' So Teddy, Greg, and I just went to working on it, and things just kind of fell together, as good songs and good feelings often do."

Content

The narrator thought that his ex-lover would be always his and that she would never leave. However, she left him, and now a sad lookin' moon shines down on him as he is feeling sad.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that the song "demonstrates that there's still lots of creative juice flowing from country's most successful band." She says that the song includes a "strong melody, buoyed by Randy Owen's personality-packed vocal." She states that while the song contains all the familiar ingredients of Alabama, "there's a freshness and infectious excitement that's nice to hear from a band that's been churning out hits for more than 15 years."''

'', March 1, 1997

Chart positions

"Sad Lookin' Moon" debuted at number 45 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the chart week of March 1, 1997.

Year-end charts

References

{{Alabama (band) 1990-2002 singles 1997 songs Alabama (American band) songs 1997 singles Song recordings produced by Don Cook RCA Records singles Songs written by Randy Owen Songs written by Teddy Gentry Songs written by Greg Fowler