Songfacts®:

• This song was written for a play called The Great Magoo, which debuted on Broadway in 1932. The original title was "If You Believed In Me," and it was sung by Claire Carleton in the show. The play was a flop, but the song lived on with the title "It's Only A Paper Moon." Cliff Edwards and Paul Whiteman both recorded it in 1933; Nat King Cole did it in 1944; and Ella Fitzgerald in 1945. Fitzgerald's version is the most popular, but the song was subsequently recorded by Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Benny Goodman, and even Paul McCartney for his 2012 album Kisses On The Bottom.
• In 1932, if you needed a moon for the set of a movie, you could hang one made of paper and it would do just fine. Of course, it isn't real - neither is the cardboard sea and canvas sky - but the singer believes it will all come to life with the love of their partner. Without this love, everything feels contrived, like a circus or a penny arcade.
• The music was written by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg and Billy Rose. Rose was a show producers who was working on The Great Magoo, so he asked Harburg and Rose for a song. It was one of the first collaborations for Arlen and Harburg, who teamed for a more famous song years later: "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard Of Oz.
• The 1973 movie Paper Moon uses the 1933 Paul Whiteman version of the song in the opening credits. The film is set in 1936 and stars Ryan O'Neal and his daughter Tatum, who was 9 years old at the time. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
  
  The film is based on a book called Addie Pray, but director Peter Bogdanovich decided Paper Moon would be a better title after hearing the song. The O'Neals play hucksters in the film, earning a living from artifice, so the song has a relatable theme.
• Nat King Cole recorded several versions of this song, including with big band, strings, and as a trio. In 1991 his daughter Natalie Cole included it on her album Unforgettable... With Love, a tribute to her father.
• The Apple TV+ series The New Look is a historical drama that dives into the world of Christian Dior and his fellow fashionistas during World War II Paris, showcasing the birth of modern fashion against a dark backdrop. Beabadobee's blissed-out cover of "It's Only A Paper Moon" is one of 10 on the soundtrack, curated by Jack Antonoff. The whole project reimagines classic tunes from the early to mid-20th century for a modern audience.