“La Luna” by Belinda Carlisle

The title of this song (“La Luna”), as you perhaps already know, simply translates to “The Moon”. And you know how they say that people, succinctly put, get more sensually excited when there’s a full moon? Well that’s kinda the general idea upon which the lyrics of this song are based, at least as far as the first two verses go.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Belinda Carlisle's La Luna at Lyrics.org.

Lyrics

The song starts off with the vocalist meeting the addressee one beautiful evening. And it was like a love-at-first-sight type of scenario. 

Indeed the whole interaction leads to the singer thanking fate for ‘bringing them together’ in the first place. And yes, obviously the moon was in fact present, in its glory, during that fateful night. 

But more importantly again is what it symbolizes, i.e. the narrator having the fortune of striking up a meaningful relationship with a romantic interest in just a singular interaction.

And by the second verse, they do in fact go on to embark on a serious, full-fledged romance. The singer was clearly stricken by Cupid’s arrow, with “all the world” reminding her of the fact that she’s in love. Yes, falling in love is truly like that at the beginning.

But alas, once the bridge rolls around it is revealed that she and dude are no longer together, and she is left “cold and grey”.  What transpired between the two lovers to bring them to this point isn’t exactly elaborated on. But the singer does go on to suggest that she “left” him, and that now she doesn’t even care where he is.

But in the grand scheme of the lyrics, those lines actually read like emotional-defense mechanisms. In other words, Brenda is apparently masking her true feelings. For in the chorus, she is rather hoping that “the light of la Luna” will one day reunite them.

Lyrics of "La Luna"

So in this song the moon is presented as a mystical entity, if you will – the embodiment of good luck in romance. As such the singer is hoping for la Luna’s favor in once again bringing her into the arms of the man it introduced her to in the first place.

Music Video

Andy Morahan directed this track’s music video, which largely consists of an apparently nude Belinda Carlisle (though 80% concealed by a very large blanket) sitting in a bed. 

The visual is seemingly set in the Victorian era, even though the instrumental is more reminiscent of Spanish flamenco music. And just to note, Morahan also directed the video to another hit song from Belinda entitled “Summer Rain“.

Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Carlisle’s career dates back to serving as the lead vocalist of a 1980s’ trendsetting girl group known as The Go-Go’s. When they first dissolved in 1985, Carlisle opted to go solo and has dropped a few hits since, most notably 1987’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth“. 

She also released eight studio albums between 1986 and 2017, in addition to eventually resuming her duties with the reformed Go-Go’s into the 21st century.

“La Luna”

This particular song is from her third solo album, “Runaway Horses”. From that album came six singles of which “La Luna” was the second. (It was originally released though with the rest of the album on 3 October 1989.) 

The track charted in almost 10 countries, including breaking the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. But it was never released as a single in Belinda’s homeland of the United States.

Meanwhile “Runaway Horses” also proved to be a notable hit, reaching a peak position of number four on the UK Singles Chart. It also achieved double-platinum status in the United Kingdom and Australia.

La Luna

Did Belinda Carlisle write “La Luna”?

No. The composers of this song are both prolific songwriters, Ellen Shipley (who conceptualized it) and Rick Nowels, with Nowels still being very much active, most recognizably in the superstar career of Lana Del Rey, heading into the 2020s.  And Rick Nowels also produced “La Luna”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like...