The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ( song ) - wikipedia The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ( song ) For the novel by Robert Heinlein, see The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress ( book ). `` The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress '' ( sometimes titled as `` The Moon 's a Harsh Mistress '' ) is a song by American songwriter Jimmy Webb. It has become a much - recorded standard, without ever having charted as a single. Webb appropriated the title from the 1966 science fiction novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. The song is especially associated with Glen Campbell, who performed the song on his farewell tour, Judy Collins, and Joe Cocker, who first recorded the song in 1974. The song is commonly presented in the key of G ( to B ♭ ). The song structure consists of three seven - line verses and a two - line coda. The first two verses have a rhyme scheme of AABACDC. The third verse modulates three half steps ( from G to B ♭ ), with the rhyme scheme altered to ABABCDC, and the coda repeating the DC. The time signature of the song is common time with the lines introduced between the second and third beat. In a 2009 interview with Lisa Torem for Penny Black Music, Jimmy Webb talked about the influence of Robert Heinlein and the song 's title : Robert Heinlein, was a kind of early mentor of mine. I started reading his books when I was eight years old... I guess I was really getting more of my education out of science - fiction than out of public school. I was reading Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov and learning a great deal about the patois of the language itself and how these words were being used to create emotions. I was learning this from writers without even knowing it... `` The Moon is a Harsh Mistress '' was one of the best titles I 've ever heard in my life. I really am guilty of appropriating something from another writer. In this case I had contact with Robert A. Heinlein 's attorneys. I said, ' I want to write a song with the title, `` The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ''. Can you ask Mr. Heinlein if it 's okay with him ? ' They called me back and he said he had no objection to it. Since Joe Cocker 's first recording of the song in 1974, `` The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress '' has been recorded by a variety of artists, from traditional renditions by female singers such as Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, and Joan Baez, to versions by male singers such as Joe Cocker, Glen Campbell, and Michael Feinstein. Webb recorded the song twice, in 1977 for his El Mirage album, and again in 1996 for his Ten Easy Pieces album. The song has attracted a wide range of artists, including the Norwegian singer Radka Toneff, who recorded the song on her 1982 album Fairytales, which in a 2011 poll of Norwegian musicians was voted the best Norwegian album ever. Various instrumental versions have also been recorded, including the 1997 version by Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny on the album Beyond the Missouri Sky ( Short Stories ), which won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group. Recorded versions This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. ( January 2016 ) Joe Cocker on his album I Can Stand a Little Rain ( 1974 ) Glen Campbell on his album Reunion : The Songs of Jimmy Webb ( 1974 ) Judy Collins on her album Judith ( 1975 ) Jeannie Lewis on her album Tears of Steel & the Clowning Calaveras ( 1975 ) Jimmy Webb on his album El Mirage ( 1977 ) Erick Nelson & Michele Pillar on their album `` The Misfit '' ( 1979 ) Radka Toneff and Steve Dobrogosz on the album Fairytales ( 1982 ) Linda Ronstadt on her album Get Closer ( 1982 ) Joan Baez on her album Recently ( 1987 ) Jimmy Webb on his album Ten Easy Pieces ( 1996 ) Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden on their Jazz album Beyond The Missouri Sky ( 1997 ) Grażyna Auguścik on her album The River ( 2001 ) Michael Feinstein on his album Only One Life : The Songs of Jimmy Webb ( 2003 ) Tone Damli on her album Bliss ( 2005 ) Karrin Allyson on her album Wild for You ( 2006 ) Albert Lee on his album Road Runner ( 2006 ) Aleksandra & the Belgian Sweets on their album Island Girl ( 2008 ) Maureen McGovern on her album A Long and Winding Road ( 2008 ) Celtic Woman ( soloed by Lisa Kelly ) on their album Celtic Woman : Songs from the Heart ( 2010 ) Nick Haywood Quartet on the album `` 1234 '' ( 2010 ) Nils Landgren on his album The Moon, the Stars, and You ( 2011 ) Silje Nergaard on her album Unclouded ( 2012 ) Josh Groban on his album All That Echoes ( 2013 ) Rita Marcotulli & Luciano Biondini on their album La strada invisibile ( 2014 ) References ^ Jump up to : Torem, Lisa ( October 20, 2009 ). `` Jimmy Webb : Interview ''. Penny Black Music. Retrieved November 14, 2012. Jump up ^ Gilbert, Calvin ( January 4, 2012 ). `` Glen Campbell Hits All the Right Notes at Nashville Concert ''. CMT. Retrieved November 14, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Månen hersker strengt ''. Morgenbladet. Retrieved November 14, 2012. ^ Jump up to : `` The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ''. Discogs. Retrieved January 19, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Unclouded ''. Discogs. Retrieved August 30, 2016. Jimmy Webb Original albums Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb ( 1968 ) Words and Music ( 1970 ) And So : On ( 1971 ) Letters ( 1972 ) Land 's End ( 1974 ) El Mirage ( 1977 ) Angel Heart ( 1982 ) Suspending Disbelief ( 1993 ) Ten Easy Pieces ( 1996 ) Twilight of the Renegades ( 2005 ) Live and at Large ( 2007 ) Just Across the River ( 2010 ) Still Within the Sound of My Voice ( 2013 ) Collaborative albums Up, Up, and Away ( 1966 ) The Magic Garden ( 1967 ) Rewind ( 1967 ) A Tramp Shining ( 1968 ) The Yard Went On Forever ( 1968 ) Sunshower ( 1969 ) The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb ( 1972 ) Reunion : The Songs of Jimmy Webb ( 1974 ) Earthbound ( 1975 ) Live at the Royal Festival Hall ( 1977 ) Watermark ( 1977 ) Breakwater Cat ( 1980 ) The Last Unicorn ( 1983 ) The Animals ' Christmas ( 1986 ) Light Years ( 1988 ) Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind ( 1989 ) Only One Life : The Songs of Jimmy Webb ( 2003 ) This Kind of Love ( 2008 ) Cottonwood Farm ( 2009 ) Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb : In Session ( 2012 ) Compilation albums Tribute to Burt Bacharach and Jim Webb ( 1972 ) And Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain... ( 1998 ) Archive ( 1994 ) Reunited with Jimmy Webb 1974 -- 1988 ( 1999 ) Tunesmith : The Songs of Jimmy Webb ( 2003 ) The Moon 's a Harsh Mistress : Jimmy Webb in the Seventies ( 2004 ) Archive & Live ( 2005 ) Songs `` All I Know '' `` By the Time I Get to Phoenix '' `` Did n't We '' `` Galveston '' `` The Girls ' Song '' `` Highwayman '' `` Honey Come Back '' `` MacArthur Park '' `` Still Within the Sound of My Voice '' `` The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress '' `` Up, Up and Away '' `` Where 's the Playground Susie '' `` Wichita Lineman '' `` The Worst That Could Happen '' Related articles Jimmy Webb discography Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress_(song)&oldid=795291261 '' Categories : 1974 songs Celtic Woman songs Glen Campbell songs Joan Baez songs Joe Cocker songs Judy Collins songs Linda Ronstadt songs Songs written by Jimmy Webb Hidden categories : Articles needing cleanup from January 2016 All pages needing cleanup Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose from January 2016 Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 13 August 2017, at 08 : 11. 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Question: who wrote the moon's a harsh mistress
Answer: American songwriter Jimmy Webb