The Alaska daily empire., 1918-02-08
Some of Those Which Are Making Popular Hits and How They
 Were Written.
HOW THEY ORIGINATE
They May Not Be Entirely Classical, but They Reach the Right
 Spot.
(By E. M. Wicks)

It was simply natural for men like Conan and Gilbert to write the songs they did-son writing is a business with them-but few dream ed that the soldiers would try their hands at the national pastime" of composing as did Private Frederick Rath when he celebrated his en- trance into Camp Upton by writing When the Moon Is Shining Some where in France" From the start it was big favorite with his com rades in camp, and was immediate ly accepted for publication when submitted to a New York publisher, proving once more than the man or woman with good song ideas need not worry about finding reliable publisher. No one can control the ideas and emotions of the public. and it is very likely that many of the songs not yet written will come from soldiers lying in the trenches or young men and women in small towns.
 The actual writing is a simple pro cess once you get hold of a good song idea, and the idea does not have to be in finished form like 8 play or a story to interest the pub fisher. In fact, a good title will at. tract him and make him reach fol bis check book, for the idea is nine tenths of a song The majority of song titles and ideas come from ev. cry day conversation. "Td Leave My Happy. Home For You" was said to Harry Won Tilzer by a stage struck girl in Hartford Connecti cut. when Harry was playing there asked Wm. Jerome to write him song and Jerome said 'Jm tired" That's a good title, write it up." Foy laughed, and Jerome did, land ing a hit.
 The author of Set Aside Your Tears" caught the idea for the song one morning when he entered his office. His stenographer was crying as a result she had had with her sweetheart. On seeing her, one of the piano players said Hey, put aside your tears and get busy" Gil bert saw war possibilities in the phrase and instantly set to work.
 When the Moon Is Shining Some where in France" comes from life Rath uttered the phrase in a jest on leaving for Camp Upton, and that night when he saw the moon shining the idea for the song entered his head Below is the result; that is, the chorus:
 When the moon is shining some
 where in France,
 I'll send a wireless to you.
 I will say I'm o. K. and I'm think
 ing of you, too.
 Then when the moon goes sailing
 over the sea,
 It will carry my message through. And every time you see the man in
 the moon,
 He will bring my love and kisses
 back to you.
 Now this is not the kind of ly- ric that Shapespeare or Longfellow would write, but it is the kind that makes an impression on lovers of popular songs, especially young wo men. It carries message to them, and love message to the average young woman does not have to be a rhetorical gem. It is the impress sion that the phrases make on her that counts. When the Moon Is Shining" expresses just what every when thinking of the girl he left soldier in France will be feeling behind. And it has been worded so that every girl with sweetheart in the trenches can sing it and ex- perience similar feeling. If Pri. vate Rath never kills any Huns, he has already done the soldiers. sail ors and their sweethearts a service by writing this cheerful song.