Songfacts®:

• In "Poor Moon," Canned Heat's Alan Wilson recounts childhood moon-gazing mixed with fears that the moon won't look the same when he's older – if it's there at all. Wilson mentions the possibility that a bomb might deface the satellite, but his fears are about generalized human interference as a whole. Bombs, pollution, habitation – whatever the precise cause, his worry is that human devastation will go beyond Earth and reach the moon.
• Alan Wilson is credited as the writer of the song and is also the lead vocalist.
• The song's bouncy music and sentimental lyrics make it unique among the Canned Heat catalog, which is defined by hard-driving blues-rock.
• Canned Heat recorded the song on July 2, 1969, as part of the sessions for their fourth studio album, Hallelujah, which was also the last album to feature the band's classic lineup. They didn't include the song on the album but released it as a 45 rpm single with "Sic 'Em Pigs" as the B-side on July 15. The single was released only in the UK, New Zealand, France, Sweden, and Italy. In 2001, the song was included as a bonus track on the CD release of Hallelujah.
• The Seattle indie band Poor Moon took their name from this song. The band is a side project of Christian Wargo and Casey Wescott, who are also part of Fleet Foxes, along with Ian and Peter Murray.