Songfacts®:

• This dreamy ballad was Glenn Miller's breakout hit, but it was years in the making. Miller wrote the melody in 1935 when he was a trombone player in Ray Noble's band. The lyricist Eddie Heyman added words, and the song was titled "As I Lay Me Down To Weep." It went:
  
  Weep for the moon
  For the moon has no reason to glow now
  Weep for the rose
  For the rose has no reason to grow now
  The rivers won't flow now
  As I lay me down To weep
  
  Miller didn't record or publish the song with these lyrics, but in 1938 used the instrumental as theme music for his radio broadcasts on the NBC network. In 1939 the publisher Robbins Music bought the melody and had Mitchell Parish ("Stardust") write a new set of lyrics for it, which were given the title "Wind In The Trees."
  
  By this time, Miller had his own band and was set to record a song called "Sunrise Serenade," written by Frankie Carle. Someone at Robbins suggested that Parish write the lyrics as "Moonlight Serenade" instead, which could be used as the B-side of the single, forming a theme. Parish did just that, but Miller recorded the song as an instrumental. When the single was released, "Sunrise Serenade" charted, but it was soon outdone by "Moonlight Serenade," which rose to #3 and became Miller's signature song.
• There were a few performances where Miller used a vocalist on this song, but it wasn't until 1959 when the doo-wop group The Rivieras recorded it that a version with lyrics became popular. Their rendition charted at #47 in the US, but the most popular vocal version was by Frank Sinatra, who recorded it in 1966 on his album Moonlight Sinatra. Bobby Vinton took the song to #97 in 1978, and Tuxedo Junction to #103 that same year.
• The lyric is about two lovers spending a romantic night together. It's a very seductive song where the singer serenades his lover in the moonlight on a June evening. Sung by Sinatra, it's very effective.
• With this song, Miller created a new sound with a high-leading clarinet leading over the saxophone section. That kind of sound made Glenn Miller's orchestra famous. If you listen the song you'll hear that there are actually two melodies (clarinet and saxophone), and together they're creating the whole song.
• Miller and his orchestra recorded this song at RCA's studios in New York City while they were on a seven-week live engagement at the Meadowbrook Ballroom in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.
• Wilbur Schwartz played the clarinet solo on this track and also played alto sax. The other musician were:
  
  Trumpets: Clyde Hurley, Dale McMickle, Leigh Knowles, Johnny Best
  Trombones: Glenn Miller, Al Mastren, Paul Tanner, Tommy Mack
  Alto sax: Hal McIntyre
  Tenor sax: Tex Beneke and Al Klink
  Alto and baritone sax: Jimmy Abato
  Guitar: Richard Fisher
  Bass: Rowland Bundock
  Drums: Maurice Purtill
  Piano: Chummy MacGregor
• After this song hit, Miller became one of the most popular bandleaders in America, with seven #1 hits, including "That Old Black Magic," "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "In The Mood." In 1942 he joined the Army and formed the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. He died in 1944 when his plane disappeared en route to Paris.