" Instead of those key lines, a wailing voice suggests that prayers for love remain unfulfilled. The stress is on lines like "without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own," as the wailing replaces the rest of the chorus. Elvis's "Blue Moon" is truly blue: filled with sadness and unfulfilled longing. To enhance the reinvented theme of "Blue Moon," the instrumentation is stark. Throughout the recording, only a bass and a drum accompany the sultry vocals. The effect is clearly and intentionally that of a cowboy song. The rhythm of both the bass and the drums convey a horse gently trotting, carrying its lone rider through the Wild West. Evoking cowboy movies and mystique is one way the arrangement sends a far different message than the one that Rogers and Hart had intended. In Elvis's version, the male vocalist is totally, utterly alone. He is a lone cowboy, and the instrumentation enhances Elvis's interpretation. The confluence of cowboy music, a lone male vocalist, and the lack of fulfillment in the rearranged lyrics makes Elvis's version of "Blue Moon" like a different song.

When Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton cover "Blue Moon" five decades later, their version returns to the spirit of the original. Stewart offers a more cheerful yet far less poignant cover than Elvis does, and the 2008 version is quite similar to the 1935 Boswell sisters one. In general, the Rod Stewart recording represents a return to the original song that the writers intended: one that features a prayer for love coming true. Rod Stewart's version more closely resembles that of the Boswell Sisters than Elvis because of the jazzy feel, too.

The Rod Stewart version can come across as being saccharine or even lacking in emotion, due to its soft jazz instrumentation. However, Clapton's guitar is soulful and moody. There is a lounge-style piano solo that begins the song and which accompanies Stewart's vocals throughout. After the introduction with...

Just as Presley eliminated key verses to emphasize the stark loneliness in praying to the moon, Stewart actually adds several verses to the original Rogers and Hart version. Those vs. introduce the song. At the opening of the song, Stewart sings, "Once upon a time before I took up smiling I hated the moonlight. Shadows of the night….seem flat as the moonlight. With no one to stay up for, I went to sleep at ten. Life was a bitter cup for the saddest of all men."
After this introduction, Stewart launches in with the recognizable chorus of the song, "you saw me standing alone without a dream in my heart without a love of my own." Stewart's nicely husky voice complements the lounge feel. The Rod Stewart version is cheerful, a return to the original hopefulness that the song represents. He also emphasizes the word "gold" up the scale much like Boswell sisters.

Each of these three versions of a 1934 composition by movie music producers Rogers and Hart conveys a slightly different message. The mood of "Blue Moon" is decidedly melancholy no matter what the version. About loneliness and the rarity of true love, "Blue Moon" is packed with emotion even in versions sung with the original lyrics, when the prayer has been answered. Elvis Presley's version takes "Blue Moon" a step further by retaining the lonely theme and skipping over the lines in which the moon turns to gold. All three versions offer valid and moving interpretations of an American classic ballad.