An incredibly rare event is often described as coming along “once in a Blue Moon.” On August 30/31 we’ll experience the second full moon within the span of one month, which has me thinking about blue moons and the beloved singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith.

As the website Space.com tells us, “There are two types of Blue Moons but unfortunately neither has anything to do with color.” 

A seasonal Blue Moon is the traditional definition of a Blue Moon and refers to the third full moon in a season that has four full moons according to NASA. Whilst the second definition — borne out of a misunderstanding of the first — is a monthly Blue Moon which refers to the second full moon within a single calendar month. The monthly Blue Moon is nowadays considered the second definition of a Blue Moon rather than a mistake, according to Time and Date.

Not to get too deep into the science or the folklore, but the cycle of the phases of the moon lasts approximately one month. So we typically experience 12 full moons each year, and they often fall into one per month. (But not always … February which at best has 29 days, can go without a full moon. That’s known as a Black Moon.)

Many cultures have given distinct names to each month’s full moon. 12 months, 12 full moons, 12 names. Simple right?

Well, not quite. Here’s where the Blue Moon comes into the equation. 

The moon phases actually take 29.5 days to complete which means it takes just 354 days to complete 12 lunar cycles. So every 2.5 years or so a 13th full moon is observed within a calendar year. 

This 13th full moon doesn’t conform to the normal naming scheme and is referred to as the Blue Moon. 

Okay, enough science.

I’ve always loved the simple tune by Nanci Griffith entitled Once in a Very Blue Moon that was the title track of an early album. It begins with the arrival of a letter:

I found your letter in my mailbox today
You were just checkin’ if I was okay
And if I still miss you
Well you know what they say

Followed by the chorus:

Just once in a very blue moon
…
And I feel one comin’ on soon

After another verse and chorus, Griffith goes into the bridge:

There’s a blue moon shinin’
When I’m reminded
Of all we’ve been through
Such a blue moon shinin’
Does it ever shine down on you?

Shortly after her death in 2021, Texas Monthly wrote the following about Griffith’s work:

Best known for such Texas folk-country classics as “Last of the True Believers,” “Love at the Five and Dime,” and “Lone Star State of Mind,” as well as her near-definitive versions of Julie Gold’s “From a Distance,” Townes Van Zandt’s “Tecumseh Valley,” and John Prine’s “Speed at the Sound of Loneliness” (in a duet with Prine himself), Griffith’s music transcended genre, generations, and her home state. Seguin-born and Austin-raised, she may have had even more fans outside of Texas, whether in Nashville, Ireland, New York, or Australia … and she introduced those fans to other Texas artists.

I always felt that Griffith was best live. Here, from her 1985 Austin City Limits performance, Griffith sings Once in a Very Blue Moon. A young Lyle Lovett (also from Texas) joins on background vocals while a young Mark O’Connor plays violin.

And it ends with the haunting last verse of love lost where the feeling’s not shared:

You act as if it never hurt you at all
And I’m the only one whose gettin’ up from a fall
Don’t you remember
Or can’t you recall

Just once in a very blue moon
…
And I feel one comin’ on soon

For those with love that’s been lost as well as for those who have found an incredibly rare love, enjoy the blue moon.

More to come…

DJB

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Photo of blue moon by Nacho Monge on Unsplash

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UPDATE: Unfortunately, we had a fair amount of cloud cover here in the DC region on the evening of August 30/31, so while we could see the supermoon, it wasn’t very distinct. Luckily, our nephew David Ghattas had a clear night to get a beautiful photo in Tennessee, with the moon peeking through the leaves of the trees.

And then Claire took two beautiful photos of the supermoon over the San Francisco Bay in Alameda.