Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
🎸 plaidonflannel.com
🎤 plaidonflannelshop.com
Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of "Dancing In The Moonlight” by Thin Lizzy from their 1977 album Bad Reputation for Vertigo and Mercury Records.
Words and music by Phil Lynott
When I passed you in the doorway
Well, you took me with a glance
I should've took that last bus home
But I asked you for a dance
Now we go steady to the pictures
I always get chocolate stains on my pants
And my father, he's going crazy
He says I'm livin' in a trance
But I'm dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
(It's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long, hot summer night
It's three o'clock in the morning
And I'm on the streets again
I disobeyed another warning
I should've been in by ten
Now I won't get out until Sunday
I'll have to say I stayed with friends
Oh, but it's a habit worth forming
If it means to justify the end
Dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
(It's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long, hot summer night
And I'm walking home
The last bus has long gone
But I'm dancing in the moonlight
Dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
(It's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long, hot summer night
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing in the moonlight)
It's caught me in its spotlight (it's caught me in in it's spotlight)
Dancing in the moonlight (dancing in the moonlight)
On this long, hot summer night (it's got me hot)
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing in the moonlight)
It's caught me in its spotlight (it's caught me alright) (it's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight (alright, alright, alright, alright)
On this long, hot summer night (got so goddamn hot)
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing)
It's caught me in its spotlight (I'm still dancing)
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing in the moonlight)
On this long, hot summer night
*Song Facts*
"Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" is a song by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. It appears on their 1977 album Bad Reputation and was also released as a single a few months before the album. The song reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1977, and No. 84 in Canada. It should not be confused with a similarly named song, "Dancing in the Moonlight", recorded by King Harvest and Toploader, amongst others.
The song builds on the introductory bass riff played by Phil Lynott, adding the vocal melody line sung by Lynott which contrasts and synergizes with the saxophone melodic counterpoint played by Supertramp's John Helliwell.
This uptempo, slightly jazzy number was clearly influenced by Van Morrison, of whom Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott was a big fan. One of Morrison's famous songs is "Moondance."
The subtitle (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight) was added by the band's American record company, Mercury, to distinguish it from the King Harvest song with the same title released four years earlier.
Bad Reputation is the eighth studio album by Thin Lizzy, released in 1977. As the front cover suggests, most of the tracks feature only three-quarters of the band, with guitarist Brian Robertson only credited on three tracks. He had missed most of their previous tour, following a hand injury sustained in a brawl, and this album turned out to be his last studio effort with Thin Lizzy. On 27 June 2011, a new remastered and expanded version of Bad Reputation was released.
With Robertson out of the band, band leader Phil Lynott had decided that Scott Gorham would be able to handle all the guitar duties himself, and that no replacement for Robertson would be recruited prior to recording the album. However, Gorham believed that a second guitarist was required, particularly for live work, performing songs that were written for two guitars. He later said, "I was always a big believer in the magic circle – once you broke the magic circle, the whole thing was broken, right?" He deliberately left two songs ("Opium Trail" and "Killer Without a Cause") without guitar solos recorded, and persuaded Lynott to allow Robertson to return to the band to record the solos for them. Lynott relented, and Robertson flew to Toronto and recorded his lead guitar parts
The Smashing Pumpkins covered "Dancing in the Moonlight" for various live performances. Turning the originally upbeat, overlaid melody of the original into a slow paced acoustic tune. It was recorded as B-side of the single "Disarm".
In 2005, "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" was used as part of an advertising campaign to launch Magners Irish Cider in the UK.
In 2012 the English indie rock band Alt-J released a mash up of "Dancing in the Moonlight" for the compilation album, The Saturday Sessions from The Dermot O'Leary Show. Later it was recorded at Spotify Studios NYC and released as part of their Spotify Singles project in 2017.
#ThinLizzy #DancingInTheMoonlight #ClassicRock
🎸 plaidonflannel.com
🎤 plaidonflannelshop.com
Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of "Dancing In The Moonlight” by Thin Lizzy from their 1977 album Bad Reputation for Vertigo and Mercury Records.
Words and music by Phil Lynott
When I passed you in the doorway
Well, you took me with a glance
I should've took that last bus home
But I asked you for a dance
Now we go steady to the pictures
I always get chocolate stains on my pants
And my father, he's going crazy
He says I'm livin' in a trance
But I'm dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
(It's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long, hot summer night
It's three o'clock in the morning
And I'm on the streets again
I disobeyed another warning
I should've been in by ten
Now I won't get out until Sunday
I'll have to say I stayed with friends
Oh, but it's a habit worth forming
If it means to justify the end
Dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
(It's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long, hot summer night
And I'm walking home
The last bus has long gone
But I'm dancing in the moonlight
Dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
(It's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long, hot summer night
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing in the moonlight)
It's caught me in its spotlight (it's caught me in in it's spotlight)
Dancing in the moonlight (dancing in the moonlight)
On this long, hot summer night (it's got me hot)
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing in the moonlight)
It's caught me in its spotlight (it's caught me alright) (it's alright, alright)
Dancing in the moonlight (alright, alright, alright, alright)
On this long, hot summer night (got so goddamn hot)
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing)
It's caught me in its spotlight (I'm still dancing)
Dancing in the moonlight (I'm dancing in the moonlight)
On this long, hot summer night
*Song Facts*
"Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" is a song by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. It appears on their 1977 album Bad Reputation and was also released as a single a few months before the album. The song reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1977, and No. 84 in Canada. It should not be confused with a similarly named song, "Dancing in the Moonlight", recorded by King Harvest and Toploader, amongst others.
The song builds on the introductory bass riff played by Phil Lynott, adding the vocal melody line sung by Lynott which contrasts and synergizes with the saxophone melodic counterpoint played by Supertramp's John Helliwell.
This uptempo, slightly jazzy number was clearly influenced by Van Morrison, of whom Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott was a big fan. One of Morrison's famous songs is "Moondance."
The subtitle (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight) was added by the band's American record company, Mercury, to distinguish it from the King Harvest song with the same title released four years earlier.
Bad Reputation is the eighth studio album by Thin Lizzy, released in 1977. As the front cover suggests, most of the tracks feature only three-quarters of the band, with guitarist Brian Robertson only credited on three tracks. He had missed most of their previous tour, following a hand injury sustained in a brawl, and this album turned out to be his last studio effort with Thin Lizzy. On 27 June 2011, a new remastered and expanded version of Bad Reputation was released.
With Robertson out of the band, band leader Phil Lynott had decided that Scott Gorham would be able to handle all the guitar duties himself, and that no replacement for Robertson would be recruited prior to recording the album. However, Gorham believed that a second guitarist was required, particularly for live work, performing songs that were written for two guitars. He later said, "I was always a big believer in the magic circle – once you broke the magic circle, the whole thing was broken, right?" He deliberately left two songs ("Opium Trail" and "Killer Without a Cause") without guitar solos recorded, and persuaded Lynott to allow Robertson to return to the band to record the solos for them. Lynott relented, and Robertson flew to Toronto and recorded his lead guitar parts
The Smashing Pumpkins covered "Dancing in the Moonlight" for various live performances. Turning the originally upbeat, overlaid melody of the original into a slow paced acoustic tune. It was recorded as B-side of the single "Disarm".
In 2005, "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" was used as part of an advertising campaign to launch Magners Irish Cider in the UK.
In 2012 the English indie rock band Alt-J released a mash up of "Dancing in the Moonlight" for the compilation album, The Saturday Sessions from The Dermot O'Leary Show. Later it was recorded at Spotify Studios NYC and released as part of their Spotify Singles project in 2017.
#ThinLizzy #DancingInTheMoonlight #ClassicRock
