Fly Me To The Moon

Song Facts:

• Track Name: "Fly Me To The Moon"


• Album: Used as an ending theme for Neon Genesis Evangelion


• Original Artist: Written by Bart Howard in 1954


• Most Famous Version: Sung by Frank Sinatra in 1964


• Genre: Jazz, Pop Standards

Notable Cover: Several episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion were covered throughout by various artists in completely different styles and adaptations.

Analysis:

In fact, one of the most classic American songs, "Fly Me To The Moon," is found in an extremely unique place in the context of Neon Genesis Evangelion, an anime very deeply entrenched in themes of existential dread, loneliness, and the human struggle for some nebulous thread of connection and meaning.

With the romantic lyrics of the song and the melodic tune, it is in stark contrast to the mostly dark and complex storyline of the anime; it provides a soothing but somehow bittersweet finish to every episode. The song speaks to the listener with a fancy invitation to the moon and in the midst of the stars, where the moon and stars symbolize escapism and exploration—both elements present in the emotional escapism many characters in Evangelion hope to experience from their own troubled realities.

The celestial images also align with the show's tendency toward the use of space and cosmic references, falling back on some of the greater narrative conflicts dealing with humankind, existential threats, and the secrets of the universe. The words "Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars" develop a certain aspiration for something more, reflecting the dream of the characters to do things beyond usual and escape from the confining walls of their limitations and boundaries set up by the world around.

That's when the longing transcends to touch their personal life, in relationships and struggles, and the existential nature of them facing apocalyptic threats.

Beginning as a song that begs to be held and kissed, it mutates into the direst plea for union and love, matters that go to the very heart of Evangelion's raison d'être in looking at human relations. The easy yet powerful plea for love and truth captures the struggles of the characters regarding identity and intimacy, to understand each other.

"Fill my heart with song" more seems to imply the desire to fill with joy; possibly, it may be that by singing, one will be filled with joy. This is, possibly, what will be said on repeat—a contrasting tendency of the series to mine depths of despair and silence with characters oft spoken of as finding themselves either unable to voice the same emotion, much less voice a desire. Used in its place within Evangelion, "Fly Me To The Moon" sums to a mixture of yearning and love that could be taken to escape from the world, worried about by the troubled cast. It constitutes a moment of reflection at the end of each episode, setting itself to offer a brief lyrical break from the intense narrative and thematic content of the series. The repeated pleas to the truth, the pronouncements of love, and, therefore, the reminder to the underlying humanity of those characters is their continuous search for understanding and connection in a world, shattered.