About The Song
“I Prefer the Moonlight” is a country ballad recorded by Kenny Rogers, written by Gary Chapman and Mark Wright. Issued by RCA Nashville in September 1987, it was released as the second single and title track from Rogers’ twentieth studio album, I Prefer the Moonlight. The recording runs just over five minutes, was produced by Brown Bannister and features guest vocals from Kim Carnes, who had previously duetted with Rogers on “Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer.” The single became a major late-1980s hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and No. 2 on Canada’s RPM Country Tracks.
The parent album I Prefer the Moonlight was released in 1987 and turned out to be Rogers’ final studio album for RCA. Recorded that year at a group of Nashville and Hollywood studios, including Eleven Eleven, GroundStar Labs, Creative Recording, Sixteenth Avenue Sound, Hitsville U.S.A., the Grey Room and Conway, it brought together several producers: Brown Bannister, Richard Landis, Rob Galbraith, Kyle Lehning, Larry Butler and Brent Maher. On the U.S. country albums chart the record peaked at No. 18 and reached No. 163 on the Billboard 200, while generating three Top 5 country singles – the Ronnie Milsap duet “Make No Mistake, She’s Mine,” the title track and “The Factory.”
Chapman and Wright wrote “I Prefer the Moonlight” as a contemporary country piece built around the idea of choosing home, loyalty and quiet nights over temptation. Bannister’s production uses a smooth mid-tempo feel with keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, bass and drums, typical of late-1980s Nashville country-pop. Session documentation lists players such as Alan Pasqua, Dann Huff, Dean Parks, Larrie Londin and Neil Stubenhaus, underlining the high-end studio team assembled for the album. Kim Carnes’ harmony lines are woven through the choruses rather than presented as a full duet, giving the vocal sound extra texture without shifting the focus away from Rogers.
Lyrically, the song opens with the narrator facing casual temptation. “Temptin’ eyes across the room” invite him to stray, but he immediately dismisses the idea, saying he is “not tempted for a moment” and thinking instead about the woman waiting at home. A telephone call from his partner telling him to hurry back makes the decision easy: the “hurryin’ is easy ’cause she’s waiting up with all the love I’m needin’.” In the chorus he spells out his choice: he prefers “the moonlight and a blanket” and the “one right little lady” by his side to anything a night out might offer.
The second verse shifts to a quieter setting by the river. The narrator and his partner lie down by the water, which “plays a quiet song” while the moonlight reflects off the surface. He calls her “her mother’s lovely daughter” and admits that the scene moves him almost to tears, but emphasises that his emotion is not sorrow – he knows she will still be there the next morning. Repeated lines of “I prefer the moonlight” reinforce the central theme: the lasting comfort of a faithful relationship outweighs the momentary excitement of flirtation or nightlife.
On release, “I Prefer the Moonlight” gave Rogers another high-profile country hit in the late 1980s. Chart references show the single climbing to No. 2 on the U.S. Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, just missing the top spot, and matching that No. 2 peak in Canada on the RPM Country Tracks survey. While it was not geared toward pop crossover in the same way as earlier hits like “Islands in the Stream,” its performance helped maintain his presence on country radio between the mid-1980s success of albums such as They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To and the move into compilation releases at the end of his RCA tenure.
Over time, the song has remained closely associated with this phase of Rogers’ career. The album I Prefer the Moonlight is regularly highlighted in discographies as his last RCA studio project, and reissues and streaming platforms continue to treat the title track as one of its key cuts. It appears on later compilations that focus on his 1980s work and on playlists built around love songs, standing as a representative example of his mature country-pop style: polished production, understated but clear storytelling, and a lyric that frames fidelity and domestic life as something quietly worth choosing, night after night, over easier distractions.
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Lyric
When temptin’ eyes across the room
Said to me, I’d love to be with you
I’m not tempted for a moment
I just think about my woman
The baby calls me on the phone
Telling me I need to hurry home
Well, the hurryin’ is easy ’cause she’s waiting up
With all the love I’m needin’
I prefer the moonlight and the blanket
The one right little lady by my side, that’s what I like
I prefer a late drive down the turnpike with the moonlight shinin’ so bright
Got her by my side, that’s what I’d like
When it’s magic moment time
I prefer the moonlight, I prefer the moonlight
The river plays a quiet song
She and I lay down and play along
She’s her mother’s lovely daughter
Moonlight dances on the water
The moon is full and so am I
I look at her and feel like I could cry
But my tears contain no sorrow
‘Cause I know she’ll wake up by my side tomorrow
I prefer the moonlight and the blanket
And the one right little lady by my side, that’s what I like
I prefer a late drive down the turnpike with the moonlight shinin’ so bright
Got her by my side, that’s what I like
Mornin’ noon and night, when the feelin’ comes around
Somewhere in some sky, that ol’ moon is surely shinin’ down
I prefer the moonlight and the blanket
And the one right little lady by my side, oh that’s what I like
I prefer a late drive down the turnpike with the moonlight shinin’ so bright
Got her by my side, that’s what I like
When it’s magic moment time
I prefer the moonlight (oh) I prefer the moonlight (oh)
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh, I prefer the moonlight
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh, I prefer the moonlight
Moonlight, moonlight, moonlight, uh-huh
Moonlight, moonlight, moonlight, uh-huh
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh, I prefer the moonlight
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh, I prefer the moonlight
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh, I prefer the moonlight
I prefer the moonlight (I prefer the moonlight), uh-huh
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh
I prefer the moonlight, uh-huh, I prefer the…