<P> "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" (sometimes titled as "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress") is a song by American songwriter Jimmy Webb . It has become a much - recorded standard, without ever having charted as a single . Webb appropriated the title from the 1966 science fiction novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein . The song is especially associated with Glen Campbell, who performed the song on his farewell tour, Judy Collins, and Joe Cocker, who first recorded the song in 1974 . </P> <P> The song is commonly presented in the key of G (to B ♭). The song structure consists of three seven - line verses and a two - line coda . The first two verses have a rhyme scheme of AABACDC . The third verse modulates three half steps (from G to B ♭), with the rhyme scheme altered to ABABCDC, and the coda repeating the DC . The time signature of the song is common time with the lines introduced between the second and third beat . </P>

Who wrote the moon's a harsh mistress