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In the song "Colors of the Wind," which is used in the movie Pocahontas, there is a part which says:

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon ...

what does blue corn moon mean ?

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According to Wikipedia, it has no meaning:

The phrase "blue corn moon" has no actual meaning in Native American folklore. It was made up by lyricist Stephen Schwartz because he liked the sound of it, being inspired by a Native American love poem that read "I will come to you in the moon of green corn".

The original source from the composer's site (search for "Blue Corn Moon").

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  • Link is now dead.
    – k1eran
    Jul 24, 2019 at 0:05
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The May full moon is sometimes called the Corn Moon. When there are two full moons in a month that is called a blue moon. A second full moon in May gives you a Blue Corn Moon. It is a real event. May 2016.

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    Yes, "blue moon" is a thing... so is a "corn moon" (though the default term is harvest moon and it's for September, not May) but as far as I know, the concept of "blue moon" is Western, so it doesn't really make sense in the context of a Native woman singing a song.
    – Catija
    May 18, 2016 at 19:38
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On 22nd September 2017 in the UK we have the autumnal equinox. The full moon on September 6th 2017 in the UK is the 'Harvest Moon' because it is the nearest full moon (in time) to the autumnal equinox.

However in the USA the same full moon on 6th September will be a 'Full Corn Moon'. This is not to be confused with blue corn moon in the line 'Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the Blue Corn Moon' which is a line from a song 'colours of the wind' in the Disney movie Pocahontas.

In the USA the nearest full moon (in time) to the autumnal equinox is also called the Harvest Moon, so why does the Harvest Moon in the USA occur on October 5th 2017?

Well in the USA the equinox in deemed to fall around the 24th September so that the October full moon (october 5th) is closer to the equinox.....Confused?

The Moon can appear to be blue in areas with a lot of pollution but there is also a use of the term 'blue moon' which describes a moon that is the third full moon within a 'lunar season' having four full moons (normally there are only three).

A 'lunar season' is the period between an equinox and a solstice or solstice and equinox. So, although the moon will not appear blue specifically it is possible to have a 'Blue Corn Moon'. Unfortunately it will take some time for me to work out when the next one will be.

The next 'Blue moon' in the UK occurs on 31st Jan 2018 but the next Blue Corn Moon will probably be about 2021 - but I'll need to work it out. (KM)

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  • Interesting that a blue corn moon could be a real thing, but I'm not sure this discussion is particularly relevant to this question since the question is specifically about the song in Pocahontas, and the accepted answer already confirms that the song writer just made the term up.
    – cjl750
    Aug 30, 2017 at 22:25

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