# Star light, star bright, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973 "2000-03-01T14:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973/1 "2000-03-01T14:15:00Z")
When and why did people start making a wish on the first star they saw in the night sky? Was it just because somebody came up with a decent poem? * * * “You should tell the truth, expose the lies and live in the moment.” - Bill Hicks ---
**Author:** ![Fyodor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/958977/32.png) [@Fyodor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fyodor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973/2 "2000-03-02T00:25:00Z")
I hate to see a reasonable post go unanswered but this could well be unanswerable. There have been human beings physically like us on this planet for at least 40,000 years, yet recorded history only goes back 3,000 years or so. You can be sure that prehistoric man devoted millions of man hours to studying the night skies. The first star seen in the evening is often the planet Venus which was obviously special because of its brightness and unusual motion patterns. People make a wish when they blow out birthday cake candles, when they throw coins into a fountain or a wishing well, when they pull a turkey’s wish bone…when else? People are always looking for an excuse to make a wish. Some people survive and get through the day on wishes and hopes. I buy two bucks worth of lottery tickets every week. Pot odds - you can’t win if you’re not in the game. Wishing on a star is kind of ironic. When you think about the short brutal desperate lives of the majority of humanity throughout history the chances of the wish coming true are about as remote as that star. What was the poem? “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might…” that’s all I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Roland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Roland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973/3 "2000-03-02T00:39:00Z")
“…grant this wish I wish tonight…” ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973/4 "2000-03-02T00:52:00Z")
that would be “ **have** the wish I wish tonight.” ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973/5 "2000-03-02T04:09:00Z")
If the best and brightest here can’t answer my query, somebody get Cecil’s omnipotent butt in here. * * * “You should tell the truth, expose the lies and live in the moment.” - Bill Hicks ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-light-star-bright-etc/7973/6 "2000-03-02T06:54:00Z")
Original indecent version: “Star light, star bright. How many stars I’ve seen tonight! I wish I hadn’t started that fight. Man, I am a sorry sight!” First composed and recited by Uggablahd of Gondwanaland in 50,000 BCE; but he didn’t believe in gods or prayers being answered. Ray