The lyrics usually conform to the following: The superstition of hoping for wishes granted when seeing a shooting or falling star may date back to the ancient world.
[2] Wishing on the first star seen may also predate this rhyme, which first began to be recorded in late nineteenth-century America.
[3] The song and tradition seem to have reached Britain by the early twentieth century and have since spread worldwide.
It was used as the title of a 1953 short story by Alfred Besser, and later for a 1976 collection of his work The first and third verse is recited by Lenore Karidian to Captain Kirk in the 1966 Star Trek original series episode "Conscience of the King" It is paraphrased in the 1971 song Pearl from the album People Like Us by The Mamas & The Papas It is featured in the chorus of Dave Loggins’ 1979 song “If I Had My Wish Tonight,” which was a Top 40 hit for David Lasley in 1982.
The rhyme is quoted and referenced on Metallica's 1996 single “King Nothing”, released for the album Load.