"In the Mood" was the signature tune of Glenn Miller and one of the best-known arrangements of the Big Band era. Miller's rendition topped the charts at number 1 in 1940.

The song was composed by Joe Garland (Joseph C. Garland) and Andy Razaf. The main theme previously appeared under the title of "Tar Paper Stomp", credited to jazz trumpeter/bandleader Wingy Manone, who recorded it several times in 1929 and 1930. A story says that after "In the Mood" became a hit, Manone was paid by Miller and his record company not to contest the copyright.

The song also charted at number 16 in 1953 with Johnny Maddox .

Other notable big band artists who recorded the song include the Andrews Sisters, Xavier Cugat, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and The Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Non-big band renditions were recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Lee Hooker, Chet Atkins, and Ernie Fields Jr.

Glenn Miller's version is known to many younger people through its use as the instrumental theme in the sampled medley "Swing the Mood", a number 1 hit in many countries in the late 1980s by Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers.