Friday, February 1, 2008

Kind of reminds me of a Billy Strayhorn tune...

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3 comments:

Mary Lois said...

Sorry -- for the life of me I can't figure out which Strayhorn tune...I know I should know. I'm a huge Duke Ellington fan.

Give us another clue. Better yet, tell us!

February 3, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Elmer Gantry said...

Well, what I kind of had in mind was "Lush Life."
So I'll live a lush life in some small dive…..

Not that I necessarily feel that way, but note the photo on the left, a full cigar, a full drink and softer lighting. Conversely, the photo on the right features the remnants of a fully consumed cigar, what's left of a drink (at least one) and the lighting is much harsher, suggesting an impending closing time. As they say, “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

It’s kind of hard to believe, but I understand that Strayhorn wrote “Lush Life” at the age of 16. I’d venture to suggest that these lyrics are fairly bleak for a young man.

//////////////////////////////////////
Lush Life Lyrics
written by Billy Strayhorn
© 1949 Tempo Music (ASCAP)

I used to visit all the very gay places
Those come what may places
Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life
To get the feel of life from jazz and cocktails

The girls I knew had sad and sullen grey faces
With distingue traces
That used to be there you could see where they'd been washed away
By too many through the day twelve o'clock tales

Then you came along with your siren song
To tempt me to madness
I thought for a while that your poignant smile
Was tinged with the sadness of a great love for me
Ah yes I was wrong, again I was wrong

Life is lonely again
And only last year everything seemed so sure
Now life is awful again
A trough full of hearts could only be a bore
A week in Paris could ease the bite of it
All I care is to smile in spite of it

I'll forget you, I will
While yet you are still burning inside my brain
Romance is mush, stifling those who strive
So I'll live a lush life in some small dive
And there I'll be
While I rot
With the rest of those whose lives are lonely too

February 3, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Mary Lois said...

Thank you for clarifying! I was wracking my brain for a song about scotch and a cigar. Not what the phrase "lush life" means to me, obviously.

February 4, 2008 at 7:28 AM

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