lush life

ol jazz standard written by billy strayhorn in '49



the lyrics below are as sung by dianne reeves
(i heard this on the radio and loved her version.
by coincidence; she sings it in george's film Good Night and Good Luck)



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 gray faces -
with distant gay traces
that used to be there you could see where
they'd been washed away
by too many through the day...
twelve o'clock-tails

then you came along with your siren's 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.
I was wrong.
ah yes, I was wrong...
again,

and only last year everything seemed so sure.
now life is awful again
life is lonely again.
and the thoughtful of heart
could only be a bore.

a week in paris will ease the bite of it.
all I care is to smile in spite of it.
I'll forget you, I will
and yet, you are still
burning inside my brain.

romance is mush
stifling those who strive.
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..