Lush Life (1938)

Strayhorn

"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"

Billy Strayhorn. His name can hardly be brought up without mentioning that of Duke Ellington's, the two were bound together in work and life. Ellington "kept" Billy, in an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan blocks from his own. Billy was gay, Ellington was not. This is a one of the saddest and most difficult songs to sing or play. He wrote the song while still a teenager; it remains elusive to the most seasoned interpreters. Frank Sinatra tried, as did Ella, Sarah, Johnny Hartman. John Coltrane skips the words successfully. And here is Billy, doing it himself (as well as accompanying himself on piano.) I hope he has found peace from the wheel of life.

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 men I knew had sad and sullen gray 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 awhile 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