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"Sophisticated Lady" is a jazz standard, composed as an instrumental in 1932 by Duke Ellington, with additional credit given to publisher Irving Mills, and to which words were added by Mitchell Parish. The words met with approval from Ellington, who described them as "wonderful—but not entirely fitted to my original conception." That original conception was inspired by three of Ellington's grade school teachers. "They taught all winter and toured Europe in the summer. To me that spelled sophistication."

The song was recorded by Tony Bennett as a solo song from his and Lady Gaga's collaborative album, Cheek to Cheek.

Lyrics

They say into your early life romance came
And in this heart of yours burned a flame
A flame that flickered one day
And died away

Then with disillusion deep in your eyes
You learned that fools in love soon grow wise
The years have changed you somehow
I see you now

Smoking, drinking
Never thinking of tomorrow, nonchalant
Diamonds shining, dancing, dining with some man in a restaurant
Is that all you really want? Oh, no

Sophisticated lady, I know
You miss the love you lost long ago
When nobody is nigh, you cry

Smoking, drinking
Never thinking of tomorrow, nonchalant
Diamonds shining, dancing, dining with some man in a restaurant
Is that all you really want? Oh, no

Sophisticated lady, I know
You miss the love you lost long ago
When nobody is nigh

When nobody is nigh
Nobody is nigh, you cry

Credits

Writer and composer Mitchell Parish, Duke Ellington and Irving Mills
Piano Mike Renzi
Publishing Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP) and EMI Mills Music Inc. (ASCAP)
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