Lush Life

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