Song of the Day: Mona Lisa (29th December 2015)

Have you ever listened to a song and thought:

'Hmm. What does this actually mean?'

....Was it 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'?

 Yeah, me too.

However, today's Song of the Day is a song about a mystery woman, who shares her name, and character, with a woman you might recognise, shown in the picture below-

'Mona Lisa' was written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingstone for the 1950 film 'Captain Carey, U.S.A', starring Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix. However, the song is most well known for being sung by the wonderful Nat King Cole, adding yet another 'classic' to his portfolio, and securing #1 on the Billboard singles chart for eight weeks in the year of 1950.

The painting from which the song gains its namesake is the 'magnum opus' of Leonardo da Vinci. The painting, with its beautiful subject is one of the most famous paintings in the world, in no small part because of the lady's famous 'smile'. New art study has 'confirmed' that this artful rendering of human emotion was painted in a deliberately ambiguous fashion, and acts as an optical illusion. The Guardian featured an article some time back suggesting that the smile changes in severity or tenderness depending on where the painting is viewed. Personally, I like to imagine Nat King Cole, standing in the Louvre, serenading a 500 year old painting. It's something I'd have paid to see.

The song itself is one of longing and loneliness, whilst also a comment on beauty and calm. It is one of his finest, and most relaxing songs.

You can take a listen on YouTube below:

Lyrics:

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa
Men have named you
You're so like the lady with the mystic smile
Is it only cause you're lonely
They have blamed you
For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there, and they die there
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art

[Instrumental Interlude]

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there, and they die there
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa