Eartha Kitt - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Eartha Kitt (January 17, 1927 - December 25, 2008)
Rest in peace!

The song is from CD "Miss Kitt," To You [Best of] 1992.

They asked me how I knew
My true love was true
Oh, I of course replied
Something here inside cannot be denied

They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind
Oh, when your heart's on fire
You must realize
Smoke gets in your eyes

So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed
To think they could doubt my love
Yet today my love has flown away
I am without my love

Now laughing friends deride
Tears I can not hide
Oh, so I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes
Smoke gets in your eyes

_______________________________

"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for their 1933 operetta Roberta. It was performed by Irene Dunne for the 1935 film adaptation, costarring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Randolph Scott. It has been covered by numerous artists, beginning with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra with Bob Lawrence on vocal, which went to the top of the charts in 1934, and including Nat "King" Cole who first covered it in 1946. Possibly the most famous version was recorded in 1958 by the doo wop group The Platters, which became a number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.

In 1956, Vic Damone covered this song with a very dramatic, different and interesting rendition. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" became one of Vic Damone's most famous songs. A 1972 remake by British band Blue Haze also became popular. Saxophone player Boots Randolph did an acoustic cover of the song on the B-side of his LP Yakety Sax. Bryan Ferry recorded a quavering, briefly popular version of the song in 1974 on the album Another Time, Another Place, which reached #17 on the UK charts in September 1974. Jerry Garcia released a music video in the early 1990s covering the classic tune, with actress Ashley Judd sitting in the background listening. Similarly in the early 1990s the song was performed by Eartha Kitt as part of her work with a small jazz combo in Germany; these recordings are preserved under the name Thinking Jazz.

Other notable artists who have recorded or covered the song include Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Thelonius Monk, Art Tatum, Englebert Humperdinck, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis, George Melachrino, Keith Jarrett, Ray Conniff, Dinah Washington, Richard Clayderman, David Sanborn, and Glenn Miller.