DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND
From the Broadway Musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1949)
(Jule Styne / Leo Robin)

Carol Channing (Broadway Production) - 1949
Ethel Merman - 1950
Jo Stafford - 1950
Dorothy Shay - 1950
Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell (Film Soundtrack) - 1953
Lena Horne - 1958
Ray Martin & His Orch. (Instr.) - 1958
Julie London - 1961
Della Reese - 1961
Ertha Kitt - 1962
T-Bone Burnett - 1982
Emmylou Harris - 1983
Susannah McCorkle - 1984
Missy Mist - 1991
Caroline O'Connor - 2000
Nicole Kidman (feat. in the film "Moulin Rouge") - 2001
Martine McCutcheon - 2003
Leah Kline - 2003
Laura Fygi - 2003
Lesley Garrett - 2004
Heather Doré - 2005
Connie Fisher - 2006
Kylie Minogue (feat. in the documentary film "White Diamond") - 2007
Kate Michaels - 2007
Jane Krakowski - 2009
Christina Aguilera (feat. in the film "Burlesque") - 2010
The Puppini Sisters - 2011

Also recorded by:
Hit Crew; Greta Keller; Andre Kostelanetz; Karita Mattila; K.T. Sullivan;
Rick Hollow; André Previn; Vivian Blaine; Rosetta Stone; Bryan Smith;
Rita Williams Singers............and others.

as recoded by Ethel Merman w Jay Blackton & his Orchestra
  January 1950 
  New York


The French are glad to die for love,
They delight in fighting duels,
But I prefer a man who lives
And gives expensive jewels.

A kiss on the hand
May be quite continental,
But diamonds are a girl's best friend.
A kiss may be grand,
But it won't pay the rental
On your humble flat,
Or help you at the automat.

Men grow cold
As girls grow old,
And we all lose our charm in the end.
But square cut or pear shape,
These rocks don't lose their shape,
Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

There may come a time
When a lass needs a lawyer,
But diamonds are a girl's best friend
There may come a time
When a hardboiled employer
Thinks you're awful nice,
But get that ice or else "no dice!".

He's your guy when stocks are high
But beware when they start to descend .
It's then that those louses
Go back to their spouses!
Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Romance is divine
And I'm not one to knock it,
Oh but diamonds are a girl's best friend.
Romance is divine,
Yeah, but where can you hock it?
When the flame is gone,
You just try and pawn a tired Don Juan!

Time rolls on
And youth is gone,
And you can't straighten up when you bend.
But stiff back or stiff knees,
You stand straight at Tiff'ney's,
Diamonds are a girl's best friend.



(Transcribed by Peter Akers - May 2012)