I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF

from 1943 New York musical "One Touch Of Venus"
sung by Mary Martin
(Kurt Weill (m) Ogden Nash (l) 1943)

as recorded by Dee Dee Bridgewater
November 2001 Paris


Tell me, is love still a popular suggestion
Or merely an obsolete art?
Forgive me for askin' this simple question,
I'm unfamiliar with his heart,
I'm a stranger here myself!

Now why is it wrong to murmer "I adore him",
When it's shamefully obvious I do?
Does love embarrass him or does it bore him?
I'm only waiting for my cue,
I'm a stranger here myself!

I dream of a day, of a gay warm day
With my face between his hands.
Have I missed the path, have I gone astray?
I ask but no-one understands!

Love me or leave me?  That seems to be the question,
I don't know which tactic to use.
But if he should offer a personal suggestion,
How could I possibly refuse
When I'm a stranger here myself?

Please tell me, tell a stranger by curiosity goaded,
Is there really any danger that love is now out-moded?
I'm interested especially in knowing why you waste it;
True romance is so fleshly, with what have you replaced it?
What is your latest foible?
Is gin rummy more exquisite?
Is skiing more enjoyable?
For heaven's sake what is it?

I can't believe that love has lost its glamour,
That passion is really passe!
If gender is just a term in grammar,
How can I ever find my way,
Since I'm a stranger here myself?

How can he ignore my available condition?
Why these Victorian views?
You see here before you a woman with a mission,
I must discover the key to his ignition!
And if he should make a diplomatic proposition,
How could I possibly refuse
When I'm a stranger here myself?
I'm a stranger,
I'm a stranger here myself!
I am a stranger,
(scat)




(Transcribed by Peter Akers - September 2017)