DESCRIPTION:
"Speak Low" (1943) is a popular song composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Ogden Nash. It was introduced by Mary Martin and Kenny Baker in the Broadway musical One Touch of Venus (1943). The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombardo and his orchestra, with vocal by Billy Leach. The tune is a jazz standard that has been widely recorded. The opening line is a (slight mis)quotation from William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1600), where it is spoken by Don Pedro.

Billie's accompanied by Harry Edison (trumpet), Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Joe Mondragon (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums). Recorded August 14, 1956, Los Angeles. (Verve Records)

Speak low when you speak, love
Our summer day withers away too soon, too soon
Speak low when you speak, love
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
we're swept apart, too soon

Speak low, darling, speak low
Love is a spark, lost in the dark too soon, too soon
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near,
tomorrow is here and always too soon

Time is so old and love so brief
Love is pure gold and time a thief

We're late, darling, we're late
The curtain descends, everything ends too soon, too soon
I wait, darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me, speak love to me and soon

Time is so old and love so brief
Love is pure gold and time a thief

We're late, darling, we're late
The curtain descends, everything ends too soon, too soon
I wait, darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me, speak love to me and soon
Speak low