Lyrics:

[Kurt Elling]

Nighttown, lady bright in the arms of night
Heading homeward
High overhey-oh
Size

Nightown, lady bright in the arms of night
Heading homeward
High overhey-oh
Size

[Instrumental Section]

Night life
Night life is cut out of a very luxurious royal blue bolt of velvet
It sparkles with jewels
And it sparkles in tingling and tinkling tones
Some of its sparkles are more precious than precious stones
Others are just splashes of costume jewelry
Night Life seems to have been born with all of its people in it
The people who had never been babies
But were born grown
Completely independent
Some of them were wonderful people
And some were just hangers on of the sort
Some of them experienced untold misfortunes
And some were very lucky
Some folks glittered in night life even more brightly than their own names on the marquees
Some played sure things
Others were inclined to gamble
There were a few hustlers who depended on finding suckers for survival
And there were some who were to wise to hustle
Who only wanted to have enough money to be able to afford to be a sucker
Night life had a song and a dance
Night life was New York,
Chicago,
San Francisco,
Paris,
Berlin,
Uptown,
Downtown.
Harlem.
Out south.
Anywhere they wore that gorgeous velvet mantle.

Duke Ellington

Nighttown, lady bright in the arms of night
Heading homeward
High overhey-oh
Size
Size
Nighttown
Amen