… Read Full Bio ↴Blossom Dearie (1924-2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist.
Born on 28th April 1924 in East Durham, New York, of mixed Scottish and Norwegian ancestry, Dearie began her career in vocal groups in New York. In the early 1950s she moved to Paris, forming her own vocal group, The Blue Stars, later to become the Swingle Singers.
After signing to Verve, Dearie returned to the U.S. where, despite developing a successful career and achieving international fame, by 1974 the lack of interest from major labels led her to start her own label, Daffodil Records. She continued performing into her eighties.
Blossom Dearie died on 7th February 2009, at her apartment in Greenwich Village, New York City
The Gentleman Is a Dope
Blossom Dearie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A man of many faults,
A clumsy Joe
Who wouldn't know
A rumba from a waltz.
The gentleman is a dope
And not my cup of tea;
He doesn't belong to me!
The gentleman isn't bright,
He doesn't know the score;
A cake will come,
He'll take a crumb
And never ask for more!
The gentleman's eyes are blue,
But little do they see,
Why am I beatin' my brains out?
He doesn't belong to me!
He's somebody else's problem,
She's welcome to the guy!
She'll never understand him
Half as well as I.
The gentleman is a dope,
He isn't very smart;
He's just a lug
You'd like to hug
And hold against your heart.
The gentleman doesn't know
How happy he could be,
But look at me cryin' my eyes out
As if he belonged to me;
He'll never belong to me!
The gentleman doesn't know
How happy he could be,
But look at me cryin' my eyes out
As if he belonged to me;
He'll never ever,
He'll never belong to me!
In this song, Blossom Dearie sings about a man who she perceives to be not very intelligent, inept at dancing, and someone who takes only the bare minimum. Despite all that, she still finds herself drawn to him and even crying over him. She acknowledges that he is not her cup of tea, yet she is still in a dither over him. She seems to know him better than anyone else, including the woman who he is with now. This is a classic example of unrequited love- loving someone who will never love you back. She is aware that he isn't bright and won't ever truly belong to her, but she cannot control her feelings towards him. Perhaps, she sees potential in him that others cannot.
The song was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their 1947 musical, "Allegro". It was first sung by Edith Adams in the original production.
Line by Line Meaning
The gentleman is a dope
The man is foolish
A man of many faults
He has numerous shortcomings
A clumsy Joe
He lacks grace and agility
Who wouldn't know, a rumba from a waltz
He's unable to differentiate between two different types of music
And not my cup of tea
He's not to my taste
Why do I get in a dither?
Why do I get overly concerned and worked up about him?
He doesn't belong to me!
He's not mine to worry about
He isn't very smart
He's not intelligent
He doesn't know the score
He's unaware of the facts and reality of a situation
A cake will come, he'll take a crumb, and never ask for more!
He's happy with the bare minimum and doesn't strive for more
The gentleman's eyes are blue, but little do they see
His blue eyes are with him, but they don't see clearly
Why am I beating my brains out?
Why am I agonizing myself over him?
He's somebody else's problem, she's welcome to the guy!
He's someone else's concern, she's free to have him
She'll never understand him half as well as I
She won't comprehend him as well as I do
He's just a lug you'd like to hug and hold against your heart
He's an endearing person that you want to embrace
The gentleman doesn't know how happy he could be
He's unaware of the possibilities of his happiness
But look at me cryin' my eyes out as if he belonged to me
I'm crying as if I had some special relationship with him
He'll never belong to me! He'll never ever, he'll never belong to me!
He'll never be mine!
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: OSCAR II HAMMERSTEIN, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Emma Lopez
Lyrics:
The gentleman is a dope,
A man of many faults,
A clumsy Joe
Who wouldn't know
A rumba from a waltz.
The gentleman is a dope
And not my cup of tea;
Why do I get in a dither?
He doesn't belong to me!
The gentleman isn't bright,
He doesn't know the score;
A cake will come,
He'll take a crumb
And never ask for more!
The gentleman's eyes are blue,
But little do they see,
Why am I beatin' my brains out?
He doesn't belong to me!
He's somebody else's problem,
She's welcome to the guy!
She'll never understand him
Half as well as I.
The gentleman is a dope,
He isn't very smart;
He's just a lug
You'd like to hug
And hold against your heart.
The gentleman doesn't know
How happy he could be,
But look at me cryin' my eyes out
As if he belonged to me;
He'll never belong to me!
The gentleman doesn't know
How happy he could be,
But look at me cryin' my eyes out
As if he belonged to me;
He'll never ever,
He'll never belong to me!
anonymous anonymous
I LOVE Blossom Dearie and I hope a certain hit TV show, which seems to feature more of her music than any other performer from 1950's- she belongs to EVERY era! - hope er music begins to sell! A Renaissance in Blossom Dearie- she's a joyful treat with a most unusual voice, the perfect counterfoil to the characters of Susie and Joel on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Thanks for uploading, I love to play her then Odetta! I love the contrast in voices or Nina Simone- I think I heard her in the background very faint (shame) on that show too. Namaste from another jazz fan from Ontario.
Jim Hsu
Classic Blossom: delivers stinging lines with a completely innocent, objective tone. Which makes it sting even more.
grai
This song is from a musical called "Allegro" by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics), their third collaboration for the stage. Opening on Broadway on October 10, 1947
Doug Connah
And sank like a very heavy rock. Good thing this tune got to shore.
Larry
Lyrical voice, love her effortless style
jimmy page
Really nice stuff, they don't make 'em like this anymore. I love the keyboard playing
Aviral Vikrant Singh
Anyone here because of Mrs. Maisel? :D
Ji neika
Here
Lola
😍
Wolfy
Me!