Shadow Of Your Smile
Dexter Gordon & Slide Hampton Lyrics

The Shadow of Your Smile is a song by Dexter Gordon that holds a melancholic tone. The first line of the lyrics is indicative of the song’s essence. It creates a vivid image of how the absence of a loved one would color all dreams and light the dawn in deep, bright hues – signifying the intense impact of that person on the singer's life. The song then becomes a plea to the lover to truly see the singer and recognize all the lovely things they are to each other. The third stanza, however, takes a turn, and the singer talks about the loss of their lover. The imagery used is beautiful yet sad as the "tear drop kissed your lips, and so did I."

In the last stanza, the singer reflects on the memories of the past, where everything was bright, happy, and full of love, but now those memories are colored by the shadow of their smile. The title and repeated use of 'the shadow' metaphor throughout the song bring themes of sadness, longing, and remembrance together through a singular point of focus, the person who has gone. It is a movingly beautiful message of yearning and loss, causing the listener to take a moment to pause and reflect.