Perdido
Ellington Duke Lyrics

The Ellington Duke song Perdido is a bolero with an infectious rhythm that tells a story of lost and found love. The lyrics speak of a heart that is lost, and the main character's quest to get it back. The word perdido itself means lost in Spanish. In the first verse, the singer says, "I look for my heart, it's perdido. I lost it way down in Torito." This helps to set the scene for the rest of the song. Torito is a reference to a small town in Mexico where a fiesta has taken place. The fiesta is where the singer lost their heart. The singer also mentions the bolero, a type of Latin American music and dance, which contributes to the festive atmosphere that was present when they lost their heart.

The second verse of the song gives us a glimpse of the singer's emotions when they were with their lost love. The lyrics states, "High was the sun when I held him close, low was the moon when we said "adios"." The juxtaposition of high and low illustrates the extreme feelings the singer had when they were with their lost love but also the heartbreak they felt when they parted ways. In the chorus, the singer repeats the word perdido several times to emphasize the theme of loss that runs through the song. The overall message of the song is that the singer is willing to go to any length to recover their heart, even if it means traveling great distances to Torito.