Karel Gott (July 14, 1939 - October 1, 2019) was one of the most successful… Read Full Bio ↴Karel Gott (July 14, 1939 - October 1, 2019) was one of the most successful and widely-known Czech singers. He is known as "the golden throat of Prague" and "Sinatra of the East".

Born in Plzeň, Western Bohemia, Gott was initially trained as a mechanic; at the same time, he performed as an amateur singer in various Prague pubs of the late 1950s. In the 1960s he started to study singing at the Prague Conservatoire, his first short record Měsíční řeka (a Czech version of Henry Mancini's "Moon River") being issued in 1962. Since 1963 Gott rapidly occupied a leading position on the Czechoslovak pop scene, while his first international successes followed his five month stay in Las Vegas.

In 1969, Gott won the music festival in Rio de Janeiro with composer Karel Svoboda's hit Lady Carneval. Between 1965, when his first LP Zpívá Karel Gott ("Karel Gott Sings") was published, and the mid 1990s, Fifty LP's of Gott were published by Czech publishing house Supraphon, making him the best selling performer in the Czech music business. At the same time, more than 80 records were published abroad, most of them on the Polydor label. In the late 1960s, Gott started his career in German-speaking countries as well. As part of this popularity, he represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, singing Tausend Fenster.

On January 7 2008 he married his last wife Ivana (née Macháčková) with whome he had two daughters.

He died on October 1st, 2019 after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leucemia.

Mona Lisa
Karel Gott Lyrics

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Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa men have named you
You're so like the lady with the mystic smile
Is it only cause you're lonely they have blamed you
For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile
Do you smile to tempt a lover Mona Lisa?
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there, and they die there

Are you warm, are you real Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art.

Do you smile to tempt a lover Mona Lisa?
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there, and they die there
Are you warm, are you real Mona Lisa?

Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art.
Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa.

Overall Meaning

Karel Gott's Mona Lisa is a song that explores the complexity of a woman's emotions. The lyrics start by describing the titular painting and the comparisons between the painting and the lady with the mystic smile. The lyrics then ask the questions that have been on the mind of many admirers of the painting: is the smile meant to tempt a lover, or is it a way to hide a broken heart? Through the lyrics, Mona Lisa is portrayed as a lonely work of art that has witnessed many dreams and desires, yet remains untouched and unresponsive. The line "They just lie there, and they die there" emphasizes the loneliness of Mona Lisa, and how no matter the desires and hopes that have been placed at her doorstep, she remains unmoved and indifferent.

The lyrics also highlight the human need for warmth and connection. The line "Are you warm, are you real Mona Lisa?" suggests that the singer longs for a real and genuine connection with Mona Lisa, beyond the cold and distant beauty of the painting. The lyrics touch on universal themes of love, loneliness, and the human desire for a deeper connection with others.

Mona LisaKarel Gott Lyrics

Mona Lisa
Karel Gott Lyrics