"Speak Low" is a popular song and jazz standard with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ogden Nash, written for the Broadway musical One Touch of Venus, which opened in 1943. Mary Martin and Kenny Baker introduced it in the show. Billie Holiday made the original recording in 1943, and in 1944 Guy Lombardo and his orchestra had a hit single with a vocal by Billy Leach. Ava Gardner, whose singing was dubbed by Eileen Wilson, and Dick Haymes performed it in the 1948 film version of the musical. Vocalists including Tony Bennett, the Miracles and Dee Dee Bridgewater have recorded it, as have instrumentalists such as Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins. Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass recorded it in 1983, and Barbra Streisand released a version in 1993 as a single from Back to Broadway, arranged by Johnny Mandel. Billboard's Larry Flick praised its seductive, shuffling rhythm, while critics have described it as a lusciously arranged ballad that feels more like a pop song than a show standard. It is written in the key of F.
