The Lamp Is Low is a 1939 popular song in the key of C, with music credited to Peter DeRose and Bert Shefter and English lyrics by Mitchell Parish. Its melody is adapted from Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte, composed in 1899. Mildred Bailey made the first notable recording, for Vocalion on April 24, 1939, and it is listed as the earliest vocal version of the song. Covers followed quickly that year, including versions by Tommy Dorsey with a vocal by Jack Leonard, a hit that stayed on the hit parade for nine weeks, and by Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle, Kay Kyser with Ginny Simms, Dorothy Lamour, Jimmy Dorsey and Connee Boswell.
Later recordings include versions by Chet Baker (1953), Johnny Hartman (1957), Doris Day (1958), Ella Fitzgerald (1968) and Laurindo Almeida (1969), as well as versions by Robert Goulet, Jack Jones, Patti Page, Marilyn Maye, Carmen Lundy and Robin McKelle. The song remains a favorite of jazz musicians.
