The Shadow of Your Smile — Chord Changes & Harmonic Analysis
- Composer:
- Johnny Mandel
- Year:
- 1965
- Key:
- F# minor
- Form:
- AB (32 bars)
- Style:
- Jazz Standard
- Tempo:
- 60–120 BPM
A haunting bossa nova ballad from The Sandpiper. Features beautiful chromatic voice leading and a memorable descending bass line.
About This Standard
Composed by Johnny Mandel with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster for the 1965 film The Sandpiper, The Shadow of Your Smile won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was quickly adopted by jazz musicians for its sophisticated harmonic language and was voted the Song of the Year by ASCAP in 1965. Tony Bennett and Andy Williams recorded popular versions.
Notable recordings:
- Tony Bennett — (1965 recording)
- Andy Williams — (1965 recording)
- Bill Evans — (various recordings)
- Widely recorded — (Oscar-winning jazz standard)
Chord Changes
Notation
Harmonic Analysis
The Shadow of Your Smile is a 32-bar AABA standard in E minor with a notably sophisticated harmonic language for a film song. The A section is in E minor, featuring minor ii-V-i progressions (F#m7b5→B7→Em) alongside chromatic passing chords that give the tune its wistful, searching quality. The bridge moves to G major (the relative major) before the final A returns to E minor. The interplay between E minor and G major gives the tune its bittersweet character.