The Sphinx (song)

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"The Sphinx"
Single by Amanda Lear
from the album Never Trust a Pretty Face
B-side"Hollywood Flashback"
Released1978
Recorded1978
GenreDisco
Length4:25
LabelAriola
Songwriter(s)Anthony Monn, Amanda Lear
Producer(s)Anthony Monn
Amanda Lear singles chronology
"Lili Marleen"
(1978) 		"The Sphinx"
(1978) 		"Fashion Pack"
(1979)

"The Sphinx" is a song by French singer Amanda Lear released in 1978 by Ariola Records as the single from her third album Never Trust a Pretty Face.

Song information[]

The song was composed and produced by Anthony Monn, and marked a change in Lear's repertoire as her first downtempo disco ballad. The melancholic Lear-penned lyrics, in which the singer compares herself to the mythical Sphinx, tell about "the desire to remain a mystery".[1] The singer has reflected that "The Sphinx" is the best song she wrote.[2][3]

"The Sphinx" was released as the advance single from the singer's third studio album Never Trust a Pretty Face in late 1978. The single B-side was "Hollywood Flashback", the closing track on her previous album, Sweet Revenge. The song was a moderate chart success, reaching the top 20 across Europe, and remains one of Lear's biggest hits of the disco era.

Lear re-recorded the song for the 1998 album Back in Your Arms, and included the new version on her greatest hits compilation Forever Glam! in 2005.

Track listing[]

A. "The Sphinx" – 4:25
B. "Hollywood Flashback" – 4:31
A. "The Sphinx" – 5:13
B. "Hollywood Flashback" – 4:31

Chart performance[]

Chart (1978–79) Peak
position
Belgium[6] 18
France[7] 6
Germany[8] 19

Cover versions[]

  • Spanish singer Pedro Marín covered the song on his 2006 Amanda Lear tribute album Diamonds.[9]
  • In 2015, Chilean-American musician Promis released a cover of the song on his collaboration album Sunset Blvd with producer Ian Matthews.[10] The song was released as the single in spring 2016.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ Marco Pantella (2014-10-22). "Amanda Lear - An Interview with - The GROUND Magazine". www.thegroundmag.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  2. ^ "Compte-rendu du chat avec Amanda Lear et les lecteurs de Gay.com" (in French). gay.com. 2001-06-18. Archived from the original on 2002-01-29. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  3. ^ "The Original Queen Of Reinvention". ponystep.com. 2013-02-09. Archived from the original on 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  4. ^ "THE SPHINX 1978 Germany". amandalear_singoli.tripod.com. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
  5. ^ "Amanda Lear - The Sphinx (Vinyl) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  6. ^ "ultratop.be - Amanda Lear" (in Dutch). www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  7. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste" (in French). www.infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  8. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  9. ^ "Pedro Marín* - Diamonds (CD, Album) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
  10. ^ "Amazon.com: Sunset Blvd: Promis & Matthews: MP3 Downloads". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  11. ^ "Promis & Matthews - The Sphinx - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
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