Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole song)

"Mona Lisa"
Nat King Cole, circa Mona Lisa's release
Single by Nat King Cole
Released	May 1950
Recorded	March 11, 1950
Genre	Traditional pop
Length	3:27
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Ray Evans Jay Livingston
Nat King Cole singles chronology
"Nature Boy" (1948) "Mona Lisa" (1950) "Unforgettable" (1952)
Academy Award, Best Original Song, 1950

"Mona Lisa" is a popular song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950). The title and lyrics refer to the renaissance portrait Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1950.

Musical arrangement was handled by Nelson Riddle and the orchestral backing was played by Les Baxter and his Orchestra. The recording was originally the B-side of "The Greatest Inventor Of Them All." In an American Songwriter magazine interview, Jay Livingston recalled that the original advertisements for the record did not even mention "Mona Lisa;" only upon returning home from a publicity junket of numerous radio programs did the song become a hit.

The soundtrack version by Nat King Cole spent eight weeks at number one in the Billboard singles chart in 1950. Cole's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1992. Cole described this song as one of his favorites among his recordings.

The Billboard sales charts of 1950 also showed significant sales on versions by Dennis Day and Harry James. Hit versions for Moon Mullican #4 (Country) and Jimmy Wakely #10 (Country) were also featured in 1950.