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Miss Otis Regrets is a song by Cole Porter
Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana, Indiana.His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate , Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady and Anything Goes, as well as songs like "Night and Day ", "I Get a Kick out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!", "Two Little Babes In The Wood"...
 from 1934. It was first performed on stage by Douglas Byng
Douglas Byng

Douglas Byng was a British comic singer and songwriter in West End theatre, revue and cabaret. Billed as "Bawdy but British", Byng was famous for his female impersonations....
 in Hi Diddle Diddle
Hi Diddle Diddle

Hi Diddle Diddle is a black and white film comedy film made in 1943 in film, starring Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Dennis O'Keefe, June Havoc, Billie Burke, and Pola Negri....
, which opened October 3, 1934 at the Savoy Theatre, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. However, the song was originally written for Ada "Bricktop" Smith to perform.

"Miss Otis Regrets" is a song in the blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 style, and Porter's wry take on some common lyrical subject matter of the genre, telling the tale of a woman who comes to a bad end after an encounter with a man.






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Miss Otis Regrets is a song by Cole Porter
Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana, Indiana.His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate , Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady and Anything Goes, as well as songs like "Night and Day ", "I Get a Kick out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!", "Two Little Babes In The Wood"...
 from 1934. It was first performed on stage by Douglas Byng
Douglas Byng

Douglas Byng was a British comic singer and songwriter in West End theatre, revue and cabaret. Billed as "Bawdy but British", Byng was famous for his female impersonations....
 in Hi Diddle Diddle
Hi Diddle Diddle

Hi Diddle Diddle is a black and white film comedy film made in 1943 in film, starring Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Dennis O'Keefe, June Havoc, Billie Burke, and Pola Negri....
, which opened October 3, 1934 at the Savoy Theatre, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. However, the song was originally written for Ada "Bricktop" Smith to perform.

"Miss Otis Regrets" is a song in the blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 style, and Porter's wry take on some common lyrical subject matter of the genre, telling the tale of a woman who comes to a bad end after an encounter with a man. But Porter's peculiar twist is that Miss Otis is a polite society lady, and the story of her last evening is told by her servant after Miss Otis has met her demise. In a few compact lines, the servant reveals how, after being seduced and then abandoned, Miss Otis hunted down and shot her seducer, was arrested, taken from the jail by a mob, and hanged. The servant conveys Miss Otis's final, polite, apologetic words to her friends: "Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today."

The song has been recorded by Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole

Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an United States musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist....
, Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters was an United States blues and jazz vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, rock and roll and pop music, on the Broadway theatre stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues....
, Edith Piaf
Édith Piaf

?dith Piaf was a France singer and cultural icon of partly algeria and Italy descent who "is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer." Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads....
, Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson

Nancy Wilson may refer to:* Nancy Wilson , American jazz singer and actress* Nancy Wilson , American singer and guitar player, co-founder of the band Heart...
, Jose Feliciano
José Feliciano

Jos? Montserrate Feliciano Garc?a is a Puerto Rico singer and virtuoso guitarist, known for many international hits. He was born permanently blind due to congenital glaucoma....
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt

Maria Linda Ronstadt , known as Linda Ronstadt, is an United States popular music Singing and entertainer whose vocal styles in a variety of genres have resonated with the general public over the course of her four-decade career....
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Jazz royalty" and the "First Lady of Song", is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century....
, Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty MacColl

Kirsty Anna MacColl was an England singer-songwriter....
 with The Pogues
The Pogues

The Pogues are a band of mixed Irish and English background, playing traditional Irish music with influences from punk rock and jazz, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan....
, The Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers

The Mills Brothers were a major African-American jazz and pop music vocal quartet of the 20th century producing more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records....
, Labelle
Labelle

Labelle is an American R&B/Soul music group, who melded disco with funk and glam rock. The group was led by Patti LaBelle, who later had a solo career....
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler

Bette Midler is an American singing, actress and comedienne, also known as The Divine Miss M. During her career, she has won four Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards....
, John Barrowman
John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish people-born United States people actor, singer, dancer, Musical theatre and media personality, currently based in England....
, Josh White
Josh White

Joshua Daniel White , best known as Josh White, was a legendary United States of America singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist....
, Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry

Bryan Ferry is an English singer, musician, songwriter and occasional actor famed for his suave visual and vocal style. Ferry came to public prominence in the 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Roxy Music, which enjoyed a highly successful career with three albums and ten single s entering the Top 40 charts in the United Ki...
, The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Pine Valley Cosmonauts

Pine Valley Cosmonauts are a musical ensemble from Chicago, Illinois....
, Shani Rigsbee, Richard Manuel
Richard Manuel

Richard George Manuel was a Canada composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his contributions and membership in The Band....
, The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads

The Lemonheads are an United States alternative rock band, formed in 1986 by singer/guitarist Evan Dando, who has been the only constant member....
, Patricia Barber
Patricia Barber

Patricia Barber is an American jazz singer, pianist, songwriter, and bandleader. She was born to parents who were both professional musicians; her father is Floyd "Shim" Barber, a former member of Glenn Miller's Band....
, Joan Morris
Joan Morris

Joan Morris, mezzo-soprano, is one half of the famous musical duo of Bolcom and Morris. Her musical partner and husband is composer/pianist William Bolcom....
,Lonnie Donegan
Lonnie Donegan

Lonnie Donegan Order of the British Empire was a skiffle musician, possibly the most famous of them all, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name....
 and others. The title of the Cheers
Cheers

Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC, having been created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles....
 episode "Mr. Otis Regrets" is also, presumably, a reference to the song.

The television adaptation of an Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie

Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, Order of the British Empire , commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English people crime writer of novels, short stories and Play ....
 novel, "Marple Mystery: At Bertram's Hotel
At Bertram's Hotel

At Bertram's Hotel is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 15, 1965 in literature and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year....
", opens with the hotel desk clerk repeating the full "Miss Otis Regrets" line to someone on the telephone.

The song is also played in a South African film called 'Black'; sung by Marley Cooper in a night club. The film noir is due for release in late 2008.

Hungarian author Jeno Rejto also refers to the song in his novel "Vesztegzár a Grand Hotelben."

The song is also referenced in the number "I Hate Musicals" from Ruthless!
Ruthless!

Ruthless! The Musical is an all female musical with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel Paley that Parody Broadway theatre musicals, like Gypsy and Mame, and movies such as The Bad Seed and All About Eve....
 the musical.

The song closes the first act in John Penzotti's 2001 play 'Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench' sung by Lala Carmichael a 'returning legend of the music industry'

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