The Sphinx (song)

"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.

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.

• 7" Single^[4]

A. "The Sphinx" – 4:25

B. "Hollywood Flashback" – 4:31

• 12" Single^[5]

A. "The Sphinx" – 5:13

B. "Hollywood Flashback" – 4:31

• 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]