I’ve got you under my skin,
I’ve got you deep in the heart of me,
So deep in my heart, you’re really a part of me,
I’ve got you under my skin.

These lines are from Cole Porter’s song “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” written for the MGM film musical *Born to Dance* (1936). In the movie the number is introduced by Virginia Bruce and later reprised by other characters; the song quickly escaped its cinematic setting to become a popular standard, especially through big-band and jazz interpretations. Porter’s lyric belongs to his sophisticated 1930s style: urbane, conversational, and emotionally candid, pairing romantic obsession with a cool, controlled surface. The song’s enduring fame was amplified by later recordings—most notably Frank Sinatra’s 1956 version arranged by Nelson Riddle—which cemented it in the Great American Songbook.

The refrain turns infatuation into a bodily metaphor: the beloved is “under my skin,” lodged “deep in the heart,” no longer merely an external object of desire but an internal presence. The repetition mimics the inescapability of the feeling—an obsession that has crossed from emotion into identity (“you’re really a part of me”). Porter’s elegance lies in balancing intensity with restraint: the lyric is passionate, yet phrased with poise rather than melodrama. In performance, the lines often read as both romantic surrender and a faintly troubled admission that love can be invasive, persistent, and difficult to dislodge.