Invitation is a song by Bronisław Kaper with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, originally used in the film A Life of Her Own (1950). Though it was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Score in the original film, it only became a jazz standard after being used as the theme in the 1952 film Invitation. Tony Thomas notes that it was selected for the film for its degree of poignance. It is considered to be Kaper's second best known song after "On Green Dolphin Street". Jazzstandards.com describes it as a "lush and haunting score", and notes that it is most associated with John Coltrane, who recorded it in 1958. Howard Morgen, who arranged it for guitar, writes that the "haunting" tune has "long been recognized by jazz players for its potential as an interesting mood piece" and "still sounds fresh and contemporary today".
George Shearing was responsible for arranging the song for piano, while Frank Mantooth arranged a Latin version of it. In 1963 the song was recorded by Rosemary Clooney, to a lush arrangement by Nelson Riddle, and featured as the first track on her album "Love". It has since been recorded by the vocalists Carmen McRae, Freddy Cole, Andy Bey and Patricia Barber, pianists Bill Evans, Randy Halberstadt, Steve Kuhn and Rene Rosnee, saxophonists Herb Geller, Vincent Herring, Sahib Shihab and Don Braden, trumpeter Brian Lynch, and bassist Ray Drummond, among others. David Frackenpohl arranged a version for guitar, which was published in the 2004 Mel Bay book Jazz Guitar Standards: Chord Melody Solos.