BITTERBLUE

BONNIE TYLER

SONGWRITER:

COUNTRY: WALES

ALBUM: BITTERBLUE

LABEL: HANSA RECORDS

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 1991

 

      Gaynor Sullivan(née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album The World Starts Tonight and its singles "Lost in France" and "More Than a Lover". Her 1978 single "It's a Heartache" reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.

         In the 1980s, Tyler ventured into rock music with songwriter and producer Jim Steinman. He wrote Tyler's biggest hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart", the lead single from her 1983 UK chart-topping album Faster Than the Speed of Night. Steinman also wrote Tyler's other major 1980s hit "Holding Out for a Hero". She had success in mainland Europe during the 1990s with Dieter Bohlen, who wrote and produced her hit "Bitterblue". In 2003, Tyler re-recorded "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with singer Kareen Antonn. Their bilingual duet, titled "Si demain... (Turn Around)", topped the French charts.

          Bitterblue is the eighth studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was released on 11 November 1991, through Hansa Records. Bitterblue is a pop rock album, described by Dieter Bohlen as "more commercial" than her previous albums. Bohlen began working with Tyler in early 1991, writing and producing multiple songs for the album. Bitterblue also features compositions from Albert Hammond, Nik Kershaw and Giorgio Moroder.

       Bitterblue received mixed reviews from music critics, with the songs being complimented but the production criticised. The album had major success in mainland Europe, where it reached number one in Austria and Norway. In 1992 it was certified 3× Platinum by IFPI Norway. Three singles were released from the album, including the hits "Bitterblue" and "Against the Wind".

I'll take the train to nowhere

This love is a sacrifice

My heart ain't big enough babe

For your paradise –

Oh darling I'm crazy - after all these years

 

Don't throw away my love babe

I'm not a lonely child

Tomorrow's such a long time

My dreams are running wild –

Oh Darling I'm crazy - after all these years

 

I gave you all my love for free

My tears are full of memories

Give me love, give me all

Baby, catch me when I'll fall tonight

 

Bitterblue, Bitterblue

Breaking up is hard to do

Bitterblue you know that I'm too

Proud to cry

Bitterblue, Bitterblue

I can't take my eyes off you

That's no way to say goodbye

 

I'll be sailing on a rainbow

If you will change your mind

Don't throw away this love babe

Love is hard to find –

Oh darling I'm crazy - after all these years

 

Come save a little room babe

In your heart for me

We can make it better

Love is a mystery –

Oh darling I'm crazy - after all these years

 

Oh I sold my heart to you

I gave you love and heaven, too

Give me love, give me all

Baby catch me when I'll fall tonight

 

Bitterblue, Bitterblue

Breaking up is hard to do

Bitterblue you know that I'm too

Proud to cry

Bitterblue, Bitterblue

I can't take my eyes off you

And that's no way to say goodbye

 

Bitterblue, Bitterblue

Breaking up is hard to do

Bitterblue you know that I'm too

Proud to cry

Bitterblue, Bitterblue

I can't take my eyes off you

And that's no way to say goodbye

 

And that's no way to say goodbye

And that's no way to say goodbye

And that's no way to say goodbye.

A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND

BESSIE SMITH

SONGWRITER: EDDIE GREEN

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: I’M VOILÁ ABOUT THAT THINGS

LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1928

 

       Bessie Smith(April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.

        Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a group that included Ma Rainey, and then went out on her own. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 43.

[Verse 1]

My heart is sad and I'm all alone

My man's treating me mean

I regret the day that I was born

And the man I ever seen

My happiness is less today

My heart is broke, that's why I say

 

[Chorus:]

Lord, a good man is hard to find

You always get another kind

Just when you think that he's your pal

You look and find him foolin' 'round some old gal

Then you rave, you all crave

You want to see him in his grave

So if your man is nice, take my advice;

Hug him in the morning, kiss him at night

Give him plenty lovin'; treat your good man right

Oh, a good man is so hard to find

 

[Chorus:]

We always get that roughed old kind

Just when you think that he's your pal

You like and find him hangin' 'round some old gal

Then you rave, how you crave

You wanna see him dead layin' in his grave

So if your man is nice, take my advice

Hug him in the morning, kiss him at night

Give him plenty love madam, treat your man right

Cause a good man nowadays sure is hard to find.

SUMMERTIME

LOUIS ARMSTRONG & EELA FITZEGERALD

SONGWRITERS: Dorothy Heyward; DuBose; George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: PORGY & BESS

LABEL: VERVE

GENRE: JAZZ

YEAR: 1959

 

       Louis Daniel Armstrong(August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. He received numerous accolades including the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance for Hello, Dolly! in 1965, as well as a posthumous win for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972, and the induction into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2017

       Ella Jane Fitzgerald(April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

       Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz vocalist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong and singer Ella Fitzgerald, released on Verve Records in 1959. The third and final of the pair's albums for the label, it is a suite of selections from the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess. Orchestral arrangements are by Russell Garcia, who had previously arranged the 1956 jazz vocal recording The Complete Porgy and Bess.

Ella:

Summertime when the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin and the cotton is high

You're daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin'

So hush little baby, don't you cry

 

Louis:

One of thses mornings you gonna rise up singing

Oh you spead your wings and you take to the skies

But till that morning, ain't nothin' can harm you

Yea with Daddy and Mommy standin' by

 

Ella:

Summertime when the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin and the cotton is high.

You're daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin'

So hush little baby, don't you cry.

YOU DON’T KNOW

CYNDI LAUPER

SONGWRITERS: Cyndi Lauper & Jan Pulsford

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: SISTERS OF AVALON

LABEL: EPIC RECORDS

GENRE: SOUL

YEAR: 1996

 

       Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton(born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album She's So Unusual(1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"—and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies(1985) and her second record True Colors(1986). This album included the number-one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number three. In 1989, she had a hit with "I Drove All Night".

      Since 1983, Lauper has released eleven studio albums and participated in many other projects. In 2010, Memphis Blues became Billboard's most successful blues album of the year, remaining at number one on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks. In 2013, she won the Tony Award for best original score for composing the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, making her the first woman to win the category by herself. The musical was awarded five other Tonys including Tony Award for Best New Musical. In 2014, Lauper was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the cast recording. In 2016, the West End production won Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards.

    Lauper has sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has won awards at the Grammys, Emmys, Tonys, the New York's Outer Critics Circle, MTV Video Music Awards(VMAs), Billboard Awards, and American Music Awards(AMAs). An inductee into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lauper is one of the few singers to win three of the four major American entertainment awards (EGOT). She won the inaugural Best Female Video prize at the 1984 VMAs for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". This music video is recognized by MTV, VH1 and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest music videos of the era. She is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Women Who Rock exhibit. Her debut album is included in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, while "Time After Time" is included in VH1's list of the 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 years. VH1 has ranked Lauper Nº 58 of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.

      Sisters of Avalon is the fifth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released in Japan on October 15, 1996 and worldwide on April 1, 1997, by Sony Music Entertainment. Thematically the album expounded on the issue of complacency and ignorance in popular culture and the discrimination of minorities, gays, and women. Songs like "Love to Hate" and "You Don't Know" address the entertainment industry and media and their corruption. "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" is a song about the double life of a cross dresser. "Say a Prayer" is about the AIDS epidemic.

         The album was heavily praised by multiple music critics due to Lauper's creative growth and eclectic themes. However, the album's release was delayed and sold only 56,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Since its release, the album has been met with continued praise including the Songwriters' Hall of Fame noting the title track as one of Lauper's key songs in her catalog.

You don't know where you belong

You should be more careful

As you follow blindly along

You just need to belong somehow

 

Relying on rhetoric

Not well versed on topics

Any idea what you're talking about?

Revisions of history

Fair well in some company

But don't shove that bullshit down my throat

 

You don't know where you belong

You should be more careful

As you follow blindly along

To find something to swear to

Till you don't know what's right from wrong

You just need to belong somehow

 

Left suppresses right

Right suppresses left

So what's the left, and what's right?

You're told what to wear

You're told what to like

I'd be nice if you'd think for yourself sometime

But you don't

 

Now you don't know where you belong

You should be more careful

As you follow blindly along

To find something to swear to

Till you don't know what's right from wrong

You just need to belong somehow

You just need to belong somehow

 

Mix sheer hypocrisy with mediocrity

You'll play it safe every time

So life turns up empty

And you're so dissatisfied

Who are you blaming blaming this time this time?

Don't you know?

 

Now you don't know where you belong

You should be more careful

As you follow blindly along

To find something to swear to

Till you don't know what's right from wrong

You just need to belong somehow

You just need to belong somehow

 

You don't, you don't know where

You don't know where you belong

You don't know where you belong

You don't know where you belong.