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I've Never Been to Me
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Wikipedia article
"'I've Never Been to Me'" is a ballad, written and composed by Ron Miller and Kenneth Hirsch and made popular via a recording by American singer Charlene. Although its original release in 1977 barely registered on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, its re-release in 1982 hit #3 in the US and earned her a gold certification in Australia, where it held the #1 spot for six weeks. In addition, the song topped the charts in Canada (4 weeks), Ireland (3 weeks) and the United Kingdom. It was also a top ten triumph in Norway, Belgium, New Zealand and the Netherlands and became Motown's first top ten hit by a white female solo singer.
Content
The song is best known as lyrically formatted for a female vocalist and as such is addressed to a desperate wife and mother who would like to trade her prosaic existence for the jet setting lifestyle the song's narrator has led. The narrator alludes to various hedonistic episodes in her life, concluding that while she's "been to paradise", she's ultimately failed to find self-fulfillment, expressing this with the line, "I've never been to me." There is also an alternative set of lyrics for the song formatted for a male singer, in which the narrator is an elderly man, destined to die the very next day, begging for a dime for a cup of coffee, addressing a younger man who is "raising hell" the way the old man used to do.
Early versions
Charlene had recorded "I've Never Been to Me" in 1976 for her debut album, the self-titled 'Charlene', a Prodigal release (P6 10015S1), and the ballad contained a controversial spoken section. 'Songs of Love' (P610018S1) came out six months later in 1977 and was essentially a re-issue of 'Charlene', having a slightly different track listing but retaining "I've Never Been to Me" without the spoken bridge. In October 1977, "I've Never Been to Me" became Charlene's third consecutive single to stall in the lowest part of 'Billboard's' Hot 100. From the 'Charlene' LP, the first single, "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down", went to No. 97 in March 1977 (and No. 23 on AC). The following single, "Freddie" from the 'Songs of Love' album, made it to No. 96 on the Hot 100 in May 1977 (and No. 40 on AC). The Hot 100 peak of "I've Never Been to Me" in its original formal release without the monologue was No. 97, and while Charlene's preceding two singles had both reached 'Billboard's Easy Listening chart, "I've Never Been to Me" failed to appear on that chart.
The earliest version of "I've Never Been to Me" to be released was by Randy Crawford which appeared on her 1976 album 'Everything Must Change'. Besides Charlene's version, 1977 also saw the release of versions of the song by Nancy Wilson and Walter Jackson: Nancy Wilson's version served as the title track of her June 1977 album release and was the first version of the song to be released as a single, reaching No. 47 on the 'Billboard's R&B chart, while Walter Jackson's version featuring the lyric formatted from a male perspective was featured on his 'I Want to Come Back as a Song' album released in the spring of 1977.
In February 1978, a mid-tempo recording of "I've Never Been to Me" by Mary McGregor was released as the advance single from her 'In Your Eyes' album: this single reached #29 on 'Billboard's Easy Listening and Canada's Adult Contemporary charts. A modified version of MacGregor's version was sent out to radio stations with the possibly controversial line in the final chorus, "I spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free", amended to "I thought my heart would wait but I learned too late that it costs too much to be free". Also in 1978, Marti Caine recorded "I've Never Been to Me" for her album 'Behind the Smile' from which it was issued as a single, and Mary Roos recorded the German rendering by lyricist Michael Kunze entitled "Doch mich selber kenn ich nicht" ("But I do not know myself") for her album 'Maryland'.
Revival
In 1982, Scott Shannon, a disc jockey at Tampa radio station WRBQ-FM, began playing the "I've Never Been to Me" track off the 'Charlene' album (with the original recitative), and response from local listeners was such as to motivate Shannon, a former Motown employee, to alert Motown president Jay Lasker to the track's hit potential. Lasker located Charlene who, discouraged by the poor performance of her 1977 Motown releases and by the label's decision not to release a second album she had recorded, had left the music industry and met and married an Englishman, subsequently accompanying him to his native land and taking a job at a sweetshop in Ilford. Lasker personally telephoned her with the invitation to re-sign with Motown Records to facilitate the re-release of her "I've Never Been To Me" single, which occurred in February 1982.
The 'Billboard' Hot 100 dated March 6, 1982, showed "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene debuting at No. 84 already 13 places higher than its 1977 peak. It subsequently rose as high as No. 3 on the Hot 100, where it held for three weeks during May and June, prevented from further chart movement by "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Rick Springfield and "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. The song ranked at No. 38 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100-year-end chart for 1982. The track had even greater impact internationally, attaining No. 1 status in Australia (six weeks), Canada (four weeks), Ireland (three weeks), and the United Kingdom (one week). "I've Never Been to Me" also afforded Charlene a top ten hit in Belgium (Flemish Region) (#7), the Netherlands (#7), New Zealand (#5), and Norway (#5). In 1982, Charlene's "I've Never Been to Me" was also a top 10 hit on 'Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart (#7) and a minor C&W chart crossover (#60).
When the song was revived in 1982, the version being played on radio was the take with the monologue (from the Prodigal LP 'Charlene', P6 10015S1); this version was the one Motown re-issued, not the 'Songs of Love' single version from 1977 (Prodigal, P610018S1). The song was never actually re-recorded by Charlene in 1982.
Music video
A music video was made for the song's 1982 reissue. The video was filmed on location at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England and features Charlene wearing her actual wedding dress from her marriage to Jeff Oliver, whom she had married at the time of the song's revival.
Legacy
As Charlene was unable to successfully follow up the success of "I've Never Been to Me" her only subsequent Hot 100 entry "Used to Be" (a duet with Stevie Wonder) got as high as No. 46 she remains a high-profile one-hit wonder. On the 2002 VH1 special '100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders', "I've Never Been to Me" was ranked at No. 75. In the program, it was stated that her entry "expresses the post-'70s hangover."
Chart history
Weekly charts
'Nancy Wilson''Charlene'
'Mary MacGregor'
'Charlene'
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Other versions
A Spanish language recording of "I've Never Been to Me" entitled "Nunca He Ido A Mi" was recorded by Charlene and was one of two B-side tracks featured on the re-release of "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down" the followup to the 1982 release of "I've Never Been to Me" in its UK format (in other territories "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down" featured only the one B-side "If I Could See Myself").
Charlene re-released the song in the form of a dance remix via download music in 2008.
English cover versions
*The Temptations recorded "I've Never Been to Me" with the male-formatted lyrics on their 'Reunion' album in 1982.
*Howard Keel recorded "I've Never Been to Me" with the male-formatted lyrics for his album 'Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.' Keel made this song a staple of his live concerts from 1985 to 2002.
*Dutch singer Patricia Paay recorded the song for her 1995 English-language album 'Time of My Life' comprising songs from movies, "I've Never Been to Me" being the opening number in the film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.'
*Tracy Huang, a Taiwanese diva, covered this song in 1978. She is better known for this song in Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of Asia than the original singer. This version replaces the words "subtle whoring" with "inner feelings."
*Neds Atomic Dustbin covered the song for the 1992 compilation 'Ruby Trax'. It was also included on their 1994 album '0.522'.
*Taiwanese girl group S.H.E included a cover on their 2002 album, 'Youth Society'.
*A hi-NRG/eurodance cover of the song by Rainbow Nation featuring Monica Dionne was released as a single through Almighty Records in 2003. An audio sample can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.
*J-pop singer Yuki Koyanagi recorded a Japanese-language cover. It was included on the "Love Knot-Ai No Kizuna" single from 2004. She sang it in English as well.
*Japanese musical actress Seiko Niizuma covered the song on her live album 'Live Moments' in 2013.
Non-English cover versions
European
*Czech: "J Slyel O Rji" I heard about paradise recorded by Karel Gott for his 1983 album release '...a to mm rd'.*Dutch: "Ik moet leren" ("I need to learn") recorded by Garry Hagger (nl) for his 1996 album release 'Het allermooiste.'
*Finnish: "En tunne itsein" ("I do not know myself") recorded by Seija Simola in 1984. It was released as a single, as well as on the compilation 'Jokamiehen suosikit 10'.
*German:
**"Ich hab' ins Paradies geseh'n (I've peeked into paradise)" 1982 single release for the Swiss singer Paola. remade by Michael von der Heide 2000 single release.
**"Doch mich selber kenn ich nicht" (But I do not know myself lyric by Michael Kunze) introduced by Mary Roos on her 1978 album 'Maryland' remade by Leonard for his 2001 'Rhythmus der nacht' album.
**"De Wind vun Hamborg" (the breeze of Hamburg) a "Plattdtsch" (Low German) rendering recorded by Ina Mller in 2009 having been a staple of Mller's live act for several years. Mller is herself the lyricist for this rendering radically reinvents the original English song relating the singer's experiences during her travels of Northern Germany and concluding that the most happy times have always been when she felt the breeze of Hamburg blowing, thereby transporting the sentiment of there being no place like home.
*Swedish: "Jag har sett himmelen" ('I have seen heaven') recorded by Kikki Danielsson for her 1983 album 'Singles Bar'.
Asian
*Cantonese: Vivian Chow's version "" ('lit.'The solitary heartache) is a Cantopop love song based on 'I've Never Been to Me'.*Japanese: There are two different versions of the lyrics in Japanese. One largely follows the original theme, while a newer version has completely different lyrics written by Keiko Aso() with the title "LOVE IS ALL"(Love is All -Let me hear your love-). Japanese female singer Megumi Shiina() recorded it for a TV period drama of the unrequited love between Takeda Shingen's daughter and Oda Nobunaga's son. The latter, positive version is often used as a wedding song in Japan; the chorus line "never been to me" is replaced with "my love is true".
*Korean: "As One" ( ), South Korean female duo, Crystal (Dahee Chae ) and Min (Minyoung Lee ). Lyric by Sara Yun (), and re-arranged by Jaehong Shin (). Album 'Day by day', released on November 11, 1999.
*Taiwan Mandarin:
**" ('lit.' Rose of March), performed by Taiwanese singer, .
**Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng recorded versions of this song both in Mandarin and in English
*Vietnamese: "Thin ng o" ("Virtual Heaven") was written and sung by Vn Qunh.
Parodies and references
*It was covered by Irish TV puppet Dustin the Turkey (from the children's TV series 'The Den') with re-worked lyrics on his album 'Unplucked.' This version replaces the title with a claim that Dustin has "never been to Meath."
*WLW Radio in Cincinnati ('The Gary Burbank Show') played a parody called "Never Been To Xenia" in the 1980s.
*Filipino singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid recorded a cover of the song with the lyrics sung from a second-person point of view.
*The Kinsey Sicks performed a parody called "I've Been Through Parasites (Never Had VD)" which appears on their album, I Wanna Be A Republican.
*In 2015, on the 'Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon', Jimmy Fallon performed a lip synched version of the song.
Sampling
*Australian artist Ben Lee sampled the song for his track "No Room to Bleed," from his album 'hey you. yes you.,' which he released in 2002.
*Polish producer Lubay featured the 1982 sample for an unreleased tune to be used as a soundtrack in 2006, as it states on his SoundCloud profile.
Live cover performances
*It has been covered live by Korean female duo As One in English with the original lyrics, and in Korean with completely rewritten lyrics.
*K-pop and J-pop singer Younha sung a cover of the song in English on the Korean TV program 'Music Travel Lalala'.
Appearances / references in other media
*The song was listed as the No. 3 worst song of all time in Jimmy Guterman's 1991 book "The Worst Rock n' Roll Records of All Time: A Fan's Guide to the Stuff You Love to Hate."Guterman, Jimmy and O'Donnell, Owen. The Worst Rock n' Roll Records Of All Time (Citadel Press, 1991.)
*In 1994, the film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' opened with Hugo Weaving lip-synching this song in drag to Charlene's vocals. (Charlene's original version of the ballad is also included on the soundtrack.) A popular choice for drag queens, the song is featured as well in the first act of the stage musical where it is mimed onstage by two Sydney female impersonators at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, Australia.
*In episode five of season three of the series 'Absolutely Fabulous' ("Fear," 1995), Edina Monsoon says, "Sweetie, I've been to paradise, but I have never, ever been to me."
*In the sitcom 'Will & Grace,' Jack McFarland comically performed this song during "Just Jack," his first show in the 1998 first-season episode "Between A Rock And Harlin's Place."
*In episode 3 of series 1 ("Grapes of Wrath," 2000) of the sitcom 'Black Books,' Fran Katzenjammer realizes her date is gay when he requests the song be played at a restaurant inside which they are eating.
*In 2001, 'Me Without You' used the song in both the film and its soundtrack.
*The song was referenced by Dan Castallaneta on 'The Simpsons' in the 15th-season episode from 2004, "Catch 'Em If You Can." When Homer is reminded that he has been to space, he replies, "And yet I've never been to me."
*The song was sung by Edie Britt on the television show 'Desperate Housewives,' in the season one episode "Move On," from 2005.
*In early 2005 Charlene appeared on BBC comedy panel show 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks' in the Identity Parade round, with a clip of the song being used to introduce her to the audience. Despite not being correctly identified, she squealed with delight upon being asked to make herself known.
*A 2006 CNN poll listed the song as the No. 4 worst song of all time.
*In 2006, the song was used in Toffee Pops biscuit commercials in New Zealand.
*In 2006, "I've Never Been to Me" was released as one of the songs on 'SingStar Anthems', one of the popular SingStar video games.
*In 2007, the song was used in the movie 'Shrek the Third.'
*The Weekend Update segment of the September 25, 2004, episode of 'Saturday Night Live' featured Rachel Dratch portraying Barbara Walters conducting an interview with herself (i.e. Walters): the routine ended with "Barbara" talk-singing the second chorus of "I've Never Been to Me."
*In the 2008 UK TV Series, 'Beautiful People,' Simon's teacher, Miss Prentice, delivers the second verse and chorus as a farewell speech when leaving the school, replacing the word 'paradise' in the chorus with the town of Reading, where the show is set.
*In 2008, the song was used in a montage for Tina Lord on 'One Life to Live.'
*This song can be unlocked in Wii Music.
*In 2015, the song was mentioned in the comedy film 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.'
*In 2017, the song was prominently used in the film 'You Were Never Really Here.'
*In the 2018 season-two episode of 'Splitting Up Together' entitled "Asking for a Friend," Jenna Fischer's Lena longingly begins singing the song to her children; this prompts her youngest son, Milo, to question aloud if his mother is having a nervous breakdown.
References
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