" I've never been to me " by charlene
This is one of my favorite songs.
I knew this song when I was a child, maybe on TV in Japan,
and I was very impressed since when I first time heard that song .
and then later in 1986, I saw a commercial which has the song as a background music on TV .
I didn’t know anything about English language at that time but the melody of the song really touched my heart.
My older brother was also with me watching the commercial and I remember he said he always love that song since the first time heard it.
But, even though I know that song, I didn't know the title of the song.
and I didn't try to find the title of the song and the singer and composer until recently.
Because it was hard to find it without knowing the title and the singer.
I tried to sing the melody to my husband , but he didn't recognize it.
But somehow, when I was searching different 1970s music to make our favorite oldies collections CD, listening to each 1970s music, I happened to find that song accidentally!
I was so happy to find it!
Very !
My memory was right, the melody of the song is really touching.
I was not aware of the lyrics, so I read about it.
and surprised to know the meaning of the lyrics.
Here is the lyrics of the song below,
" I've never been to me "
( Lyrics written and composed by Ron Miller and Kenneth Hirsch, the singer : Charlene )
" Hey, lady, you, lady
Cursing at your life
You're a discontented mother
And a regimented wife
I've no doubt you dream about
The things you'll never do
But I wish someone had talked to me
Like I wanna talk of you
Ooohooo, I've been to Georgia and California
And anywhere I could run
I took the hand of a preacher man
And we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces
Because I had to be free
I've been to paradise
But I've never been to me
Please, lady, please, lady
Don't just walk away
'Cause I have this need to tell you
Why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me
Still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part of a weary heart
That has lived a million lives
Oh, I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece
When I sipped champagne on a yacht
I moved like Harlo in Monte Carlo
And showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings
And I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see
I've been to paradise
But I've never been to me
Hey, you know what paradise is?
It's a lie
A fantasy we created about people and places as we'd like them to be
But you know what truth is?
It's that little baby you're holding
And it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love
Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children
That might have made me complete
But I, I took the sweet life I never knew
I'd be bitter from the sweet
I've spent my life exploring, the subtle whoring
That costs too much to be free,
hey, lady
I've been to paradise
But I've never been to me
I've been to paradise
Never been to me
I've been to Georgia and California
And anywhere I could run
I've been to paradise
Never been to me
Been to Nice and the isle of Greece
When I've sipped champagne on a yacht
I've been to paradise
Never been to to me "
Theme of this song is about happiness, dream and love.
The lyrics describe a lady who was always chasing true happiness but later, after she got older, felt like it's an illusion, and felt like there is no such a thing.
Some people said that it seems like this is about a high class call girl telling or teaching ladies who are tired of their marriage life, and dreaming to have perfect happiness.
I'm not sure if this is a story about a high class call girl or if it's about a lady who is just wild and a freedom lover or not.
But in the lyrics , the woman thought she did everything she wanted in her life and is still feeling lonely and not happy now and is telling ladies that dreams are a lie , there is no such a thing.
The lyrics say,
" But you know what truth is?
It's that little baby you're holding
And it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love
Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children
That might have made me complete
But I, I took the sweet life I never knew
I'd be bitter from the sweet "
This woman's meaning is that true happiness is in a typical marriage life which often has ups and downs.
But she chose easier life and freedom, didn't choose that kind of stable looking life.
and right now she is not satisfied with her feeling.
From my view,
If she had chosen an ordinary marriage life which has ups and downs with her family relationships in life, she might have still not been satisfied with her life as well, and might have felt regret for not choosing a freedom life.
Who knows ?
It reminds me of the quote "The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side”.
Each person has different image of happiness and also feels differently about happiness.
Personally,
I feel I'm very happy marriage, and there is no fighting in our relationship, and has been peaceful, fun life.
Because I chose a man who is really match with my personality, who has similar views of life, similar taste of many things, and have similar interests.
I feel marriage life can be totally different, depending on the partner.
There is not really a typical married life.
They are all as different as the people involved.
and also it depends on the person's frequency level.
( High, light energy frequency or low, heavy frequency )
It's always similar kind of frequency which are attracted each other.
Couples are like a mirror. ( also all our relationships are mirrors of oneself)
So if you found issue of your partner or someone around you, it means you are seeing something of yourself through that person.
Emotion
What we all really want in life is always happy "emotion" at the end,
and it's coming from inside of our heart.
What is happening on the outside doesn't matter, because it's all illusion which was created by our subconscious mind, which is coming from our emotion, thought and what we have been picturing.
I suppose this woman in the lyrics was always looking for her happiness in the outside of herself. and expecting that the things or material things can make her happy.
If one is not experiencing happiness from the inside of ourselves, one cannot experience happiness from the outside.
Since the outside is a reflection of the inside.
So in this type of scenario of not experiencing happiness from the inside of ourselves, then, when we get what we want, experience what we want.
we can feel happiness for a while but that feeling won't last long and soon we'll feel bored and start looking for another happiness.
and repeating it.
The woman in the lyrics is not feeling happy and doesn’t feel satisfied in her life now after she did many things she wanted to.
I also feel the woman was thinking too much and didn't feel the emotion of joy and happiness every moment.
Maybe she did not live in the moment.
My thought is
If one is expecting to have happiness based on events or material things , or even from someone else's view of happiness instead of one's own , one will never get satisfied with their life.
I think happiness depends on how we see things and the world in every moment.
And on being true to yourself and what truly makes you happy, and not on doing things that others may portray as the be all and end all of what is happiness.
You define for yourself what is happiness.
(The version of Japanese translation included )