Is That All There Is ?💁Peggy Lee

💁🏼Is That All There Is ?💁🏽

Peggy Lee

Writers:  Jerry Leiber ♫ Mike Stoller 1969

Lyrics

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  Scroll DOWN for Bette Midler's Version.

Comments

"Is That All There Is?" is a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s.
It became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee from her recording in November 1969.    The lyrics of this existentialist song are written from the point of view of a person who is disillusioned with events in life that are supposedly unique experiences.
The song was inspired by the 1896 story Disillusionment (Enttäuschung) by Thomas Mann. The narrator in Mann's story tells the same stories of when he was a child.
A dramatic adaptation of Mann's story was recorded by Erik Bauserfeld and Bernard Mayes; it was broadcast on San Francisco radio station KPFA in 1964.
One difference between the story and the song is that the narrator in Mann's story finally feels free when he sees the sea for the first time and laments for a sea without a horizon. Most of the words used in the song's chorus are taken verbatim from the narrator's words in Mann's story.
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What a fantastic arrangement and her voice was perfection.  In an interview with the gentlemen who wrote this... they recalled that Peggy Lee told them that if they didn't let her record this song, she would have them removed from the planet. Love that story!
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Is there is a more depressing song? This song as a kid, always haunted me. I was like 11 years old when this song was getting a lot of airplay.
Weird how at that age, I got it. I knew what Peggy was saying. Its life.  And its disappointing.  "Is that all there is" is depressing but at the same time, what do we do?  We break out the booze (and whatever else) and party, have a ball, some fun. Because if life was too good, imagine how we would feel knowing of our own demise? We would never accept dying.  FYI: No ones getting out alive. 😎

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This song is not depressing!!! It makes light of the heavy stuff - what's more beautiful than that?? The message I get is "just live life." It makes me so happy. 😊

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Peggy Lee is fantastic in every way. The phrasing, clarity, enunciation, rhythm, the way she forms the words, the fullness of each syllable. You are not aware of her technical mastery. That's the way it's supposed to be. She presents as just music. It is magnificent and unique. Peggy Lee is timeless.
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As someone who has always had depression, this song does speak to me. I remember that feeling as a kid, like something was missing... I still don’t know what it is that’s missing. But I’ve learned to embrace the feeling. This song is wonderful.
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Had this played at her funeral, she was sarcastic to the end!!
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This is such a great song. On the surface it speaks of cynicism, irony, and disappointment. However, the beauty of the song and why it's so appealing is that after it concludes and you reflect upon it - you realize that it is a song of irony that connects us to our own moments of disappointment. The fact that we can recognize it as such means we've been able to move beyond the disappointments. Forward and Free. It takes a great singer to navigate such a song for her listeners... there you have the gift of Peggy Lee. 

https://youtu.be/3sWTnsemkIs

Bette Midler
Is That All There Is?

 (Live at Capital Records)

This is Bette Midler's brilliant live in-studio performance of the Leiber & Stoller / Peggy Lee classic "Is That All There Is?"
This is an excerpt from a short video program for the album "Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook" featuring intimate after-hours in-studio performances by Ms. Midler.
This performance is an alternate take, different from the album version, done exclusively for the camera at the legendary Capitol Records, Studio A, where the spirits of Miss Lee, and so many other greats, could be felt that day. This was 3rd and final take. The story is told, the tears are real - time suspended in front and behind the lens. Directed by Steve Lippman aka FLIP.

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Comments
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As I grow older this song becomes more and more poignant.
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This is not a young woman’s song. This is a question posed by a wiser and more mature woman. I’m glad Bette Midler waited until the present time to cover it. She does a wonderful job. In fact  - I think I prefer this to the original.
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Wonderfully done Bette!! The orchestra was spot on 👍
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Usually I can't think of this song without Peggy Lee, but Ms Midler did it beautifully and it was a deeply touching moment.  Thank you!
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Bette Midler at her best, and the best of this song.  Brings tears to my eyes
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I keep trying to listen to this again and again without shedding tears.  Bette burns this even deeper than Peggy, in my opinion.
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Fantastic. When Bette get to love here eyes show a faraway melancholy.
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I  liked her style in this - L feel she did a touching rendition & I think any of us who have lived a life, loved & lost, get choked on that one stanza  ~~》 "and then one day - he went away & I thought I'd die - but I didnt"

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Lyrics:

Is That All There Is ?
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up in his arms 

and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire?"
Is that all there is, is that all there is... ?
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is...
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to the circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And as I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over, I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a circus?"
Is that all there is, is that all there is ?
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is...

Then I fell in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.
We were so very much in love.
Then one day, he went away. And I thought I'd die -- but I didn't.
And when I didn't I said to myself, "Is that all there is to love?"
Is that all there is... is that all there is ?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
I know what you must be saying to yourselves.
If that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
Oh, no. Not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment.
For I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath, 

I'll be saying to myself...

Is that all there is, is that all there is ?
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
       If that's all there is...  

Peggy Lee, Is That All There Is?
Skit w/ Carol Burnett) 1971
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https://youtu.be/AZ9gyMfVatM

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