Bette Midler

Released: September 15, 1998

Songwriter: Ben Folds

Producer: Ted Templeman

Howard, the strangest things
Have happened lately when I
Take a good swing
And all my dreams
They pivot and slip
I drop my fists
And they're back, laughing

Howard, my intentions
Become not to lose what I've won
Ambition has given way
To desperation and I
I've lost the fight from my eyes

Boxing's been good to me, Howard
Now I'm told
"You're growing old."
The whole time we knew
A couple of years I'd be through
Has boxing been good to you?

Howard, now I confess
I'm scared and lonely and tired
Everyone says I'm made of clay
That I've had my day
That I'm not cut out for this
I just know what to say
And I say

Boxing's been good to me, Howard
Now I'm told
"You're growing old."
The whole time we knew
A couple of years I'd be through
Has boxing been good to you?

Well, sometimes I punch myself
Hard as I can
Yelling, "nobody cares!"
Hoping someone will tell me how wrong I am
Howard

Boxing's been good to me, Howard
Now I'm told
"You're growing old."
The whole time we knew
A couple of years I'd be through
Has boxing been good
Has boxing been good
Has boxing been good?

Bette Midler is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, comedienne and actress. Named in honor of Bette Davis, Midler’s career began performing off-broadway until she developed the stage persona The Divine Miss M while singing at the world-famous Continental Baths gay bathhouse. A pre-fame Barry Manilow, the venue’s in-house piano player, produced her Grammy-nominated debut album which scored three US top 40 singles including the Grammy-nominated “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. Midler took home the Best New Artist Grammy that year, her first of three career wins.

Throughout the 1970s, Midler found further success with music, Broadway, television and film. The Rose, Midler’s 1979 acting debut, earned her both Oscar and Academy Award nominations, and its namesake song won her a Golden Globe and another Grammy – also giving Midler her first success overseas.

The early 1980s proved less successful for Midler with four under-performing singles and a box office flop with the film Jinxed. However, the second half of the decade would prove far more fruitful with a handful of very successful films including Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune and Beaches, the latter featuring a chart-topping cover of “Wind Beneath My Wings” that won Midler her third Grammy and is considered one of the greatest songs in American film history.

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Bathhouse Betty (1998)

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