Bette Midler

Released: September 15, 1998

Songwriter: Leonard Cohen Jennifer Warnes Bill Elliott

Producer: Ted Templeman

[Verse 1]
There was a child named Bernadette
I heard the story long ago
She saw the queen of heaven once
And kept the vision in her soul
No one believed what she had seen
No one believed what she heard
That there were sorrows to be healed
And mercy, mercy in this world

[Chorus]
So many hearts I find, broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you, come on, let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do

[Verse 2]
We've been around, we fall, we fly
We mostly fall, we mostly run
And every now and then we try
To mend the damage that we've done
Tonight, tonight I just can't rest
I've got this joy here, here inside my breast
To think that I did not forget
That child, that song of Bernadette

[Chorus]
So many hearts I find, hearts like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
Well I just want to hold you, come on, let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do

[Outro]
I just want to hold you, won't you let me hold you?
Like Bernadette would do

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.

more tracks from the album

Bathhouse Betty

From the album

Bathhouse Betty (1998)

Bette Midler popular songs

Song of BernadetteBette Midler

Bette Midler

Bathhouse Betty