Bette Midler

Released: November 22, 1988

Songwriter: Randy Newman

Producer: Arif Mardin

Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in a sky streaked with grey
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's gonna rain today

Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
The frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's gonna rain today

Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
I think I'll kick it down the street
That's the way to treat a friend

Bright before me the signs implore me:
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's gonna rain today

Lonely, so lonely
Tin can at my feet
I think I'll kick it down the street
That's the way to treat a friend

Bright before me the signs implore me:
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's gonna rain today

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

Beaches (Original Soundtrack Recording)

From the album

Beaches (Original Soundtrack Recording) (1988)

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I Think It’s Going to Rain TodayBette Midler

Bette Midler

Beaches (Original Soundtrack Recording)