Released: September 30, 2003

Songwriter: Stuart Hamblen

Producer: Barry Manilow Robbie Buchanan

This ole house once knew my children
This ole house once knew my life
This ole house was home and comfort
As we lived through storm and strife
This ole house once rang with laughter
This ole house heard many shouts
Now she trembles in the darkness
When the lightning walks about

Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer
Ain't a-gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor
Ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window panes
Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer
I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints

This ole house is gettin' shaky
This ole house is gettin' old
This ole house lets in the rain
This ole house lets in the cold
On my knees I'm gettin' shaky
But I feel no fear or pain
'cause I see an angel peekin'
Through a broken window pane

I ain't a-gonna need this house no longer
Ain't a-gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor
I ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window panes
Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer
I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints

This ole house is afraid of thunder
This ole house is afraid of storms
This ole house just groans and trembles
When the night wind flings its arms
This ole house is gettin' feeble
This old house is needin' paint
Just like me it's tuckered out
But I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints

Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer
Ain't a-gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor
I ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window panes
Ain't gonna need this house no longer
I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints
I'm gettin' ready to meet the saints

Bette Midler

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.