Bette Midler

Producer: Aaron Russo Arif Mardin Lew Hahn

I was walking down 42nd street one day
I wasn't workin'42nd street
I was walkin 42nd street
And this amazing thing happened to me
It was July it was about 89 degrees
It was hot, hot for New York
You know and I was walking east and this
Humungous person was coming west
And she had this big blue house dress on peppered
All over with little white daisies
She was almost bald but sitting on top of her head
Forehead you know on her forehead was this fried egg
Which I thought was really unusual
Because in New York City the ladies with the
Fried eggs on their heads don't generally come
Out until September or October you know
Here was this lady this demented lady with a little
Fried egg on her head in the middle of July
God what a sight and ever, ever since I saw that
Lady not one day goes by that I don't think of
Her and I say to myself
"Oh God, don't let me wake up tomorrow
And want to put a fried egg on my head. Oh God."
Then I say real fast I say
"Oh God, If by chance I should wind up with a fried
Egg on my head"; cause sometimes you can't help those
Things you know, you can't
I say to myself
"Don't let anybody notice."
And then I say real fast after that
"if they do notice that I'm carrying something
That, that's not quite right and they want to talk
About it, let 'em talk about it but don't let 'em
Talk so I can hear I don't want to hear it."
Cause the truth about fried eggs, you can call it a fried
Egg, you can call it anything you like, but everybody
Gets one, some people wear 'em on the outside, some
People they wear 'em on the inside

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

Live at Last

From the album

Live at Last (1977)

Bette Midler popular songs

Fried EggsBette Midler

Bette Midler

Live at Last