Bette Midler

Released: January 8, 1976

Songwriter: Phoebe Snow

Producer: Mark “Moogy” Klingman

And I don't want
I, I don't want
I don't want the night to end

Oh, daddy, daddy
Oh, daddy, daddy
Wastin' half my life
On platforms underground
The other half I'm spending
As a desperate clown
My problem now is that
You're nowhere to be found
In dark delicious dreams
Of you I'll drown

Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-hi
Oh, daddy. Oh, daddy
Ooooooooh. Oh, daddy. Oh, daddy
I don't want the night to end

Oh, baby, baby
Ohhhhh, my sweet baby
Wrapped around your soul
Is where I want to be
But even in the night, blue music
All my eyes can see:
Junkies in the rain
Down on their knees
Tell me, what's to become
Of you and me?

Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Don't let it be, don't let it be over
No, no, don't let it be, don't let it be
I don't want the night to end
I don't want the night to end
I don't want the night to end
Mmmm, say it again, now
I don't want, don't want the night to end

Don't let it be, don't let it be
Don't let it be over
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
I don't want it to be over
Baby, I'm a soul to lend
I'm all, all alone. I don't want the night to end
Oh, mommy, mommy, I am falling

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

Songs for the New Depression

From the album

Songs for the New Depression (1976)

Bette Midler popular songs

I Don’t Want the Night to EndBette Midler

Bette Midler

Songs for the New Depression