Bette Midler

Released: January 8, 1976

Songwriter: Bette Midler Mark “Moogy” Klingman Tom Waits

Producer: Mark “Moogy” Klingman

Well I'm leaving my family
I'm leaving all my friends
My body's at home
But my heart's in the wind
And the clouds are like headlines
Upon a new front page sky
My tears are salt water
The moon's full and high

And I know Joe Conrad would be proud of me
Many before me been called by the sea
To be up in the crow's nest singing my saying
Shiver me timbers let's all sail away

And the fog lifting
The sand shifting
I'm drifting on out
Old Captain Ahab got nothing on me
Swallow me, don't follow me
I'm traveling alone
The water's my daughter
I skip like a stone

And the fog lifting
The sand shifting
I'm drifting on out
Old Captain Ahab got nothing on me
Swallow me, don't follow me
I'm traveling alone
The water's my daughter
I skip like a stone

Won't you please call my family
Tell them not to cry
My goodbyes are written
By the moon in the sky
Say nobody knows me
I've got no reason to stay
Shiver me timbers
I'm sailing away

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaa

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

Shiver Me Timbers/Samedi et VendrediBette Midler

Bette Midler

Songs for the New Depression