've Never Been to Me
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| "I've Never Been to Me" | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Single by Charlene | ||
| Released | 1977, 1982 | |
| Label | Motown Records | |
| Writer | Ron Miller | |
"I've Never Been to Me" is a hit single performed by American singer Charlene.
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[edit] Chart history
In 1977 the song reached number 97 on the Hot 100 singles chart. In 1982, Tampa, Florida disc jockey Scott Shannon, then at WRBQ, started playing it. Audience reaction was impressive, and spread quickly, resulting in the song being reissued by Charlene's label. The single reached Number 3 in the USA, and Number 1, by June 1982, in the UK.
[edit] Content
Charlene originally recorded "I've Never Been to Me" in 1976, and in 1977 it reached #97 on the USA's Hot 100 singles chart. When re-released in 1982 the single reached #3 in the USA, and #1, by June 1982, in the UK. Charlene was signed to Motown Records, but this has been her only hit save for a late 1982 duet with Stevie Wonder, "Used to Be," which charted but failed to make the top 40.
Charlene did two versions of the song. The version which was initially released was actually the second version which Charlene recorded. Her original version (which became more popular) has an expanded bridge, over which the singer makes an impassioned comparison between the non-committal "fantasy about people and places as we'd like them to be," versus the committed real love of a family.
In 1982, Tampa, Florida disc jockey Scott Shannon, then at WRBQ, started playing it, by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in an Ilford, Essex sweet shop. Audience reaction was impressive, and spread quickly, resulting in the song's re-issuance by Charlene's label, the version WITH the original spoken bridge. The re-release became a huge hit in Britain as well.
The use of the line "I've been to crying for unborn children" hints strongly at abortion. The line refers to a woman who is at a point in her life that she wished she had taken the time to have children. However, this was deemed too close to feminist issues and when Charlene's song was first released in 1976, the version used was the one without the spoken bridge. When the song became an unexpected hit in 1982 it was the version WITH the spoken bridge intact that was released. It has also been widely reported that the 1982 single was a re-recording, it is not.
Originally written from a male point of view, the song was rewritten by Ron Miller for Charlene. The male version is sung from the perspective of an old man begging for a dime for a cup of coffee, addressing a younger man who is "raising hell" the way the old man used to do. [1] The female version is sung to a housewife who wishes that she could trade her everyday life for the exciting, fantastic life led by the singer. The singer tells of some of the highlights of her life, but the tone is bittersweet and she wishes that someone had told her what she is telling the listener. She has learned what is important, but now it is too late. She finds her life hollow and without purpose, having lost her real self years before — the "me" she has never been to, is the life that she would have led if she hadn't been lured away by false ideas.
When this song was first released in the USA, in 1976, Charlene's full name was Charlene Duncan through her marriage to record producer Larry Duncan, but when the song was released for a second time in 1982, the name she had taken was Charlene Oliver because of her marriage to Englishman Jeff Oliver.
It soon rose to the top of the Pop charts and Adult Contemporary charts that year. Her LP album I've Never Been to Me, released in 1982 proved to also be successful for Charlene. Her song was one of the biggest hits of the year and became a standard in pop music.
Charlene hasn't yet been able to follow-up the success of her one big hit "I've Never Been to Me", but has continued to record and release songs to the public. She released another album in 1983, but was not so successful.
"I've Never Been to Me" was featured as the opening song to the movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The song is mimed onstage by two Sydney drag queens at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, Sydney, Australia.
Because of her one big hit, Charlene became a one-hit-wonder in music. Charlene and her big hit "I've Never Been to Me" was featured on VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders show, hosted by William Shatner in 2002. Her position on that list was at #75. The song was described on the VH1 show as "the post-disco hangover," referring to the song's probable appeal to listeners who, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, regretted leading hedonistic lives during the disco era.
In 2006, "I've Never Been to Me" was released as one of the songs on Singstar Anthems, one of the popular Singstars.
One urban legend says the song was inspired by the character "Quint" from the movie Jaws. [2]
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