The simplicity of the song is what makes it communicate the emotions...no misleading and artificial bells and whistles to pretend to be pretty , just pure feeling. The lyrics are already very strong, and the delivery enhances them.

I concede... She gets better as she goes along, and some, most perhaps, are RIGHT on the money. The overdubbing, the combination of the additional multiple parts is moving. When she "leans into it", she delivers with authority. Who remembers her doing choreography on stage with her backup singers The Harlettes, as mermaids in power wheelchairs? Fucking hilarious! And the Sophi Tucker jokes...To her friend: "M' boyfriend Ernie came home with a dozen roses, and I knew I'd be on my back with my legs spread for a week". Response: "Girl, haven't you heard of a vase?"

Saw Bette live, great entertainer and I hadn’t been a huge fan . 6:05 Everyone sang along until “the Rose” Bette said in a humorous way but this was her song to sing. Everyone respected that. She was great.

Congrats on 298k! Thanks for a lovely look at The Rose. I'm not sure about any other versions of this song, but Bette always make me cry. Every. Single. Time. Not too many songs/singers I can say that about. 😭 I never noticed any flatness, if I did I chalked it up to style choice to enhance the sorrow.

I’d forgotten about this song so glad it was suggested. Always thought Bette sang it well. Thanks Fil and great to see your smile.

Bette’s voice, to me, is mystical. Enchanting. What a pleasure this episode is!

I remember this song from the 1970s. My dad, who will be 93 this year, used to play this in his car, when he was driving around. It was part of his music collection. He also listened to ABBA, Boney M, KC & The Sunshine Band, and The Commodores too. Thanks for sharing this analysis video. Cheers, Fil! ✌️

I never thought this one was flat or out of tune. Now, "Wind Beneath My Wings" is another story. The ending is especially painful.

As you know Bette Midler is a multitalented artist. I love her version of the classic 1941 song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters, I've said this before nothing get by you Fil when it comes to music. 😊👍

Good point about that first held note. The other thing is that while the note sounds flatter than it really is, harmonically it works. It may well be that it was sung flat on purpose. Bette Midler has the skill and ability to tune notes to suit her very talented ear at will. She also knows harmonics and would not have allowed it be released if she were not happy with the result. In the late 70s she was a big enough name to be able to ensure her satisfaction with the result prior to the song being used in the film or having it released.

Brings me back to watching this movie in the theatre. Love Bette Midler, a great talent on so many levels.

Maybe Bet, sang the first part a bit flat, and then for the next part sharpened it. For variety it doesn't need to be " so called" perfectly in tune. It sometimes adds to the musicality and character of someone's voice. Variations in vibrato can alter pitch as well. It adds to the overall performance.

I love her! And, Bette was fabulous in the movie’The Rose’, also! Her voice is just so pretty! Thank you so much, Fil! I’ve always loved this song!

A number of tunes with simple piano key openings became pretty popular. In addition to the two you mention - there are others such “Through The Eyes Of Love” [Theme to “Ice Castles”] - would love to see you do a dive into Melissa Manchester’s songs

Multi-layered analysis. Liked your attention to track being a 70's production, noting separation with vocal session drops and incoming harmonies, and of course the post piano recording.

Bette Midler, I think, is an under valued singer here in the UK. Mention her name and most would answer 'Hocus Pocus', but she could sing really well. Sometimes she reminds me of the sadly missed Nanci Griffith in the style she adopts. This analysis is great, thank you Fil 🤟

Great analysis Fil, and you look so happy and relaxed. That's great to see!

Great analysis, as always! Thank you. In this song, my impression has always been that Bette was singing in her version of Janis Joplin style. (Upon whom the film was loosely based). I never realized the piano was sharp!

I really enjoyed the commentary about the piano line vs. the vocal. When I heard this song, I took that bit of dissonance at the beginning as being melancholic and I always thought it was intentional. Thanks

Pretty amazing that no none caught an out-of-tune piano in a song that was in a huge movie and was a huge hit here in the States and in some other countries. The producer of this album was Paul Rothschild who produced Janis Joplin and some earlier Bruce Springsteen records. This film was loosely based on Janis Joplin. Ths is from 1978, so no autotune.. I know it sounds so much like Bette is doing her own harmonies, but on the album credits, it says that the background harmony is sung by Amanda McBroom, the writer. She sure did a great job of following the dynamics of Bette's voice.

Very beautiful song well sung. I’ve always liked Bette’s voice. Thanks, Fil, for your analysis and giving some background info as well.

Hello,Fil..!!✨I cried seeing you again tonight..!!,iwithout you, the musical evening are sad.thank you for this analysis of Bette Midler ,so great.!..lovely Fil...Really unique.🌹🏹💌

Bette Midler's vocals on this track - and the beautiful simplicity of the melody, brings me to tears, every time I hear it. THANK You for the marvelous analysis, Fil!💕

She’s a very good singer, very recognizable, with great expression in her voice. And, it’s so nice hearing this appreciation/analysis of this song. Thanks, Fil. I’m learning a lot.👏🤩 Also, I like your thumbnail…looks like you’re doing a little “vogueing” 😁👍

As always, you covered a lot of interesting points. I had noticed the pitch of that note, but had never considered that the piano was involved in making it stand out. The top of her vibrato still hit the note, and made for great expression. Thank you; nice choice for a chilly April Sunday.

Hi Fil, So glad to see your smile! This is a pretty song and made more unique by Bette’s voice and interpretation. And it was a big hit in it’s day… to me just a classic adult contemporary song. Not that easy to sing either. You do a great job on this analysis and loved seeing the piano “notes” as well. Very interesting! Lots of different aspects to this seemingly simplistic song. Perhaps that is what makes it so beautiful. Thank you for your analysis and interesting background info about this song! Love You… Debbie☮️🥰

Melissa Manchester please! Happy St. George’s Day to our English cousins!

This was the song that introduced me to Bette Midler. Has many memories I won’t bore you with. So happy to see this pop up today. Thanks again Fil. Your analysis is always the best. 🤘🏻🤘🏻

How sad that you aren't live streaming anymore. It was a lot of fun for this old lady. Wow

For years I have cringed at her pitch on the first "love." Decades since its release I see the title of your video, and come to realize it's not just me. It never dawned on me the piano could be slightly sharp in the beginning. Thank you!

Wonderful analysis Fil thank you so much for doing this one I had the original soundtrack album and the movie was great as well my favorite track is Camilla

I saw the movie twice in the theater. My older sister actually thought the movie was about Janis Joplin. It was loosely based on Janis. My sister asked me if Janis had sung that song. I had to tell here that the movie wasn't about Janis. I always liked Bette. She's a fantastic talent all around. She was great in Gypsy as Mama Rose!!!

Great song and beautiful movie. Her voice and acting were indicative of Janis Joplin and carry forth her painful life and emotional expression. Loved your analysis and appreciation of Bette Midler’s performance. You always add to my appreciation of musical talent. ❤

Hi Fil. I'd like to suggest the Abba song, _The Winner Takes it All_, for you to analyse sometime. Your description of this song reminds me of that. I once heard that the composition consists of only ten notes, with five ascending notes, repeated twice, then five descending notes, repeated twice, and all of that is repeated for the entire. The result is very effective and it's astonishing that a such a wonderful song could be based on so few notes.

The thing with this song is "out of tune" or even "off pitch" it's an ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE!! that only Bette could sing, this is her song and NOBODY!! could better it so with it's faults it's still a heart stopping & timeless song 💜🙏💜

I never saw the movie but liked the song. To a degree, nothing wrong with being 'out'. One of my fave live recordings of Jimi was "Hear My Train 'a Coming", Berkely., Rainbow Bridge. I'm like 14 in '71. Some one is out and Jimi's trying to fix things through out the solo. Still ruled,,,,,oh yes...Song over,,,an A is played. Tune up time. Read somewhere this was among his most revered live solos ever. Prob when Blues was released '95 or so. It's there.....out clean thru.

Thank you Fil. All my music teachers said "slow and simple with little backing" was much harder to sing than any other way. I know that to be a fact. This was a beautiful analysis, so thank you again!

Great song, the movie was just as great as well. Sad ending. Only Bett, can sing this song. Thanks Fil great job as usual.

Hi Fil, all of your videos are amazing, but I especially like your "old" analysis videos of rock and hardrock music! and Heavy Metal of course! 😉 I just rewatched a Thin Lizzy video and again I was blown away immediately! may I suggest a twin guitars analysis video? that would be absolutely fantastic! keep up the great work! Rock! 🙃🤘🏻

I love Bette, so this was very interesting to me. I’ve seen her live a couple of times and she is genuinely wonderful live performer. A real song stylist we must remember that she is singing this as a character, ‘the rose’, based on Janis Joplin, for the film of the same name. Bette adopted a noticeably rockier style for the soundtrack in keeping with the character. Though this is probably the softest of all the songs. It was huge in the US, a number 1. It’s written by a very successful writer called Amanda McBroom.

I love this song! I love Bett Middler. She is crazy talented. You keep on rocking Fil.

BETTE! Cool Fil she is one of the classic Ladies of the 70s 80s whomb had a truly classic tone! but I didn't think much of it when I was younger as I thought lol perfect it's been years sinceI heard this Epic tune. But so true! The pino is sharp seems like it was a bit speeded up or as you said Fil the way analog equipment picked it up....Her n Mick did the classic Beast of burden most will remember. A Fantastic song. Luv&Peace Fil Cheers hope your feeling well!🙂🤝🏼🙏

Such a great analysis!Love Bette Midler, she has a beautiful voice. You always do a great job on the analysis that you choose !! You're the very best !!🤘🎸

Excellent analysis. The movie is not my cup of tea but my wife made me watch it. Have to admit Bette did an outstanding job acting and the movie was actually very good. Don't tell my wife. 😁

Thanks for reacting to Bette. I had always thought that she cared about interpretation and performance of the song more than whether she was sharp or flat. When she sounded off, I took it as an interpretive choice. When you listen to her version of "Superstar", it takes me to a whole different place than Karen Carpenter's did. And Bette's version of "Hello in There" is truly heartbreaking.

I would love to hear side by side some of these songs after they have been "corrected". I think that would be very interesting and telling when you hear both.

Interesting analysis, as always. Unfortunately I don't have a musical ear, but I'm learning so much from you and the artists you highlight. Thanks so much!

Hi! Love Bette Middler. She's a great performer, very talented and funny-funny. Wonderful analysis, Fil. Thank you 🤘🏽🖤🌹

I love this song, what I like about your channel ( I realise this one the video) is as a professional you able to feel the song and not only the technicality and the art craft of the musician/ singer.

What an interesting and detailed analysis, Fil. Her performance was unexpected-a non-brassy Midler. 👍🏻👍🏻

I love this song. I think she does an awesome job singing this song. Great analysis Fil. 👏❤

Hi Fil, I don’t know if you are aware but Bette Midler got her start playing in the gay bath houses in New York with Barry Manilow as her pianist.

Awesome Fil! I like to request a review on Sir Tom Jones on the UK Voice 2022 power vocals singing” I Won’t Crumble With You,If You Fall”the man is 82 and what an amazing soulful pipes he still has.Cheers!

I can't be serious listening to this song anymore because of Napoleon Dynamite, lol. But your analysis is fascinating, as always!

So educational to listen to your analysis! Always love it! 💜

I went to see Bette perform at Toronto's Massey Hall back in 1973. My date was my future wife. Bette's performance was amazing. Btw Gordon Lightfoot performed at MH, 170 times. He would also go often to watch others. He would sit in the same seat. MH recently underwent a massive renovation.

I would be interested on how in ear monitors affect relative pitch for the singer. The singer may only hear a single instrument as their pitch cue (or worse a backing track). Bette in this performance sounds terrific without accompaniment. Having in my youth fronted a band prior to IEM (or tuning pedals), I remember how distorted sound can be on stage, just tuning a guitar could be a chore. Your perspective would be enlightening.

I wonder if Ms Midler knew about that piano? Great video. I learned something new about I song I have always loved❤

Fil, Wow! I realized that it was her, (my sister did that a lot!) just now. I never caught it before. Plus, I'm not great at 'hearing' notes. So, yay? I always thought Bette, and I had to like her because at times I looked much like her, did great for not being a 'real' singer. But I guess she is. I'd always thought her more a performer. Thankyou. You're a hell of a teacher! And I love the simplicity of it, plus what it says is so important. 👍💖💙🥰✌

Thank you (-: Love watching your videos. Have you actually seen the movie? I went every night after school for the whole six month run, and usually sat through it twice because the ushers doesn’t care. The last two months I was only person in the theater. That band rocked their brains out.

I enjoyed your review and Midler's masterful interpretation of the song. I have always thought that Robert Flack created the perfect vocal when she recorded "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face". Her vocal control and sense of timing was unusual and stunning. I hope you find a way to review it. Flack and Midler had incredible musical skills.

Fil: I've been a Jackson Browne fan for 50 years. Seen him live 3 times. Greatest composer in my generation! However, (in my opinion) he was not a great vocalist when he started. He's now in his 70's, and sings better than ever (IMHO). I would love to know if I'm correct about this, and there is plenty of video available on KZfaq. I would love to see your analysis of his vocals, past vs. present. Please put this on the list, if it sounds like something you would enjoy. This Bette Midler was another great video, by the way! Keep up the good work!

Thank you as always. My fave Bette appearance was in '83' on The Tonight Show. She was promoting a tour in support of her new LP, "No Frills', an interesting collection of tunes. Carson held it up - she interjected something like "oh honey, forget it, put it down, this one is already dead in the water". She was honest, radio ignored it. Funny, she had three maudlin songs, (well, she sang them w/ great angst). About 6 yrs on, Ronstadt & Neville sang a really, ugly " sugar coated" version of one, "All I Need To Know". Midler's was brilliant and had pathos'. Ronstadt 's voice is killer, but her/their Disney version went "top 5", (or better?) Midler didn't get alot of radio until Beaches"and then she became too much of an enterprise for a while, sold a good deal of CD's. Wthin 4 years, she was still a critic's fave, but A/R reps were @ 25 years old, & didn't push her at radio, or retail. I always pick up her releases for the LP tracks. The early LPs have more gems on them that are great compositions & covers. They always led me to learning more about the writers & their own releases. Her CDs after "The Rose" also average @ 5 great tunes, (mostly, pensive ballads). I have two friends who always say, "Pls don't play your Moaning Midler in the car". They're joking of course,& I go thru phases of playing different artists out. Midler has a great, interesting catalogue. Odd, "The Rose" is not one that I ever play. Thanks so much for another MasterClass. 💜

I keep saying that your channel is so much fun for me. The largest part of the my music world (for the last 50-60 years) has been classical music. But it has been hard to ignore the contemporary “soundtrack” of music being written/recorded (and who would want to) all around me over the years. Never saw the movie, don’t know the story, but am familiar with this song. I never noticed it didn’t follow the “standard” pattern of most popular songs but because of your analyses, I now see what a comparably simple song it is and how Bette Midler made it much more through her artistry (and everyone who helped to produce the recording). It explains why it was so popular and moved so many people. Thanks for this.

Your explanations and analysis is fascinating, combined with the technology reveals alot. To be honest i find a lot of todays music dull, it's lifeless and feels like it's on auto pilot, now i know why. I'm no musician but I do have a keen ear, often i find it's the pauses, micro second delays which are genius timing which makes me love the delivery of a song. These elements are often missing in todays pieces. I'm an artist of the visual kind, i liken it to looking at a great masterpiece and then viewing a print. Today there are too many prints, we need originals from talented individual who are allowed to create with gut feeling and not perfection.

Great analysis as usual Fil. Many thanks. I'd forgotten that Bette could really sing.

I remember this song and the movie. I like the way this song built up without going over the top, as I felt some of her later songs did. As for the movie, I could never understand why they made a movie "loosely" based on Janis Joplin's life, why not just make a movie about Janis Joplin? There's definitely a story there. I remember for years Melissa Etheridge was talking about making a biopic of Janis' life and starring in it. Later it was Pink who was supposedly cast in the lead role, and neither of these movies ever got made. Anyway, great analysis and interesting information about the strict rules for the Oscars original song category.

Profound lyrics and who better to vocalize them? The Divine Ms. M!

I have to admit, your "pitch monitoring software" has enriched my ability to listen to and appreciate. Thanks.

Enjoyed this very much she has a beautiful voice

I’d love for you to review Terrence Trent D’arby’s - “Holding on to You”. That’s a vocal performance that just blows me away! Even the guitar solo crushes! Oh yeah, it’s gotta be the live version because it’s miles better than the studio version.

How on earth do you keep all the information in your head I love watching these cos I wouldn't have a clue especially when you do George I know you are a George fan but I just love him and his voice and you sound good as well any way thankyou its so interesting 😊

What a voice! Loved seeing her on Dutch TV while I was stationed in Germany.

Beautiful song and vocals by Bette Midler. You did a great job as always and I enjoyed this analysis as well. 😊🎵

It's amazing to me how artists can create such beauty in less than an hour. I'm jealous! The spare use of instrumentation reminds me of "The first time ever I saw your face" by Roberta Flack, both songs have a slight sadness about them, and really connect emotionally.

It's been a while since I watched the film but, as I'm recalling, the title song only comes in as the movie comes to a close (after Bette's character, "Rose," collapses on stage) and the song essentially covers the character's musical journey: The kind of "rough" opening of the song is her at the start of her career, the big "three-part" harmony is her "superstar" status and the finale reflects the character's (apparent) death.

I have only known Bette Middler's version, and I'm so glad for it. She is such an amazing artist! And her interpretation does always bring a tear to my eyes.

The simplicity you mentioned reminds me of the same format of 'The Winner Takes It All'

I like that you explain Why we hear what we hear and why we react to it. Excellent job sir.

In context of the movie, I thought the beginning was deliberately a little off because her character is flawed whose strength grows only when singing. Interesting to hear an actual technical reason! When you watch the movie, Bette does a heartbreaking job of showing how a talented voice is broken by addiction and the physical stress of fame and the rockstar lifestyle.

I always loved her voice & movies. Beautiful, sad, hopeful, complex song😑❤️‍🩹 Wind Beneath My Wings was amazing too by her⚘️🕊🎶🎼Thanks Fil😊

She was kinda channelling Janis Joplin because the film was a loose biopic and Janis was often off pitch but it was part of technique. Anyone who thinks Janis' voice was only a wrecked rasp, check "One Night Stand" with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Some astonishing clarity and range displayed in that vocal

*SIGH* This song put me right through the wringer! It looks like it was designed to do that, so thanks for such informative and interesting guidance along the way.

This song is a classic. Her voice is absolutely beautiful.

Nice video. Could you look at Freddie Mercury's vocal performance on Time Waits For No One?

I didn't hear that song since my teenage years. But the performance of Bette Midler hit me just as hard as 25 years ago! With all the soul- and voiceless (looking at you, autotune!) pop songs day in and out, such a small song didn't lose any of its power. So I didn't lose interest in music - just need to find it!

Hi, Could you do Linda Ronstadt doing Blue Bayou, I am a big fan of hers in the 70's and later. She said in an interview that it is a very difficult song to perform, unlike Roy Orbison who I also recorded it...which I love too.

We learn so much with your analysis. Thank you Fil!!

Love Your Channel…..❤️

Request: Peggy Lee. Is that all there is? Love the show. Xx

Yo, Pegasus! I appreciate the Frank Marino reactions. I was wondering if you have seen the entire Agora Theatre Concert. I'm into DVD set two of three. I just got the set from Canada. Frank is not too well I hear. Lets lift up some prayer/sacrifice for him. Wow! What a guitarist!

Hi Phil! Thank you for this (and the other) analyses. I have a question about your software: There are bands that layer different vocal tracks on top of each other so that the sound sounds fuller and you then hear the layered tracks as if it were just one. The pitches of the individual audio tracks are different. You see that very often with Abba (e.g. Angeleyes, Ode to freedom...). Then there are songs where a singer is also his own backing choir (eg Genesis/Phil Collins etc). How do things like this appear in your software or can you correct these superimposed soundtracks as a whole with AutoTune (i.e. not the x individual soundtracks, but what comes out superimposed when x is made into 1)?

Sounded pretty on pitch to me, save the opening. It looked like she was flatting a few notes on purpose later on, because they occurred in similar portions, brightening,/darkening wise. Most were pretty on. I never would hear that little inversion that she throws in on those slides, until I see it, then it's 'obvious'. I think she did a very nice job. It might be interesting to have a line with the loudness running as well. I expect that maybe pitch is harder to maintain when moving from soft to loud or vice versa within a single note, one of those times, if you are not highly trained, that you kind of have to be extra aware of that parameter. I watched a video the other day where they had broken out Elton Johns voice on a couple of his songs, like "Your song". I was really impressed with his control, especially adding and subtracting fry and the like in a linear increasing or decreasing (or both) envelope within a single note, percentage wise if you will, with the normal voice. He was never really hitting a full fry, just adding some rasp within an envelope, with a LOT of control. For me it becomes a lot more obvious what is going on in the vocal, or any instrument, when broken out. If one or more has problems, it just sounds lousy to me, more than I necessarily can pull out exactly pull out the why, although it is easiest with the vocals. The video I was watching was on the Picardy third, and its use in common songs, and there were a LOT of common songs, from the Beatles to Elton John, and a lot more. To me that is REALLY a brightening method, and the resolution you just don't expect. In the choral pieces I sang that employed it I would sometimes jump to the tenor from my normal baritone, because their note seemed to always be the FUN one, usually section that could really lean in there. :-) I'll tell you who I'd like to see done this way, and maybe I'll just download some software and do it myself, is The King's Singers. That group, when I heard them live, twice, had some of the most amazing pitch accuracy I have ever heard. If they were travel ling off pitch at all, I can pretty much guarantee it was intentional. I would like to make one point, though, wrt that, and that is that when you sing acapella, and you REALLY know what you are doing, you can tune chords PROPERLY, which would appear to be pitch instabilities, and they are compared to the well tempered scale, but they are very much done for a reason. When you aren't singing against instruments that are designed to play on pitch, as much as possible (yeah, the broken fret guitars :-) ), you have liberties you can take that wouldn't be possible, or at least wouldn't be BENEFICIAL, otherwise.

I should have requested this weeks ago knowing today was the day, but if you get to it can do do an analysis of Steve Clark of Def Leppard’s guitar playing? Maybe Bringing On The Heartbreak? Today would have been his 63rd Birthday.

I used to listen to this over & over back when it came out - this and so much else. So many awesome genres in popular music in my life 🎵

My God, you're right about the Nielson song and this intro! With my untrained ear, I never would've recognized it!

Amazing performer and incredible song. Thanks, Fil.

Bette’s such a great ‘in character’ actress - she was the Rose 🥀 …. (+ the Wind 💨🕊️) Great to see your smiling face Fil + of course outstanding analysis !

I would like to request "The Crying Game" by Boy George. Thanks for your great videos!

Love Bette! Could you take a look/listen at Pat Benatar and her husband, guitarist Niel Girollo. They have been rocking for decades. She originally trained for opera and her voice is powerful! Would truly love your analysis of their music. Thanks!