“Wind beneath My Wings” – Bette Midler

 

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
It must have been cold there in my shadow,
to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that’s your way.
You always walked a step behind.

 

So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strength.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.

 

Did you ever know that you’re my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
’cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

 

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I’ve got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.

 

Did you ever know that you’re my hero?
You’re everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
’cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

 

Did I ever tell you you’re my hero?
You’re everything, everything I wish I could be.
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,
’cause you are the wind beneath my wings,
’cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

 

Oh, the wind beneath my wings.
You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings.
Fly, fly, fly away. You let me fly so high.
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.

 

Fly, fly, fly high against the sky,
so high I almost touch the sky.
Thank you, thank you,
thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.

 

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Bette Midler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945) also known by her informal stage name The Divine Miss M, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, comedian, film producer and entrepreneur. In a career spanning almost half a century, Midler has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and won three Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a special Tony Award. She has sold over 30 million records worldwide and along with that has also received four GOLD , three Platinum and three Multiplatinum albums by RIAA.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler began her professional career in several Off-Off-Broadway plays prior to her engagements inFiddler on the Roof and Salvation on Broadway in the late 1960s. She came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing in theContinental Baths, a local gay bathhouse, where she managed to build up a core following. Since then, she has released 13 studio albums as a solo artist. Throughout her career, many of her songs became hits on the record charts, including “The Rose” and “Wind Beneath My Wings” as well as her renditions of “Do You Wanna Dance?“, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy“, and “From a Distance“. In 2008, she signed a contract with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to perform a series of shows titled Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On, which ended in January 2010.

Midler made her motion picture debut in 1979 with The Rose, which earned her a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress of 1980. In the following years she starred in a string of hit films that includes Down and Out in Beverly Hills,Outrageous Fortune, Beaches, The First Wives Club, and The Stepford Wives, as well as For the Boys and Gypsy, the latter two of which she won two further Golden Globe Awards for in 1992 and 1994.

 

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Wind beneath My Wings

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

“Wind Beneath My Wings” (sometimes titled “The Wind Beneath My Wings” and “Hero“) is a song written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. It is a love song: “I can fly higher than an eagle / For you are the wind beneath my wings”. They recorded a demo of the song, which they gave to musician Bob Montgomery. Montgomery then recorded his own demo version of the song, changing it from the mid-tempo version he was given to a ballad. Silbar and Henley then shopped the song to many artists, eventually resulting in Roger Whittaker becoming the first to release the song commercially. It appeared on his 1982 studio album, also titled The Wind Beneath My Wings. It was also recorded by Australian artist Colleen Hewett and released by Avenue Records in 1982, becoming a minor local hit, early the following year.

Following Whittaker’s recording, many other artists recorded the song, including Sheena Easton. Easton’s versions appeared on her 1982 studio album Madness, Money & Music, and her 1984 Spanish album “Todo Me Recuerda A Ti” though it was not released as a single by her record company. She did, however, perform it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, her HBO live concert special, and her NBC television special.

The first year “Wind Beneath My Wings” appeared on music industry trade publication charts in the United States was 1983. Singer Lou Rawls was the first to score a major hit with the song, as his version peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, No. 60 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart, and No. 65 on the main Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.^[2] Gladys Knight & The Pips also released a recording of the song in 1983 under the title “Hero”, and their version peaked at No. 64 on Billboard ’​s Hot Black Singles chart^[2] while also reaching No. 23 on Billboard ’​s Adult Contemporary chart. Singer Gary Morris released a country version of the song in 1983 that charted highest on any of the Billboard music charts that year. Morris’s version of the song peaked at No. 4 on Billboard ’​s Hot Country Singles chart, and also later won both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association awards for Song Of The Year.

The highest-charting version of the song to date was recorded in 1988 by singer and actress Bette Midler for the soundtrack to the film Beaches. This version was released as a single in early 1989, spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in June 1989, and won Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year in February 1990. On October 24, 1991, Midler’s single was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of one million copies in the United States. In 2004 Midler’s version finished at #44 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

“Wind Beneath My Wings” has also been recorded by Kerry Ellis, Lee Greenwood, B.J. Thomas, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Sheena Easton, Patti LaBelle, Captain and Tennille, Joe Longthorne, Eddie & Gerald Levert, John Tesh, Judy Collins, Shirley Bassey, RyanDan, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Sonata Arctica, Chyi Yu, Perry Como, Donald Braswell II, Sergio Franchi, Steven Houghton and Celine Dion, Nancy LaMott, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Sonata Arctica and R. Kelly. Paloma San Basilio (Spanish version “Gracias a ti”) Lou Rawls sang the song at the nationally-televised 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala on January 19, 1985, the day before the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan.

In a 2002 UK poll, “Wind Beneath My Wings” was found to be the most-played song at British funerals.

 

Bette Midler version

“Wind Beneath My Wings” was performed by Bette Midler for the soundtrack of the film Beaches and became a U.S. number-one single. It was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1990. The song became a worldwide hit; it charted at No. 5 in the UK, No. 4 in New Zealand, and No. 1 in Australia.

Midler performed the song following the annual in memoriam montage at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014.^[4] By sheer coincidence, Idina Menzel had sung “Wind Beneath My Wings” as a duet with Kristen Bell^[5] at her successful audition for the 2013 film Frozen, which would go on to win two awards at that same awards ceremony (and where Menzel performed live the popular song “Let It Go” from the film).

 

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“Wind Beneath My Wings” concerns giving credit to the people to whom it is rightly due – to those who spur others onward to greater and greater heights of fame and success, while they themselves forever remain in the background. Such individuals who prefer to walk a step behind while the other basks in the glory of fame and success are none other than the “wind beneath our wings.” Their unconditional love, unstinting encouragement, spiritual guidance and moral and emotional support are what spurs the other person onward to greater and more successful efforts in the future. Such people are like the wind beneath the wings of birds – their positive feedback provides the buoyancy for soaring flight into the skies of fame and success. The most likely people to commit such selfless acts are none other than our parents and to a lesser extent, our family members and friends –they are akin to the wind beneath our wings. Bette Midler acknowledges and gives credit to the people  who have been content to remain hidden in the background, while her own popularity and celebrity status kept rising. She takes this opportunity to express her sincere gratitude and appreciation to these people – who held her hand symbolically, yet stayed happy to walk a step behind.

 

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I dedicate this blog-

-With many sincere thanks-

To my parents

Who took me by the hand,

While preferring forever to walk a step behind me.

Thanks so much for leading me towards the Light of Knowledge and Wisdom!