Barbra Streisand

It's a clear case of LSS (Last Song Syndrome) and it has been going on for the past few days.  I don't even remember where I last heard the song People sung by Barbra Streisand (from the musical Funny Girl, if I recall right), and the song has been playing in my mind--

People,

People who need people

Are the luckiest people in the world

We're children, needing other children

And yet letting our grown-up pride

Hide all the need inside

Acting more like children than children

Lovers

Are very special people

They're the luckiest people in the world

With one person,

One very special person

A feeling deep in your soul

Says you are half now you're whole

No more hunger and thirst

But first be a person who needs people

People, people who need people

Are the luckiest people in the world.

She has been named as the best female vocalist of the 20th century, and hit after hit, album after album, movie after movie, her list of accomplishments just go on and one.  The Way We Were.  Evergreen.  Such a wide musical range, with unbelievable clarity at the highest notes.  I have enjoyed her music over the past few decades, and her collaborative work with other artists are such a joy to listen to.  Standards with Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.    Guilty with Barry Gibb.  No More Tears with Donna Summer.  You Don't Bring Me Flowers with Neil Diamond.  Till I Loved You with Don Johnson (whom she was dating at the time of the recording).  Yet for me her most haunting song is Some Good Things Never Last--

It’s three in the morning 

You're nowhere in sight 

And all that I wanted was 

To be with you tonight

I've watched love get closer 

And then fade away 

I've seen you believe in me 

I've seen you trying to stay

But what good is holding on 

When you know that all 

You can think about is letting go 

They say if you love someone 

Then set them free 

If they come back again 

Then in the end, it was meant to be

I thought we were lovers

I thought we were friends 

I guess when reality steps in 

The dreaming ends 

We live for the future 

We learn from the past 

No matter how hard we try 

Some good things never last

All you can think about is letting go 

Be true to yourself, my love 

That’s all I ever wanted you to be 

Just don't forget to smile 

When you think of me

I' ll reach for the stars 

I have got them in sight 

There's someone who really needs me 

Out there in the night 

We live for the future 

We learn from the past 

No matter how hard we try 

Some good things never last....

Why can't they last?