The Girl Who Used to Be Me

Last updated
"The Girl Who Used to Be Me"
PattiAustinTheGirlWhoUsedtoBeMe.jpg
Single by Patti Austin
from the album Love Is Gonna Getcha
B-side "Shirley Valentine End Title" (Marvin Hamlisch)
Released1989
Recorded1989
Genre Pop
Length4:15
Label GRP
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) David Paich
Patti Austin singles chronology
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"
(1988)		"The Girl Who Used to Be Me"
(1989)		"Any Other Fool"
(1989)
Music video
"The Girl Who Used to Be Me" on YouTube

"The Girl Who Used to Be Me" is a song written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch for the 1989 film Shirley Valentine and performed by Patti Austin. It was released as a 7-inch single and included as a bonus track on the CD release of Austin's 1990 album Love Is Gonna Getcha .

Contents

Music and lyrics

The title character in Shirley Valentine is a 42-year-old housewife who feels taken for granted by her husband and children and accepts a free trip to Greece to give herself a holiday. "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" is heard during the opening credits and includes introductory lyrics not included on the 7-inch single or album releases; these lyrics summarize the character's experience of feeling ordered around and her decision to go away. The film only uses one additional verse and one chorus from the recordings available commercially. The rest of the lyrics use the metaphor of a bird being free to fly, even if hampered by setbacks. The singer recalls her girlhood when she was happy and free to decide her own path and wants her life to be that way again.

The song is in the key of F Minor. [1]

Critical reception

In reviews of Love Is Gonna Getcha , "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" received varying comments. Jonathan Widran of AllMusic wrote that the song "gives Austin a chance to show her range, even if the tune is a bit schmaltzy." [2] Phyl Garland of Stereo Review described the song as "an earnest ballad that she endows with plenty of emotion." [3]

Accolades

"The Girl Who Used to Be Me" was nominated for the Academy Award [4] and Golden Globe Award [5] for Best Original Song. It also received a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. [6]

Live performances

Austin performed "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" at the Academy Awards when it was nominated in 1990. [7] She also sang it at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in 2009 as part of a tribute to the song's lyricists, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [8]

Personnel

From the liner notes for Love Is Gonna Getcha : [9]

Production

From the liner notes for Love Is Gonna Getcha: [9]

References

  1. ↑ "The Girl Who Used to Be Me Sheet Music by Marvin Hamlisch". Sheet Music Now, Inc. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Love Is Gonna Getcha – Patti Austin". AllMusic . Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Popular Music > Patti Austin: Love Is Gonna Getcha" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Vol. 55, no. 7. Stereo Review. July 1990. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2025.
  4. ↑ Wiley & Bona 1996 , p. 1162.
  5. ↑ O'Neil 2003 , p. 556.
  6. ↑ O'Neil 1999 , p. 482.
  7. ↑ Wiley & Bona 1996 , p. 770.
  8. ↑ "Motion Picture Academy Tribute to Alan and Marilyn Bergman by Jon Burlingame". The Film Music Society . Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Love Is Gonna Getcha (CD booklet). Patti Austin. New York, NY: GRP Records. 1990. GR 9603.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

Bibliography


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