I Have Never Been to Me

《I've Never Been to Me》，七八十年代在歌坛昙花一现的Charlene的代表作。 这一首略带沧桑的蓝调传唱了几十年，成为不折不扣的经典。

最开始吸引人的是旋律，但其实歌词比旋律更加迷人。没有说教，没有责备，面对和自己当年一样不满现状的女子，女人只是徐徐说起自己的青春时代，那一段辉煌而奢靡的生活。从甜蜜到痛苦，从自由到寥落，不懈的追求却只换来最后的孤独。

正像《Breakfast at Tiffany's》里说的：You call yourself a free spirit, a wild thing and terrified of somebody's going to stick you in a cage. Oh baby, you are already in that cage; you built it yourself. It's not …wherever you go.

什么是真正的自由，什么又是真正的自我，什么是天堂，什么是完美？思考会离真相更远，寻找也许南辕北辙，因为往往答案就在身边。

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I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME

　　

Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your life

You're a discontented mother and a regimented wife

I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do

But I wish someone had talked to me like I wanna talk to you

Oh, I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run

I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun

But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be f ree

I've been to paradise but I've never been to me

　　

Please lady, please lady, don't just walk away

'Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today

I can see so much of me still living in your eyes

Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived a million lies....

　　

Oh, I've been to Niece and the Isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht

I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got

I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see

I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me 　　

　　

[Spoken]

Hey, you know what paradise is? It's a lie

A fantasy we create about people and places as we'd like them to be

But you know what truth is?

It's that little baby you're holding

It's that man you fought with this morning

The same one you're going to make love with tonight

That's truth,that's love

Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children that might have made me complete

But I took the sweet life, I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet

I've spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free

Hey lady, I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me