In the interlude of the song, she clearly states the meaning of what's she's singing about. 'Paradise' is just a place your mind drifts off to in a fantasy world- to escape your dreaded reality, but the real paradise should be appreciating what most people deem underrated, simple things in their life. I hope that she finds her paradise- her true self after all these decades 💕
it's true you know. All your life you're dreaming the big dreams, searching for that excitement and adventure and glory.... it's all a lie. And when you lose everything, your dreams utterly crushed, only then you'll see the truth of things, only then you'll know what's truly important. And hopefully it's not too late by then.
A beautiful song and a beautiful lady. So much inner beauty. Thank you for sharing the story of this song, and how it was destined to be yours. So sorry to hear about the pain you suffered. I'm all choked up ... tears in my eyes. All the best to you.
These Story Behind the Song series are BRILLIANT! Thank you for doing these! Pop culture History .... also brings back memories of these songs. Lovely to get an update on Charlene.
The feelings, love and pain in this song is touching! It has the truth to touch everyones "Moment in times" of their lives! This song is a gift from God. The voice, lyrics and music! WOW! Charlene Marilynn Oliver, better known mononymously as Charlene, is an American easy-listening and R&B singer best known for the song "I've Never Been to Me", which, initially being a commercial flop upon its original release in 1977, became a worldwide hit upon a re-release in 1982 and has remained an enduring adult contemporary music staple. Charlene is also a songwriter, record producer and author.
I’ve loved this song forever it’s one of my faves ,it’s just so moving ,I didn’t realise how beautiful she is and her voice is absolutely incredible,I’m in love with her .
I was sad to hear at the end that she's still never "been to me". I'm glad to hear she was honest about it, though. She's a real person, and I like that.
Wow what an sad and an uplifting story rolled up in one. I feel sad for the abuse she suffered at the hands of the cowardly former husband she had, but thank God she was able to survive and move forward in her life. Her song 4-sure has spoken into so many women hearts. What a magical ride that song brought her. Although I grew up in the 70’s and was into a lot music this my first time ever hearing of her and this great song.
She been in paradise the wealt the rich the power everywhere..but the true paradise is love that she cannot find..true love finds in her lovingly husband and her beautiful child.
This song resonates with me so much. I spent my life looking for love in all the wrong places, with the wrong people and survived domestic violence. Never been to me 🙏
Being single, content,happy. Thats me. Iv been to me.I was there in a lonely marriage for 38 years. Now single 6. Happiness is within the single mind,body and soul.My love tank is full from my children. Need nothing from anyone else.
Her testimony really relates to mine from abortion, domestic violence,to human trafficking 🛡️😭😭😭l cry soooo deeply every time hear this song it is God inspired and their is an annoiting on it ,it will free sooo many listening to it and bring healing God is going to you this lady's testimony powerfully 👑💎💎💎🛡️💖l felt Gods presence flow from this song rivers of living waters🔥🔥🔥🔑👑💎
Love this song so much!!! The melody is so catchy, that i find myself humming it many days walking thru the shops! The lyrics are also very poignant the older i get and look back at my life!
I was listening to the QMorning Zoo in Tampa when Scott Shannon introduced Charlene's song! My mother heard it and asked me to find her a copy. I was in college in '82, and drove from Tampa to St. Petersburg to a used record store and bought the "Charlene" album that included the song. I love that it was used in "Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" as the film's first song.
I found a second-hand LP of her named: ''Hit and Run Lover'', I didn't know ANY of the songs but bought it just because I liked ''Never been to me''. The album was an amazing 80's pop gem, she is a wonderful singer.
Instead of re-releasing that silly disco uptempo version, she should've done that piano version that she does at the end of this video... so much better, and even adds more flair to her vocals, and a much more mature version...
I remember, in my younger years, when I was working as a waiter in a restaurant. a Couple were having a romantic tete-a-tete and this song came up. The man was softly repeating the words to the lady and she just melted. I learned that day the power of words...
I don't know if Charlene knew about it but this song was a big hit in the Philippines when it first came out in 1977. It remains a karaoke favorite to this day.
One of my guilty pleasures. When Stevie Wonder helped her with her follow-up single, "Used To Be", I was hoping it would be a success as well. Good song, but sadly it was probably a bit too controversial for radio back then. Too bad because she has a wonderful voice that has a touch of vulnerability and honesty.
Very beautiful story of Charlene's troubled first marriage . Although the lyrics reflect someone regretting not settling down , it seems i can relate to putting my eggs in one basket whilst living lives that weren't working.
@@oskie66skye I think I get it - maybe she was dreaming of that kind of life: a loving husband, a baby and a stable life, where the one she had was so turbulent, nothing like a loving marriage “should” be, as the one she describes.
Gosh. For years it was just a song that stuck in my head, but now that I know the story behind the singer.....it will be engraved in my brain. Charlene, sooo sorry you had to undergo all this pain, I never knew this. Look at your beautiful daughter: you still guess who you are? Look into her eyes, and you WILL know.
i bought the song not long ago on digital. was flipping through some songs on Amazon heard it and said, "I remember that song!!" It was so different, sad, and beautiful.
I'm here in 2024 because my neighbor just pulled up to park his car, and this classic was playing....it immediately took me back to the 80's, the best musical time of my life.
What a sad song it reminds me of a woman with a sad life trying to get out and have a life of her own that's why she dreams about things like this, Paradise,,
You are with you all the time XOX you can't find yourself because you are you, when you stop rejecting what is already you, looking for a better version.. then you will be to you xox
Charlene is a beautiful lady and has a great voice. I like her better as a brunette. Just saying. 😍I've no use for men like her husband who treat women that way. They aren't worth the bullet.
I would like to see this song make it back on the charts. While this song is a sad song, it also has a great message that so many people really need to hear. The older a person gets the better they hear the message in this song. This will always be a #1 hit in my book.
Essentially, it's a beautiful song; yet somewhat wasted by a production that included too much sighs & breaths & whispers into the mix for me to take the song really seriously. I believe this Lady can SING. Judging from this video, she can still sing today. The song was a tearjerker. It was. There's no denying. And life often gives cause to jerk a tear, it's true. That's why many people love music to offer comfort for their pain. The artist, the audience. But in the world of musical commerce, or commercial music, many an artist is not solely responsible for the 'product'. The responsibility for the panting vocal mix remains with the producer. But Charlene did a great job, making the song memorable. And if I, as part of the audience, recognized that, it is all Charlene's accomplishment - not the producer's.
I put this song in my humanities subject then after i discussed the meaning of this song other ladies in the class cried. Maybe they can relate . Thank you charlene for this song.
"Physical" went on to be the #1 song of the 80's. LOL! I absolutely love Charlene's song though. The second time around (1982), it spent 3 weeks at #3.
I love this song I am a guy and I relate to this you see I’ve always done for everyone else and wonder why I’ve never done for me I guess that’s the kind of guy I am and I also married a lady that was abused and gave her is great life and now we are both happy.
Apparently the songwriter had originally meant it to be a backstory about Captain Quint in Jaws. He was a seafaring guy who never married and ended up very much alone. It kind of makes sense but I'm glad he changed it
Essa música fez parte de trilha sonora de uma novela brasileira ....foi a música que eu mais amei a que a mais ouvi eu e o resto do Brasil ....linda música e ela tbm é linda...
That song held me during my teen years and ended up being so truthful for me. I always had a stubborn streak and figured I would experience much heartache along the way, much as you did. It was the only song for years that spoke to a woman's ability to search for happiness and herself. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I'm so glad you got away from your abuser. Keep seeking. I have come to the notion that nothing in my life was wasted on God. He had a plan for me from the start. I hope you find the happiness you sang about wanting to find. Sincerely, Patti
Marilyn Anthony it was of a time. But of a fish out of water. That’s why it appealed to certain people. Wordy, rhyming scheme, vivid images.. tragic and regretful and a cautionary tale. Compared to Let’s get Physical...
It always adds to something, song/movie/etc., if you learn the story behind it. Two songs that come to mind are Stevie Nicks song, "Has anyone ever written anything for you", and "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen(I prefer the Neil Diamond version). There is also the story by Jerry Jeff Walker about how he came to write the song, "Mr. Bojangles". The man he wrote about was someone who claimed to be Bojangles, but the real Bojangles had died many years before the incident described in the song took place in the jail. Bobby Cole's version is my favorite version of that song. Thanks for posting this video.
She did, but obviously that’s not true! He co wrote earlier hits like For Once In My Life and Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday before Stevie had full artistic control.
I first heard that song on the movie "Pricilla Queen of the Desert" and fell in love with it. I'd never seen an interview with Charlene before either. What a beautiful person.
I am 44 and I missed this song somehow. I found out about it in one of Joaquin Phoenix's movies where he kills a hit man that killed his mom. Then to show a little compassion Joaquin's character laid down with the hit man and held his hand while the hitman died and they sang this song together while it was playing in the background on the radio. Weird I know but I had to Google this song once I heard it. Oh the movie is called "I was never really hear" very good medium budget movie.
In the interlude of the song, she clearly states the meaning of what's she's singing about. 'Paradise' is just a place your mind drifts off to in a fantasy world- to escape your dreaded reality, but the real paradise should be appreciating what most people deem underrated, simple things in their life. I hope that she finds her paradise- her true self after all these decades 💕
it's true you know. All your life you're dreaming the big dreams, searching for that excitement and adventure and glory.... it's all a lie. And when you lose everything, your dreams utterly crushed, only then you'll see the truth of things, only then you'll know what's truly important.
And hopefully it's not too late by then.
That song speaks not just to women, but to all isolated, discouraged, and saddened souls....
Absolutely. ❤😘
A beautiful song and a beautiful lady. So much inner beauty. Thank you for sharing the story of this song, and how it was destined to be yours. So sorry to hear about the pain you suffered. I'm all choked up ... tears in my eyes. All the best to you.
I'm 59 years old and to this day this song makes me extremely emotional every time I hear it which is often.
th-cam.com/video/WjA5X_2mzP4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HYYVubZfcg4MEede
56 same
This is one of the most beautiful songs ever written~!
These Story Behind the Song series are BRILLIANT! Thank you for doing these! Pop culture History .... also brings back memories of these songs. Lovely to get an update on Charlene.
The feelings, love and pain in this song is touching! It has the truth to touch everyones "Moment in times" of their lives! This song is a gift from God. The voice, lyrics and music! WOW! Charlene Marilynn Oliver, better known mononymously as Charlene, is an American easy-listening and R&B singer best known for the song "I've Never Been to Me", which, initially being a commercial flop upon its original release in 1977, became a worldwide hit upon a re-release in 1982 and has remained an enduring adult contemporary music staple. Charlene is also a songwriter, record producer and author.
She looks and sounds a little like Stevie Nicks in these later years!
This is an absolutely amazing song and Charlene’s voice is incredible! Why isn’t she recording???
I’ve loved this song forever it’s one of my faves ,it’s just so moving ,I didn’t realise how beautiful she is and her voice is absolutely incredible,I’m in love with her .
She actually sounds much better now than she did way back then. She needs to be performing folk blues.
I was sad to hear at the end that she's still never "been to me". I'm glad to hear she was honest about it, though. She's a real person, and I like that.
I'm saddened to see that she is still searching. I really like the song.
Wow what an sad and an uplifting story rolled up in one. I feel sad for the abuse she suffered at the hands of the cowardly former husband she had, but thank God she was able to survive and move forward in her life. Her song 4-sure has spoken into so many women hearts. What a magical ride that song brought her. Although I grew up in the 70’s and was into a lot music this my first time ever hearing of her and this great song.
The sone was originally released in 1977 but didn't go anywhere. It was re-released in 1982 and became a hit. I remember when it became a hit in 1982.
This song has haunted me since I first hear it back in 1982.
She been in paradise the wealt the rich the power everywhere..but the true paradise is love that she cannot find..true love finds in her lovingly husband and her beautiful child.
This song resonates with me so much. I spent my life looking for love in all the wrong places, with the wrong people and survived domestic violence. Never been to me 🙏
Try reiki
Being single, content,happy. Thats me. Iv been to me.I was there in a lonely marriage for 38 years. Now single 6. Happiness is within the single mind,body and soul.My love tank is full from my children. Need nothing from anyone else.
So much pain and truth but this song also is heading. ❤️her voice is untouchable so beautiful ❣️
One of the er best voices ever heard -plenty of emotion in her voice.
This song is one of the big memories of my teenage years
2021 and this is still one of my favorite songs! Loved it as soon as it came on the radio back in the day
Her testimony really relates to mine from abortion, domestic violence,to human trafficking 🛡️😭😭😭l cry soooo deeply every time hear this song it is God inspired and their is an annoiting on it ,it will free sooo many listening to it and bring healing God is going to you this lady's testimony powerfully 👑💎💎💎🛡️💖l felt Gods presence flow from this song rivers of living waters🔥🔥🔥🔑👑💎
I’ve always loved this song. She is incredibly beautiful; then and now.
Love this song so much!!!
The melody is so catchy, that i find myself humming it many days walking thru the shops! The lyrics are also very poignant the older i get and look back at my life!
I was listening to the QMorning Zoo in Tampa when Scott Shannon introduced Charlene's song! My mother heard it and asked me to find her a copy. I was in college in '82, and drove from Tampa to St. Petersburg to a used record store and bought the "Charlene" album that included the song. I love that it was used in "Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" as the film's first song.
Always and forever I will associate this song with Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Such a great movie with an excellent soundtrack!
Omg! Even better to know the story behind one of my favorite songs of all time.
I'd never thought I'd see how Charlene looks like but here I am
I found a second-hand LP of her named: ''Hit and Run Lover'', I didn't know ANY of the songs but bought it just because I liked ''Never been to me''. The album was an amazing 80's pop gem, she is a wonderful singer.
Instead of re-releasing that silly disco uptempo version, she should've done that piano version that she does at the end of this video... so much better, and even adds more flair to her vocals, and a much more mature version...
true
I liked that version too. She should at least put that full version on TH-cam.
Pretty sure the dance version was a remix made by someone else
Yes
I remember, in my younger years, when I was working as a waiter in a restaurant. a Couple were having a romantic tete-a-tete and this song came up. The man was softly repeating the words to the lady and she just melted. I learned that day the power of words...
Really loved your little story, thank you for that 🙏It reads like a scene from the movie Love Story, in real life. Thank you ones more.
Just like the choice of words you use to relay this story, powerful indeed!
Bet the subtle wh0ring line made her wet
A touching back story ❤
I don't know if Charlene knew about it but this song was a big hit in the Philippines when it first came out in 1977. It remains a karaoke favorite to this day.
Phillos LOVE good melodies more than any other nation on earth.
Hey Lady, 76 years old now this song helped me in life and love old man now from Ireland
Also from Ireland. ☘
One of my guilty pleasures. When Stevie Wonder helped her with her follow-up single, "Used To Be", I was hoping it would be a success as well. Good song, but sadly it was probably a bit too controversial for radio back then. Too bad because she has a wonderful voice that has a touch of vulnerability and honesty.
Nothing to be guilty about tbh - it’s a genuinely great song.
Very beautiful story of Charlene's troubled first marriage . Although the lyrics reflect someone regretting not settling down , it seems i can relate to putting my eggs in one basket whilst living lives that weren't working.
Spot on....Thank you
@@oskie66skye I think I get it - maybe she was dreaming of that kind of life: a loving husband, a baby and a stable life, where the one she had was so turbulent, nothing like a loving marriage “should” be, as the one she describes.
Gosh. For years it was just a song that stuck in my head, but now that I know the story behind the singer.....it will be engraved in my brain. Charlene, sooo sorry you had to undergo all this pain, I never knew this. Look at your beautiful daughter: you still guess who you are? Look into her eyes, and you WILL know.
This is a great song that came once in a life time.
She still hasn't found herself? Now that's tragic. What's up with that?
What does it even mean to find yourself?
I believe that we all have ourselves right there in our hearts, but so many things can get in the way of knowing that.
But you are. Right there.
@@erad67 Part of it is learning to accept yourself including the parts of you that you hate. Everyone is a complex package.
@@erad67 Finding contentment, or satisfaction, or what makes you happy.
i bought the song not long ago on digital. was flipping through some songs on Amazon heard it and said, "I remember that song!!" It was so different, sad, and beautiful.
I'm here in 2024 because my neighbor just pulled up to park his car, and this classic was playing....it immediately took me back to the 80's, the best musical time of my life.
Beautiful song and stunning vocals. The clip at the end was great and she still has that stunning voice.
Hey lady, you lady.
I love the song and only she can make it sound so good.
this song brings me to tears every time i hear it.
What a sad song it reminds me of a woman with a sad life trying to get out and have a life of her own that's why she dreams about things like this, Paradise,,
You are with you all the time XOX you can't find yourself because you are you, when you stop rejecting what is already you, looking for a better version.. then you will be to you xox
this is one of my mother’s favorites. miss her so much
Charlene is a beautiful lady and has a great voice. I like her better as a brunette. Just saying. 😍I've no use for men like her husband who treat women that way. They aren't worth the bullet.
4:44 hmmm does she need those candies?
I would like to see this song make it back on the charts. While this song is a sad song, it also has a great message that so many people really need to hear. The older a person gets the better they hear the message in this song. This will always be a #1 hit in my book.
special voice darlinks !!!
These snippet interviews are so short!!!
If it wasn't for Priscilla Queen of The Desert soundtrack I would have a void in my musical history with this great song not being in it!
Essentially, it's a beautiful song; yet somewhat wasted by a production that included too much sighs & breaths & whispers into the mix for me to take the song really seriously. I believe this Lady can SING. Judging from this video, she can still sing today.
The song was a tearjerker. It was. There's no denying. And life often gives cause to jerk a tear, it's true. That's why many people love music to offer comfort for their pain. The artist, the audience.
But in the world of musical commerce, or commercial music, many an artist is not solely responsible for the 'product'. The responsibility for the panting vocal mix remains with the producer. But Charlene did a great job, making the song memorable. And if I, as part of the audience, recognized that, it is all Charlene's accomplishment - not the producer's.
these lyrics are so corny that kernels fell out of my ears when I listened to it
Those "sighs & breaths & whispers" are part of what gives the song its charm and character. Who cares if you don't take the song seriously?
It's actually a pretty awful song.
what a sweet lady!
I put this song in my humanities subject then after i discussed the meaning of this song other ladies in the class cried. Maybe they can relate . Thank you charlene for this song.
I'd heard this song when I was a kid but now, in my mind, it's indelibly linked to PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT.
My exact thoughts.
Especially for Aussies (Australian citizens). The film was filmed in The Simpson desert in N.T. -AUSTRALIA
Loretta Holloway Cover #I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME" studio.th-cam.com/users/videoWjA5X_2mzP4/edit
She looks like Stevie Nicks now! Oh wow, her personal story really moves me.
This song is my life. Almost literally except I'm a gay male and not a woman. I'm old now and have no children and regret my choices
I too have a story of how I met Ron Miller and the friendship we developed and my version of I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME."
Priscilla Queen of the Desert!😂🤣
I'm So Sad You Said That I was Cried Charlene ,Thank You so much you Made Beautiful Love Song 💖♥️
"Physical" went on to be the #1 song of the 80's. LOL! I absolutely love Charlene's song though. The second time around (1982), it spent 3 weeks at #3.
I love this song I am a guy and I relate to this you see I’ve always done for everyone else and wonder why I’ve never done for me I guess that’s the kind of guy I am and I also married a lady that was abused and gave her is great life and now we are both happy.
Remember this on the radio in Chicago, at 19. The lyrics.
She and Stevie nicks should work together.
For see with out Jesus and god we will never complete
Love this song very much
Did she just say that Ron Miller wrote ALL of Stevie's big hits? He literally wrote 4 songs for Stevie.
I'm sure he wrote more than that.
What does she mean when she said that he wrote it after the captain in the movie Jaws?
I know right? The male version. Would like to hear it.
2degucitas So would I but I still don’t understand what it’s got to do with Jaws.
Apparently the songwriter had originally meant it to be a backstory about Captain Quint in Jaws. He was a seafaring guy who never married and ended up very much alone. It kind of makes sense but I'm glad he changed it
Jeri Trezak He ended up more than alone, he ended up dead. Thanks anyway.
Jeri Trezak Howard keel sang the male version of song on tv on the Bruce Forsyth show years ago .. glad I only know charlene’s version
Amazing story and timeless.
Priscilla Qotd
Find yourself with Jesus he loves you and so do i
Charlene 👑❤👑🇧🇷❤
fell in love with her and this meaningful true song...great sing a long...still sing to ""I've never been to ME..."..Love to meet her
Very Nice !!!
I wonder what she does now because she didn't say she still sings. If she did I missed that part.
Essa música fez parte de trilha sonora de uma novela brasileira ....foi a música que eu mais amei a que a mais ouvi eu e o resto do Brasil ....linda música e ela tbm é linda...
That is still the meaning of music....thank you
That song held me during my teen years and ended up being so truthful for me. I always had a stubborn streak and figured I would experience much heartache along the way, much as you did. It was the only song for years that spoke to a woman's ability to search for happiness and herself. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I'm so glad you got away from your abuser. Keep seeking. I have come to the notion that nothing in my life was wasted on God. He had a plan for me from the start. I hope you find the happiness you sang about wanting to find. Sincerely, Patti
Wonderful woman....Wonderful song....Wonderful story!!!!!
Still pretty, she.
Wow. Really cool story behind the song. I don't think she ever hit the charts with anything else.
The music biz is hard to penetrate. You have to have the right personality to make it all the way up.
Great song. Great interview.
GREAT SONG? It's horrible
Marilyn Anthony it was of a time. But of a fish out of water. That’s why it appealed to certain people. Wordy, rhyming scheme, vivid images.. tragic and regretful and a cautionary tale. Compared to Let’s get Physical...
Charlene I send you a hug wherever you are !!
Cool Charlene
2024 here! Love love love this song and Charlene!
Thank you Charlene ❤
Wow! Does that bring back memories.
No other song can and could ever beat this! 💜
It always adds to something, song/movie/etc., if you learn the story behind it. Two songs that come to mind are Stevie Nicks song, "Has anyone ever written anything for you", and "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen(I prefer the Neil Diamond version). There is also the story by Jerry Jeff Walker about how he came to write the song, "Mr. Bojangles". The man he wrote about was someone who claimed to be Bojangles, but the real Bojangles had died many years before the incident described in the song took place in the jail. Bobby Cole's version is my favorite version of that song. Thanks for posting this video.
2021 still listening to this song ❤️
I was attracted by this beautiful song in 1982 when my English was zero.
Did she say Ron Miller wrote "all of Stevie Wonder's big hits"?
She did, but obviously that’s not true! He co wrote earlier hits like For Once In My Life and Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday before Stevie had full artistic control.
I love this tune.💛🧡
I first heard that song on the movie "Pricilla Queen of the Desert" and fell in love with it. I'd never seen an interview with Charlene before either. What a beautiful person.
Lagu bagus buat perempuan nih❤
2024 masih kami dengar..
Cool
I am 44 and I missed this song somehow. I found out about it in one of Joaquin Phoenix's movies where he kills a hit man that killed his mom. Then to show a little compassion Joaquin's character laid down with the hit man and held his hand while the hitman died and they sang this song together while it was playing in the background on the radio. Weird I know but I had to Google this song once I heard it. Oh the movie is called "I was never really hear" very good medium budget movie.
Cheers ,I will try to watch that movie.
3:00 The story of the 1982 comeback of the song.
Priscilla brought you here!!!!!
Never heard of Priscilla, and don't care.
One of my favorite song..❤❤❤❤❤