[mattieg1973]

Hi,

On telly in the UK a couple of years ago was an audience with Shirley Bassey and she sang I song like thus:

I was born to sing forever
Born to sing for you
And as long as were togther
There's nothing more I want to do
I was born to sing forever
To me its everything

And this was sung near the start of the show.

My question to you is : Was this song ever released?

Many many thanks

[Pinkwater]

Hello. Try this link... Shirley Bassey Discography and Songs at CD Universe... A collection of Shirley Bassey albums will come up. You can click on each album and hear samples of each song, maybe one of them will be the one you're looking for. If you really want the song you might have to search each album. P.S. If the link doesn't work, just go to Cduniverse.com and type in Shirley Bassey.

[080137]

Hi There

Re Shirley Bassey's 'Born To Sing', the following information is from a great fansite to Dame Shirley -

Shirley Bassey > The Dame Shirley Bassey Web > Welcome

Born To Sing
Also entitled
I Was Born To Sing Forever
Written by M. Jouveaux / J.Barnel
English words penned by Norman Newell.

Released in 1986 as B-side of a Towerbell single (A-side: There's No Place Like London). The recording has never been re-released, but Shirley Bassey has performed the song on some live concerts 1995 on her 40th anniversary world tour.

The original French title of this song was "Mourir Sur Scène". The song was a great hit in 1983 for Dalida. She was a singer of Italian descent, who raised in Egypt, and was very successful in France and some other countries (born: Yolande Christina Gigliotti). Norman Newell translated this song for her into English, and so she recorded it in English as "Born To Sing" too. Norman Newell wrote English lyrics for a few more of Dalida's songs, and he was responsible for many hits of Shirley Bassey. Dalida has also recorded this song in Italian and Spanish. For more information about Dalida look at the Official Dalida site. (Special thanks to "Olivier" for his help to get the information about Dalida.)

This song has also been performed by Jane McDonald.

On the 1995 video An Audience With Shirley Bassey, she says before this song: "This next song was written for me by my dear friend Norman Newell, who wrote for me many of my hits. And this one is the last one, he wrote for me. Thank You Norman." As written before, he had not written it for Shirley Bassey originally, but she was obviously referring to the fact, that he remembered this song, and offered it to Shirley Bassey. She brought it back to the audience, because Dalida had died a few years before.

The live version on this video is much better than the 1986 studio recording. It's still a great song, but live, she sings it much more enthusiastic.

A fan told me that Norman Newell has once reported the following story about this song: One day, he was at home, wearing a dressing gown, penning the words, and acting like Shirley would act - hands flying all over the place and running around in his lounge to get inspiration. Then the milkman knocked at the door and he opened the door and tried to explain that he was in fact, composing a song for Shirley Bassey. He laughed as he described a shocked milkman.


Lyrics

(live Shirley Bassey begins with the refrain before the first verse)
When the spotlight hits my face,
I'm alive
The stage is were I'll always survive
The only place that I want to be
When I hear the audience coming in
I feel the magic starts to begin
And then I know they come to see me
When I hear the maestro strike up the band
And the drums begin to play
It's the only way that I understand
To live my life each day

Refrain: I was born to sing forever
Born to sing for you
And as long as were together
There's nothing else I want to do
I was born to sing forever
To me that's everything
And until the end of time I know,
I'm born to sing

(live Shirley Bassey repeats the refrain here and then ends without the second verse)

When the rhythm start to beat in my brain
I sing the verse and then the refrain
And love to hear the sound of applause
When the crowd appreciate what I do
I find that each performance is new
I go on singing that is because
There are those who think I'm wasting my time
They say that's life's not just a song
But as long as there is music and rhyme
I know where I belong

I was born to sing forever
Born to sing for you
And as long as were together
There's nothing else I want to do
I was born to sing forever
To me that's everything
And until the end of time I know,
I'm born to sing

I was born to sing forever
To me that's everything
And until the end of time I know,
I'm born to sing

(Transcribed by Roman)