FROM THE ARCHIVE 333 -1978-

Don’t Cry For Me Argentina is from the 1978 album The Magic Is You. The songs was re-recorded in 1993 for the album Shirley Bassey Sings The Songs Of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

RECOMMENDED: In an era of female singers with whispery little-girl voices, it’s a treat to hear a lady who can belt out a tune with conviction and dynamics. The songs here allow her to use this power. They range from Bacharach’s classic ballad “Anyone Who Had A Heart” and Webber & Rice’s plaintive “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from “Evita” to Sedaka’s bawdy “You Never Done It Like That.” Excellent brassy orchestral backdrops. Best cuts: Those cited and “How Insensitive,” “This Is My Life,” “The Greatest Love Of All.”

© Billboard Magazine 1979

Lyrics:

It won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I’ve done

You won’t believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she’s dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you

I had to let it happen, I had to change
Couldn’t stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun

So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to

Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance

And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired

They are illusions
They’re not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me

Don’t cry for me Argentina

Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance

Have I said too much?
There’s nothing more
I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me
To know that every word is true