Shirley Bassey - Ballad Of The Sad Young Men (1979 Show #5)

[@geoffreyfox9801]

I've always loved Shirley. This song breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. Having lived through the AIDS crisis. I was untouched. However, the person I loved the most and the only person on this planet who showed me love...died. Everyone in my suburban neighborhood in Cleveland died. That never made the news. Many of the homes around me, owned by gay men had ten-speed bikes on the front porch. These were soon replaced with walkers and wheelchairs. Then death. There were so many beautiful young men who suddenly fell ill and suffered. They were young and vibrant..and then gone in a twinkling of the eye. I hope the world has learned some compassion for anyone who is different. Don't get me wrong, there were some marvelous compassionate people in Cleveland, just not too many. This beautiful, bittersweet ballad says it all.

[@sooverit5529]

Geoffrey, beautiful.

[@garywoodward2841]

😢

[@MaleOrderBride]

Yes, I always felt this song is a beautiful tribute to all the beautiful gay men who were taken from us too soon from AIDS. I am bawling my eyes out here reading your testimony and listening to Shirley's heartbreaking rendition

[@rayfrench1971]

OMG what a voice.

[@jamiecesar3585]

The voice that clinches the heart and barrels like an arrow piercing a naked soul. Epic The Dame Shirley Bassey will always Be❤🎶💎

[@jeanlucchapelon]

Magnifique Cette voix…comment elle la contrôle !!! Et l’orchestration superbe 🙏

[@alexanderhutton469]

About the time she sang this, I was once one of those sad young men. When she sings this, it's almost like she is singing it to me, drinking up the night, trying not to drown.

[@jamiecesar3585]

Chills Wow❤ Dame Shirley Bassey that voice like from a higher level of consciousness her tone is like rich melted butter in perfection. I could listen to this rendition into a next lifetime incarnation ❤🙏

[@jamiecesar3585]

No one can compare to Dame Shirley Bassey she is as unique as the first day she stepped on that stage as today the architect , creator OPJSR = opera pop jazz soul rock her Legacy will live forever 💎❤️💎

[@MT-mg4gp]

This woman has 100 percent total control over her inflection ,voice, tone and volume, its literally astonishing, this is clearly to me the best it can get... the song is breathtaking , sublime, and so powerful in its truth, and meaning, I have never heard anything better nor will I.. absolutly beautiful, Shirley, I bow to your talent.

[@sas9023055]

Then, add the hands, arms, eye and facial movements that Shirley applies to act through her singing, and the result is sublime! I don't know of any other singer/entertainer that does what Shirley does to such effect!

[@seethevolcane-qj8ys]

Nope, her version, despite strong voice, does NOT work.

[@MaleOrderBride]

​@seethevolcane-qj8ys that is your opinion 😒

[@hunkhk]

This has to be one of the best performances on youtube by any artist, totally sublime performance in every way. The incomparable Miss Shirley Bassey!

[@nyronut]

absolutely !

[@insomnia3201]

My dear departed friend Fran Landesman wrote this beautiful song, what a talent, Roberta Flack also recorded it but this is awesome..

[@MaleOrderBride]

Did Fran ever reveal to you the hidden meaning of this song she wrote?!?😮

[@LARRYINNYC]

Dame Shirley Bassey at her best interpreting this anthem with love and pain.

[@jamiecesar3585]

Dame Shirley Bassey is my most true powerful heartfelt vocalist, my hero of hero’s For all time, ❤❤🦾💪🎶👏🤗♾️🕊️🦋🙏

[@michael7770]

Just stunning, made me cry

[@MaleOrderBride]

This is incredible. Shirley is the consummate storyteller. Her facial reactions are so dramatic and emotive...

[@jacobsimon]

There are so many subtexts in the lyrics to this song, and Shirley brings them all out.

[@1234lavallee1]

One of the most beautiful but saddest ballads today sung by a great singer.

[@alangregory9229]

Its the phrasing...its the power......its the control......As a second rate music teacher....even I know that!!!.......God bless the Dame!!!!

[@sas9023055]

Alan Gregory - Thks Alan for your great assessment; of course I'm biased, but I certainly agree with you. Shirley just doesn't sing song verses 1, 2, 3, etc, she speeds up, slows down, provides visual emotion all when called for. She is the true actress performer, but to do this, you must have complete control over your vocals, which she does! Shirley wanted to go into acting many years ago, but it was not in the cards for her. If things had turned out in that venue as she wanted like other singer/actresses, this clip would certainly have many more views..

[@claudiascott7607]

Shirley Bassey Music and Vids She would have been an Academy Award winner.

[@alangregory9229]

She's DIVINA status in this at least surely??.......This IS MUSIC.......or maybe I'm a Philistine?......It's distinctly possible.....

[@jamiecesar3585]

When you've got this much soul as Dame Shirley Bassey does mistakes are pointless that's why she is 🌎 Legend, DSB enormous charisma, talent Truly gifted love her dearly ❤️🙏🏼🙏🏼❤️😊 brilliant posting 😊

[@rarearthman]

Every time I listen to this I am emotionally moved! Only Shirley can do this to me, and obviously to so many other people too.

[@edwardjames50]

This is, quite simply, her greatest performance of what was once one of her signature songs. The audience reaction was always so overwhelmingly emotional that she finally cut it from her concert repertoire.

[@edwardescobar500]

There's a reason why she's Dame Shirley Bassey. This is a fine example. This kind of song requires an artist of this caliber to truly do it justice. Which she does. Emotes so deep it will rip your heart out. The real thing here.

[@chrisharro]

This is how you control your gift - she's wonderful.

[@paulbelfrage1968]

Ah yes! astounding in poise, power, passion, presence and devestating vocal technique!..they just don't make artists like this anymore. This is a once in alife time phenomena..The present day pop industry machine spits out clones and plastic imitations! but witness here an artist of superb calibre!,,who paid her dues!! before media and marketting created and spat out what they call performers...thank u youtube for the memories and forever rest in peace the era of the greats!! amen.

[@grai]

I love that moment during the intro where the audience starts applauding before she's even started singing and she fluffs the lyrics slightly Someone as still as Bassey when she sings and as intense as she is - it's a combination that just turns the quiet power of the into something magical

[@peterj403]

Always an AMAZING performance from Dame Shirley Bassey. A great rendition of a Fran Landesman song. Love this song ....

[@drewsmusical]

about as touching and beautiful as ever a song was and performed with a giant beautiful heart and a giant beautiful voice Thank you Miss Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley

[@71ronie]

goosebumps at the end when she held that note sooooooooooooooooooooolong!

[@nthglasScotland]

THIS, is 1 of the most painful songs for me. From any singer. I was in Hall 4 of the SECC way back in 1986, in May, & it was a lovely day, they had to leave the doors open to allow the breeze to come in to cool us down. There is so much I could say, but this being the internet, & what you say gets farmed & used against us; All I can say is echo what others over these years have said about "our Aunty Shirley". The Lady spoke for us. Nobody can take that away.

[@SimonLeicester]

Absolutely beautiful and so moving

[@adelamin2174]

Fantastic

[@stevechabalik6985]

Both her performance of this song and that of Roberta Flack, while completely different, are just fucking DEVASTATING.

[@gdouglas999]

That was incredible.

[@kpitt1204]

She sings visions. I can see what she sings in my head. Feel it too.

[@stephenconlon653]

A very moving song

[@robscheps7722]

Masterful.

[@davidbennett9691]

I first heard Miriam Makeba sing this (B side of her first hit) in 1967. It was always my favourite - until now.

[@edwardjames50]

Happy 80th Birthday, Dame Shirl!

[@meenyminymoe]

Fabulous!

[@bellini7verdi]

increible................pero cierto.............bellisimo................................

[@sas9023055]

The wonder of Fran Landesman's song is that it means different things to each individual. Actually, this song was written for the musical, The Nervous Set, and is losely based on her husbands life, Jay Landesman: A Short Synopsis: In the central story, Brad (aka Jay Landesman) is the editor of a literary magazine called Nerves (based on Landesman’s real life magazine Neurotica), and he meets a rich girl named Jan (an amusing blend of “Jay” and “Fran”) in Washington Square, the historic hangout for the Beats and, later, the Hippies. From the first few lines, the show tells us exactly what’s going to happen. Brad says to Jan, “Hang around here long enough, you’ll become one of us creeps.” And that’s precisely the story the show will tell - Jan will marry Brad and she will become one of the “creeps,” one of the Beats, sad, lonely, cynical, dissatisfied, disconnected. Through the character of Jan we will witness the downward spiral that so many of the Beats went through.

[@kevinryan4857]

Roberta Flack truly owns this song. Aside this Bassey cover there aren't many very gripping interpretations. Her vocal delivery is gorgeous and beautifully controlled. Still, the arrangement is somehow cumbersome. Bassey's extraordinary voice would have been far better served by a simple trio... piano, bass and drums.

[@rivkajazz]

I absolutely LOVE my diva and Queen Shirley. However...and I'm NOT throwing shade or disrespecting her performance here, but, I grew up listening to Roberta Flack's recording and prefer hers over Ms. Shirley's. ❤

[@MrRickywallace]

Yeah, my hippie days had come to an end, so I had to change. Real sad it was-all the wasted time and lives.

[@marimini7585]

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💋💋💋💋💋💋

[@goaliegamer8740]

I am guessing the very beginning of the video was her finishing the theme to Moonraker, as she sung the title song to that movie, which released in 1979.

[@sas9023055]

CoverseGaming: Although Shirley recorded her third James Bond Theme, Moonraker, in this year, she never actually performed the song live until many decades later. I'm not sure why, but she didn't. The ending of the previous song from that TV episode was the song, 'Stargazer'. See: Shirley Bassey - Small World (Guest - Pete Conrad) / STARGAZER (1979 Show #5) Regards, Scot

[@goaliegamer8740]

@@sas9023055 Interesting! Thank you.

[@bellini7verdi]

YO SOY ESA BALADA..........................

[@scottjohnson9823]

Rumor has it that she wrote it in a gay bar, on a drink napkin. Rumors ? rumirs

[@bucks8789]

Can't remember the guys name who wrote this song but it became well known after he died, quite young at the time if I remember.

[@sas9023055]

Fran Landesman wrote this song, and it's loosely based on her husband's life. She wrote this song for the musical, The Nervous Set. Regards, Scot

[@swicheroo1]

It does have that resonance. But she was not the author.

[@SuperMikado282]

@@swicheroo1 The song was written by: Music: Tommy Wolf Lyrics: Fran Landesman Copyright 1959. I have the music sheet in front of me.

[@swicheroo1]

@@SuperMikado282 Yes. I said she was not the author. You may be responding to others who speculated as such. But my comment is also in synch with yours. As I wrote: "she was not the author."

[@tayllasa2296]

bracvo

[@Sophmag325]

Do you think she would now recognize her mistake in recording this? I’m actually glad she did because it documents part of the way we were portrayed by the “heteronormative” so called Christian majority in Western cultures.

[@sas9023055]

Hi Sophmag325: I have not heard that Shirley has regretted any song she recorded or performed. Shirley has made a lucrative career in recording and performing songs from musicals. However, she has seldom performed the songs as if they were presented in the musical. For those who are not aware, this song was written by Jay's wife, Fran Landesman for the musical 'The Nervous Set'. It is about wealthy publisher and his wife from a Connecticut suburb exploring the Greenwich Village of New York City in the 1950s as they navigate their dysfunctional marriage. This musical premiered in 1959 at the Crystal Palace Theatre located in the Gaslight Square of St Louis. It did ok here, but when it debuted on Broadway starring Larry Hagman, it lasted for on 23 performances. Thus, the musical is not well know, but the song lasted. And, for most people, it lasted without the content of the musical. When I first heard the song, I thought of the men in the armed services going off to war. By the way, here are some other entertainers that started their careers in clubs of Gaslight Square: The Smothers Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, Barbra Streisand, Jackie Mason, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Woody Allen, Jerry Stiller, Dick Gregory, and Jack E. Leonard

[@rickovery]

Why on earth would that have been a mistake?