They're Playing Our Song: A Memoir
Narrated by Carole Bayer Sager
4/5
()
About this audiobook
For five decades, Carole Bayer Sager has been among the most admired and successful songwriters at work, responsible for her lyrical contributions to some of the most popular songs in the English language, including “Nobody Does It Better,” “A Groovy Kind of Love,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” and the theme from the movie Arthur, “The Best That You Can Do” (about getting caught between the moon and New York City).
She has collaborated with (and written for) a dizzying number of stars, including Peter Allen, Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Clint Eastwood, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Melissa Manchester, Reba McEntire, Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand.
But while her professional life was filled with success and fascinating people, her personal life was far more difficult and dramatic. In this memoir that “reads like a candid conversation over a bottle of Mersault on a breezy Bel Air night” (Vanity Fair), Carole Bayer Sager tells the surprisingly frank and darkly humorous story of a woman whose sometimes crippling fears and devastating relationships inspired many of the songs she would ultimately write.
“This exceptionally candid memoir” (Los Angeles Times) will fascinate anyone interested in the craft of songwriting and the joy of collaboration, but They’re Playing Our Song is also a deeply personal account of how love and heartbreak made her the woman, and the writer, she is. “Carole Bayer Sager is simply the finest….and this book is one of the best, most lasting songs she has ever written” (Carly Simon).
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager has written more than four hundred songs. Nominated for over fifteen awards, she has won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, and a Grammy for Song of the Year. She recorded three solo albums and with Marvin Hamlisch wrote the hit Broadway musical, They’re Playing Our Song. With Peter Allen she cowrote half of the songs used in in the Broadway musical The Boy From Oz, which starred Hugh Jackman and told the story of Peter’s life. She is a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and was awarded a Star on Hollywood Boulevard. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Robert Daly, and shares their bed with three unruly dogs who are unimpressed with their accomplishments.
Related to They're Playing Our Song
Related audiobooks
Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Getting Started Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soundtrack of My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stories to Tell: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Days: Happy and Otherwise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Always Young and Restless: My Life On and Off America's #1 Daytime Drama Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping the Charts, and Winning Grammys Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I, Rhoda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tippi: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Idol Truth: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boys in the Trees: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fame: The Hijacking of Reality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cary Grant: Dark Angel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Think I'm Outta Here: A Memoir of All My Families Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sinatra and Me: In the Wee Small Hours Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Elton John: The Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLate, Late at Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Made a Monkee Out of Me: The Only Authorized Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories from a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eternal Troubadour: The Improbable Life of Tiny Tim Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All My Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Artists and Musicians For You
The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary: Greenlights: by Matthew McConaughey: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scar Tissue Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robin Williams: When the Laughter Stops 1951 - 2014 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Would Leave Me If I Could.: A Collection of Poetry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Storyteller: Expanded: ...Because There's More to the Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Perfect Union of Contrary Things Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Effin' Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Van Gogh: The Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Born to Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5C.S. Lewis: A Biography of Friendship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Me: Elton John Official Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chita: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leonardo da Vinci Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Autobiography of Gucci Mane Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mercury and Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for They're Playing Our Song
31 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was insightful and ultimately inspiring. Thank you, Carole, for sharing your life and lessons.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Read it in one sitting, great narrative flow, interesting back story to some of my favourite music
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very good autobiography by songwriter Carole Bayer Sager. While I can relate to some of her insecurities as a child, I was surprised to find that even after she was successful, she was still insecure about so many things. Being a lyricist seemed to come easy to Sager but her relationships with men were difficult. She seemed to always find men who constantly criticized her. It was interesting to read about her different collaborators as well as her relationships with Marvin Hamlisch (who she did not marry) and Burt Bacharach (who she did marry). I'm glad she was able to finally find someone who loves her for herself. I would have liked to have heard a bit as to what she thinks of lyrics by some of the great songwriters, i.e. Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, but that is not mentioned at all.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They're Playing Our Song, Carole Bayer Sager's memoir, was, for me, very uneven and somewhat disappointing. Part of it was my expectations and part of it was simply who she apparently is.I have long admired her songwriting abilities and looked forward to this memoir. I think I was expecting to hear about life's usual ups and downs, about struggles and accomplishments, all told with a compassionate voice and maybe even a bit of wisdom thrown in. That is, in many ways, how I heard many of her lyrics over the years. While some compassion was there and even some wisdom, it seemed like her career consisted far more of succeeding in spite of people's failings rather than through collaboration, which is strange since her musical success was largely the result of who she collaborated with.I don't want to sound overly negative, I did enjoy the book and most of the stories within it. Perhaps I put her on too high a pedestal and when she didn't seem to come near that height I was disappointed. I would still recommend this book to anyone who remembers her music fondly as well as anyone interested in behind the scenes celebrity tell-alls. The tell-all part is probably where I sometimes lost interest and lowered the pedestal a couple notches.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.