Lullaby for Myself

So I was daydreaming about Idol and practicing my songs while driving to work recently (it’s a pretty drive if you only do it occasionally, but it’s deadly boring when you drive it back & forth everyday – got to do something to pass the time). And that got me thinking of what other songs I could do, which got me to thinking of songs I like singing to myself, in the shower, driving, etc. One of those songs is Lullaby for Myself, from Barbara Streisand’s Superman album. It’s not the type of song that would be a commercial success separate from the album, but it really spoke to me for years – it was almost my theme song (along with songs like the Beach Boys’ In My Room, and Simon & Garfunkels’ I Am a Rock, I Am an Island). I had trouble remembering it at first, because it had been so long since I felt the need to sing it, but eventually I remembered it. I still have the old vinyl LP album; now I may go buy the cd (Amazon has it; I listened to an excerpt the other day). It would not make a good audition song for me, as I don’t have Streisand’s pipes, and the melody is rather sing-song, if you know what I mean (makes it sound like I’m talking more than singing, or singing the same couple notes all the time). Anyway, I think some of you, or your friends, might appreciate the lyrics:

Lullaby for Myself

Self-contained and self-content,
No promises to keep.
I’ve got things so together
That I just can’t fall asleep.
Walked the night and drank the moon,
Got home at half past four.
And I knew that no one marked my time
As I unlocked my door.

It’s really lovely to discover
That you like to be alone;
Not to owe your man an answer
When he gets you on the phone;
Not to share a pair of pork chops
When you crave champagne and cheese;
And your aim becomes to please yourself,
And not to aim to please.

Oh, they sold me when they told me
Two can live as cheap as one;
But I’m learning twice your earning
Doesn’t mean it’s twice the fun
If you spend each dime and all your time
On someone else’s schemes.
I’m not needy, but I’m greedy,
And I live my deepest dreams –
Take an hour in the shower,
Use the water while it’s hot;
In the tub a hand to scrub my back
Is all I haven’t got.

Self-aware with self-esteem,
Is selfishness a crime?
I take the day for quite a ride
And I take my own sweet time.
Time to share and time to spare,
And grateful I would be,
If just one damn man would share the need
To be alone with me!