What Matters Most—Barbra Streisand Sings The Lyrics of Alan And Marilyn Bergman (2011)

“The Windmills of Your Mind,” originally performed by Noel Harrison for the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, has music by Michel Legrand and English lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman. “It’s so complex and I just probably never took the time to analyze it. Until I heard Alan’s record of it, and he made me understand it.”

“[The song is] like the mechanical clockworks of your mind,” Streisand explained.

“As she walked into the booth, she said something like, ‘Oh, this is a descent into madness.’ Exactly.  That’s exactly what we were using when we wrote the song.”

Michel Legrand also wrote the music for “Something New In My Life,” which is the theme song from the 1984 movie Micki and Maude  which starred Dudley Moore, Ann Reinking, and Amy Irving. Stephen Bishop sang the song for the film, and Johnny Mathis has previously recorded it, too.

Frank Sinatra was the first to record the Lew Spence/Bergman tune, “Nice ‘n’ Easy” on his 1960 same-titled album. “But I kind of heard it nicer and easier,” Streisand claimed about her version. “I think her approach is most original,” Marilyn Bergman said.

“So Many Stars” appeared on Sergio Mendes' 1968 album Look Around. It was sung by Lani Hall with a lush arrangement by Dave Grusin. “There’s never been a Brazilian translation of the song, actually,” Streisand said. “But I felt I should sing some of the lyric in Portuguese so the day before I recorded it I asked Dory Caymmi to come up with a translation for part of it, and that was fun to do.”

Film composer Jerry Goldsmith wrote the song “Alone In The World” for the 1990 film, The Russia House   with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. Patti Austin sang the song on the film's soundtrack album, but it is not well-known. “This is another song that Barbra has given life to,” said Marilyn Bergman.

Streisand reunites with composer Johnny Mandel for “Solitary Moon,” previously recorded by Shirley Horn and Johnny Mathis. “I heard ‘Solitary Moon’ on a Shirley Horn album. She’s one of my favorite singers, and I just thought it was lovely.”

David Shire (“Starting Here, Starting Now”) was nominated for an Oscar for “The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye)” from the 1979 motion picture The Promise. Streisand sang this live at the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year concert. “As an actress, I’ve always wanted to play Juliet,” Streisand explained. “And this seemed to me to be a song that Juliet would have sung with Romeo down at the bottom of her balcony — if it hadn’t have been made into West Side Story, you know?

The Bergmans and composer John Williams wrote the song “The Same Hello, The Same Goodbye” for Frank Sinatra, who intended to record it but did not. 

It was Michael Feinstein who uncovered this gem when he recorded it for his 2008 album The Sinatra Project. He explained its history: “One day [the Bergmans] got a call from Frank, asking if they could write what he called a ‘performance piece’ for him… So they got together with John Williams and wrote this four-section piece. When they finished, Sinatra told them to come to Palm Springs. There was Williams at the piano and Alan singing, and when they finished Sinatra was sobbing. He said, ‘Jesus, how do you know so much about my life?’ and Marilyn laughed and said, ‘As if your life is a closed book!’ Sinatra kept saying, ‘I’m going to learn that thing, it’s fantastic,’ but he never did. So, when I was putting this recording together, I called Alan and Marilyn and asked about the piece. Alan was a little cagey about it. They kept me on tenterhooks…. [But] I kept after them, and finally Alan said, ‘come over.’ They’d extracted one of the songs. I sat down and read through the lead sheet, and was deeply moved by it. About three weeks later, I recorded it with Alan in the studio to make sure I did it to their satisfaction.”

When Streisand recorded this song it just so happened that director Steven Spielberg stopped by because he was next door recording a movie score with John Williams! 

“Do you think it would be okay if he came in?” Spielberg asked. 

While John Williams listened to the recording, he made a change in a chord in the arrangement. “He had never heard Barbra live, in person. The first song that Barbra ever sang of John Williams,” Alan Bergman said. “He was thrilled, he was really thrilled,” Marilyn Bergman added.

Streisand fans have heard her sing an excerpt of “That Face” on her 1966 television special, Color Me Barbra. Here, she turns in an amazing, uptempo performance of the song that Alan Bergman wrote as an engagement song for Marilyn. Bergman and Lew Spence took the song to Fred Astaire. Alan Bergman recalled, “He listened and said, ‘I’m going to record this song!’ He owned a record label, Ava, named for his daughter. And he recorded it! So, I took the dub home to Marilyn, and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ Luckily she did.”

The final and title song, “What Matters Most,” comes from another 1979 movie starring Jon Voight and Ricky Schroder—the boxing tear-jerker, The Champ. The song was not used in the film, and did not appear on its soundtrack album. 

“[The song] has to do with time and experience. It’s their love for each other — Marilyn and Alan’s romance, marriage, parenting, warmth. It’s just everything, it sort of encompasses their whole relationship.”

Streisand said, “It’s placed last on the record because it’s the lingering thought, the lingering feeling that I wanted.