De Carlo in “Follies”, 1971, photo by Martha Swope via YouTube
I’m Still Here is a great show-stopping number from the great Stephen Sondheim musical Follies (1971) where it is sung by former Follies showgirl named Carlotta Campion. The role was originally played by Yvonne De Carlo.
I’m Still Here was written during the Boston out-of-town tryout of Follies, when Sondheim decided that the song written for Carlotta, Can That Boy Foxtrot was not working. The song is an example of what we Musical Theatre people call a “list song”. Carlotta sings about the things she has been through during her long career and explains that she has outlived it all. It’s also becomes a sort of glossary of cultural fads, celebrities, politics, and excesses from the 20th century. Unfortunately, there are not that many people left who understand the references in the lyrics. We are a dying breed. I mean, how many kids know what the WPA is, much less Brenda Frazier or Abie’s Irish Rose?
The song represents the mixed emotions of an older person taking stock of their life, noting how the good and the bad things in life are bound to happen alternately or sometimes simultaneously, and in reaching a certain age there is a sense of both cynicism and celebration.
Original poster by David Byrd
Elaine Stritch, who did the song justice, said that that a person has no right to perform I’m Still Here until they are 80-years-old. Many performers have recorded the song: Nancy Walker, Millicent Martin, Carol Burnett, Julie Wilson, Cleo Laine, Elaine Paige, and Shirley Bassey.
Shirley MacLaine, as the character Doris Mann in Postcards From The Edge (1990), performs a version of I’m Still Here with special lyrics provided Sondheim. But here are the original:
Good times and bum times,
I’ve seen them all and, my dear,
I’m still here.
Plush velvet sometimes,
Sometimes just pretzels and beer,
But I’m here.
I’ve stuffed the dailies
In my shoes.
Strummed ukuleles,
Sung the blues,
Seen all my dreams disappear,
But I’m here.
I’ve slept in shanties,
Guest of the W.P.A.,
But I’m here.
Danced in my scanties,
Three bucks a night was the pay,
But I’m here.
I’ve stood on bread lines
With the best,
Watched while the headlines
Did the rest.
In the Depression was I depressed?
Nowhere near.
I met a big financier
And I’m here.
I’ve been through Gandhi,
Windsor and Wally’s affair,
And I’m here.
Amos ‘n’ Andy,
Mah-jongg and platinum hair,
And I’m here.
I got through “Abie’s Irish Rose”,
Five Dionne babies,
Major Bowes,
Had heebie-jeebies
For Beebe’s
Bathysphere.
I lived through Brenda Frazier
And I’m here.
I’ve gotten through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover,
Gee, that was fun and a half.
When you’ve been through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover,
Anything else is a laugh.
I’ve been through Reno.
I’ve been through Beverly Hills,
And I’m here.
Reefers and vino,
Rest cures, religion and pills,
And I’m here
Been called a pinko
Commie tool,
Got through it stinko
By my pool.
I should have gone to an acting school.
That seems clear,
Still, someone said, “She’s sincere,”
So I’m here.
Black sable one day.
Next day it goes into hock,
But I’m here.
Top billing Monday,
Tuesday you’re touring in stock,
But I’m here.
First you’re another
Sloe-eyed vamp,
Then someone’s mother,
Then you’re camp.
Then you career from career
To career.
I’m almost through my memoirs.
And I’m here.
I’ve gotten through “Hey, lady, aren’t you whoozis?
Wow! What a looker you were.”
Or, better yet, “Sorry, I thought you were whoozis.
Whatever happened to her?”
Good times and bum times,
I’ve seen ’em all and, my dear,
I’m still here.
Flush velvet sometimes,
Sometimes just pretzels and beer,
But I’m here.
I’ve run the gamut.
A to Z.
Three cheers and dammit,
C’est la vie.
I got through all of last year
And I’m here.
Lord knows, at least I was there,
And I’m here!
Look who’s here!
I’m still here!
Life is a rough ride down a highway that is never a smooth, straight highway. Fasten your seat belts, there will be bumps, scrapes, and scars. Through determination and reinvention, Carlotta finds ways to endure the trials and tribulations of her trip through life, and so can you. I got through all of last year, and I’m here. Lord knows at least I was there, and I’m here.
