OK, so my wife and I (both teachers) were at an in-service workshop this past Friday. The speaker finished off by quoting from–and then singing–that Bette Midler song “The Rose.” The teachers mostly thought it was hilarious because it was so corny. Later, my wife tells me that some of the teachers at her school were a bit surprised at his choice of closing quotes because, they say, “The Rose” is a song about drugs. “What?” I say. Admittedly, I don’t know all of the lyrics to this song, but I was under the impression that it was a simple sappy song. “No,” they say, “it’s from a movie which is all about drugs.” Even if this is true, does that really mean that it’s necessarily a song “about” drugs?
IIRC the film was about a Janet Joplinesque fictional character, so there is some tie to drugs. But the song (See lyrics here) seems to me to be about strength and hope in the face of adversity. YMMV.
My brother died of a heroin overdose in 1988. My mother arranged for someone to sing “The Rose” at his service. I didn’t think that such a saccharine song was appropriate for someone whose taste (such as it was) ran more towards Pink Floyd & T-Rex. (Not that I griped about it, I figured it was something my mom needed to hear, and I don’t think anyone would have wanted to hear someone’s interpretation of Wish You Were Here.) However, she said that it was what Terry had asked for. (He was well aware of the road he was going down and we often talked about it.) I didn’t know the song was from a movie, and now I understand why he would make such an uncharacteristic request. Thanks, folks.
Well, I followed the link which has the lyrics. There is no way I can see that this could be considered a “drug song” despite its being from a drug-related movie. Just because a singer (or character) is on drugs doesn’t mean every single song sung by that character is about drugs. It seems to be, as ShibbOleth said, about hope and strength.
Off to Cafe Society
bibliophage
moderator GQ