I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME by Charlene

Hey lady, you lady cursin' at your life

You're a discontented mother

And a regimented wife

I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do

But I wish someone had o' talked to me

Like I wanna talk to you

Ooh I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run

Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun

But I ran out of places and friendly faces

Because I had to be free

I've been to paradise

But I've never been to me

Please lady, please lady don't just walk away

'Cause I have this need to tell you

Why I'm all alone today

I can see so much of me still livin' in your eyes

Won't you share a part of a weary heart

That has lived a million lies

Oh I've been to Nice and the Isle of Greece while I sipped champagne on a yacht

I moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got

I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't s'posed to see

I've been to paradise

But I've never been to me

Hey do you know what paradise is

It's a lie - a fantasy we create about people and places as we'd like them to be

But do you know what truth is

It's that little baby you're holding

And it's that man you fought with this morning

The same one you're going to make love to tonight

That's truth

That's love

Sometimes I've been to cryin' for unborn children

That might have made me complete

But I, I took the sweet life and never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet

I spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free

Hey lady I've been to paradise

But I've never been to me

Written by Ron Miller, Kenneth Hirsch.
The single peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.