Music Review: Bette Midler "Under The Boardwalk"
Bette Midler
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Under The Boardwalk
Album: Beaches soundtrack
Year: 1988
Bette Midler remembers her first love in her wistful cover of "Under The Boardwalk."
The single opens with buoyant saxophones and people clapping, setting a live tone. It then segues into despondent keyboards. As a teenager, she looked forward to the summertime. The heat was intense. Her shoulders would glisten with sweat. Even if her feet would even grace the pavement, it still feel like fire. It was around that time she met her first love. They would get away and sneak under the boardwalk.
Album: Beaches soundtrack
Year: 1988
Bette Midler remembers her first love in her wistful cover of "Under The Boardwalk."
The single opens with buoyant saxophones and people clapping, setting a live tone. It then segues into despondent keyboards. As a teenager, she looked forward to the summertime. The heat was intense. Her shoulders would glisten with sweat. Even if her feet would even grace the pavement, it still feel like fire. It was around that time she met her first love. They would get away and sneak under the boardwalk.
"Oh, the sun beats down....on a blanket with my baby is where I'll be."
Unlike the original version, there isn't a chorus between the verses.
Then, the boardwalk was a really busy place. Children who would be on the carousel or running towards to it. People would be buying hot dogs and French fries for lunch. Now, it barely resembles the place it used to be."From the park you hear...on a blanket with my baby is where I'll be."
Male background singers can faintly be heard saying "under the boardwalk." She recalls, with a smile, all the memories she had with her first love."Under the boardwalk/Out of the sun...under the boardwalk, boardwalk."
She adds a bridge. In it, she sings "oh la la" and encourages crowd participation. She also says they would remain there for the night as well."Oh, la la la la la la./Oh, la la la la la la la la la/
Help me somebody, sing some la la's with me/Under the night, under the stars by the raging sea."
The latter half of the verses are sung."Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, the sea, yeah/On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be/On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be."
The chorus is sung twice, with Midler adlibbing."Under the boardwalk/Out of the sun/Under the boardwalk/We'll be havin' some fun/Under the boardwalk/People walkin', walkin'/Under the boardwalk/We'll be falling in love/Under the boardwalk/Out of the sun/Under the boardwalk/We'll be havin' some fun/Under the boardwalk/Everybody walkin', walkin', walkin' /Under the boardwalk/We'll be falling in love."
Midler reintreprets the single as a ballad. She also changes the point of view. Instead of it taking place in the present, (like the Drifters and Tom Tom Club's versions), she recalls the past. It was simpler times then for her. She didn't know how her life was going to turn out. However, she knew that it was great.
Midler's somber vocals are tender and sober. There's a sense that a lot has happened in her life since then. She would like to return to those days.
The minor flaw of the singer is that the male background singers vocals are low and inaudible. Without the booming voices, the choruses lack the punch the original.
Overall, the cover is a mature intrepretation of the original.
at the obsessed part!