Good Times And Bum Times...

Yvonne DeCarlo did it all.

I know "I'm Still Here" from Follies is not specifically about her; the references mark the character as being older than she was. And while she said Stephen Sondheim did get some input from her when he was writing it, she added that he was asking her questions about the character she was playing, not her specifically. And yet she put so much passion into it that it's hard not to quote the lyrics when writing about her.

But first, a De Carlo clip, with Burt Lancaster in Robert Siodmak's Criss Cross.



And here are the lyrics of the end of "I'm Still Here," the song I'll always associate with her (a brief audio clip is here).

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!