Added: 4 years ago
From: puglet7
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  • This song resonates with me deeply. This song says everything about my life.

  • I grew up listening to this on my father's album. He just passed away 3 weeks ago and I wanted to hear it one more time.

  • This would be brilliant music to put along side war footage. Very Quintin Tarantino!

  • The song was inspired by the 1896 story Disillusionment (Enttäuschung) by Thomas Mann.

  • To me it seems like an uplifting song overall... It's saying "Well, If that's all there is to life, then make the most of it, don't despair, instead- drink, dance, have a ball..."

  • @wevelostDon -- except, not this libretto, which was written in 1968, by other people.

  • 1000 THUMBS UP 1000 STARS TO A SUPERB UPLOAD THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST FEMALE SINGERS IN THE WORLD I REMEMBER THIS SONG WHEN I WAS A PRE TEEN I HAVE ALWAYS FAVORED IT AND FEVER MOST OF ALL YOUR GREAT FOR UPLOADING AND HAVING THIS SUPERB

  • she wanted to break out the booze when she was a little girl?

  • Thumbs up if you came here from Jerry West's ESPN interview

    

  • I was a cynical young broad. I heard this song for the first time when I was about 6 or 7 and my grandmother played it. Even then I knew exactly what Peg was singing about.

  • RIP Jerry Leiber

  • This song is a lot like "Past Present and Future" by the Shangri Las. Same sense of existential despair.

  • Is is from the Johnny Cash show.

  • Anybody else think of Homer Simpson singing this on The Simpsons?

  • @bertola420 lol yeah!

  • @bertola420 This is precisely why I was looking on youtube lol

  • Interesting to read different interpretations of this great lyric. To me it means oops,I did that! was no big deal, what next? Death? no big deal!

  • oh no not me... i'm not ready for that final disappointment

  • Most people seem to be missing the point of this song, in my opinion. It is just so much about sex, and if that's all there is, we may as well just get by performing the rituals associated with sexual congress, whether we engage in it of not. Does anyone else so like not get it? It's a song from another era and is wickedly euphemistic. It's a funny song, not in the least despairing.

  • Who directed this, Ingmar Bergman? 

  • IF THAT'S ALL IT IS MY FRIEND THEN LET'S START PRAYING BECAUSE GOD IS GOOD AND CAN MAKE YOU WHOLE AGAIN AND JUST LISTEN TO HIS MUSIC GOD BLESS EVERYONE

  • yeaa .. we;'re in it for the long short and every run there is ... thanks peggy and pj harvey ... we need no further mystics .... is love somewhere near ... yes..

  • Haunting. But Great.

  • "the lets keep dancing, lets break out the booze and have a ball" ..... Is that all there is to dancing, drinking and having a ball??? That's the flaw of the song. Everything else is dull and boring what makes you think dancing boozing and having a ball would be that great??

  • @GetThisThingCrunk For someone with the username "GetThisThingCrunk" you seem have rather a low opinion of dancing, boozing, and having a ball.

  • @TheHypehat LOL, that's true. Dancing is fun, But I don't drink. But not even from my perspective just the perspective of the song, like if she didn't enjoy anything else in life that she ever did, why would dancing or boozing be any fun? It would of been cool if she said something like dissatisfied with my discoveries I took up booze, is that all there is to getting drunk?

  • @GetThisThingCrunk that's the point...she's saying give up and do the worst most meaningless thing

  • 19 people are angry that that's all there is

  • boy this brings out memories.....among the beatles, the rolling stones, and then one of these out of this world songs......love it...love it...love it...

  • I'll always associate this song with Scorsese's "After Hours."

  • @773SleepyHollow

    me too!!!

  • @tastyorange I love After Hours. ("Surrender Dorothy!")

  • 280,000+ almost satisfied viewers

    but I guess disappointment is the point

  • Thanks so much for posting this...but like everyone else...I wish it was the whole song...it is such a classic and this video is waaay cool! Please try to do it again. It is one of the most haunting songs ever written and Peggy Lee nailed it.

  • Thanks Puglet  7I will persue a copy! This is ans excuse but Ilast used this album maybe 40 years ago

  • One of my fav songs for the soundtrack of my life.

  • @matthewraysalon that my fav to

  • @matthewraysalon that my fav to

  • have not read all the posts so forgive if duplicated. This is Lieber and Stoller song . Peggy recorded an album of theirs under the title , I think, Reflections. The other tracks were equally beguiling and "strange". i borrowed it from my local library many years ago. The only other title I now recall was "Dr. Hautman's Performing Dogs". Been trying to get a copy for some time now but

    suspect it is now a "collectors item"

  • @kyo4o3d The original album that this song comes from is titled " Is That All There Is? " , from 1969 . It's still available on CD . The album you refer to is from 1976 , called " Mirrors " . It consists of songs by Leiber and Stoller , but not this one . Last year , " Mirrors " was digitally enhanced , and produced to include " Is that all there is" , and Peggys other Leiber and Stoller hits . This album is titled " Peggy Lee Sings Leiber and Stoller" . Well worth getting!

  • oh god this would be such a good song for a fallout commercial

  • They don't make them like this anymore.

  • adore, adore this song...she is singing my sentence...

  • haha, Homer sang this on the simpsons.

  • how did i stumble across this??????i dont know...is that all there is my friend???

  • This woman was one of American's greatest singers.

    From the beautifull ballad "Johnny Guitar" to this profound, almost spooky, statement on existentialism this lady gives it all. She sings with feelings, with soul.

    I love to listen to Peggy Lee.

  • Does anyone know where to get this video?

  • One of the best singers ever - this clip is a treat!

  • In the early 70s I took a college course that was called Existentialism In Literature. ... The instructor referred to Peggy Lee singing this song as the ultimate example of existential philosophy... Come to think of it she called me up one weekend after she had obviously had a few drinks and told me I was the only true existentialist she had ever met... I still don't have a clue as to what the hell she meant...

  • @barflew Well, yeah, dude, uh -- hate to break it to ya, but she called me up second, and I understood exactly. So we broke out the booze and had a ball.

  • @barflew No existentialist philosophy here--just alcoholism with all its rationalizations. The last hurrah of the Martini Generation. Chilling song and superb rendition.

  • this takes me back when i was child. we were evicted out of our home back in 1968.

  • The singers of today,can't hold a candle to Peggy Lee.She was a unique talent,I don't think we will see her like again.Thank you peggy.I still love listening to you.

  • She was fabulous and she had some Vodka before this show.

  • Please, try it gain!!!

  • I shot heroin to this song for three days and topped it off on the last day sucking the fumes of an ether bottle!!!! Blew my mind!

  • Look for the nines.

  • @JaredJosephHoag LOL I heard it there when I watched it..

  • She could sing like this...but she had major mega watt power when she wanted to belt out--she held back when it was appropriate to the song...perfect control.

  • boss lady....

  • written by jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who wrote all Elvis's great songs!

  • I met Peggy Lee many years ago, a great, lovely lady, been through a lot, and sings it.

    I actually found this vid because all of a sudden the damn song popped up in my head, and could not remember who did it. There was an artist in the 1980's that did a very amazing version, but i had forgotten that Peggy Lee did the original! Thanx for reminding me, but I really wish the acoustics on this were better. But best marks anyway!

  • LIFE WAS SWET BACK THEN OUR ONLY WORRIES WERE THE USSR AND GETTING LIAD

  • Awesome! Awesome performer! Underrated! Her voice held so much feeling. And her presence, was so dignified!

  • Through the Beatles, The Kinks, all the others, THIS was the song of my childhood. 45 years later it still is...

  • A classic song, a truly Classic Singer!

  • Her voice is so unique. The lyrics are haunting . Ms. Lee brings us back to a time and place where we might not care to revisit. Amazing!

  • great classic,  Bring out the Booze and have a Ball

  • If I could do only one thing in this life, I would transport myself back to the 50s and 60s and see the greats of the golden age of American music with my dad, who took every opportunity he could to see singers like Peggy Lee.

  • what is the clip from... you might want to re encode the video into a different codec and then upload again... I was having issues uploading in HD , as it would get nearly 90% and then conck out and I'd have to re upload several times before it made it.

  • @newstart2009 Hi David ...thanks for your comment . I tried this every which-way ....must have spent hours just trying to upload this . Like you , it did about 90% , but after several attempts , I just gave up . I may have another go , but it was sure baffling as why that kept happening . The funny thing is ....it's titled " Is That All There Is? " . Thats all there was!! Gareth.

  • @puglet7 wow... you know i figured out one thing... I was using Firefox to upload..the moment i started using Internet Explorer ( I hate using it) IT didn't stop on me.. let me know how it goes.... Great clip too btw

  • @newstart2009 Ahhh ....thats good to know , David . Thanks so much for the tip . That would explain it . I was using Firefox ....although it's never done it before . Glad you enjoyed the clip by the way ! Gareth.

  • @newstart2009 Believe it or not, this is from the Johnny Cash show around 1970. It was originally in color.

  • They didnt have Michael Jackson back then. All there is? thats all you need!

  • this album was truly an artistic achievement - she worked with whoever she wanted and completely controlled what songwriters she wanted to cover.

    such a great artist - this is such a wacky song. i love it!!!!!! it was killer in after hours - placed at just the right place in the film - ha!!!!!!

  • Thanks for the compliment. :)

  • I couldn't imagine anyone else singin' this song.

  • @gm110170 no one could. she was incredible.

  • PJ HARVEY sings this song very well

  • My mother used to played this when I was young.

    Always loved it,

  • I remember this when I was about 8 or 9 years old and thought it was hauntingly beautiful, which looking back now at the grand old age of 49 was pretty sophisticated thinking for a little girl. I still think of this song in that way. :)

  • Is it just me or does it sound like she mentions female anatomy when she says "shivering in my pajamas"?

  • This was my reality it gave me a connection.. I ask the boy who bugged me what would you do if you were kidnapped and you heard a song and it was about your life what would you do would you tell anyone or would you stay quite because after all now you remember your mom was burned so bad you can remember the smell of her flesh and the people rolling her in that white sheet and its all over no mom no family no one to care. Willie said its my mission in life to take care of you ,,

  • Fabulous.

    I read a story that Lee heard a demo of this song and contacted Lieber and Stoller saying something like 'if you give this song to anyone else I'll have you both killed'... and they weren't sure she was joking...

  • Fell in love with a bartender named Ed and we both loved this song. He took me to the Empire Room at the Palmer House in Chicago for Peggy Lee's live performance. It was something I'll never forget or him. I'll always remember that magical night,. I turned down his proposal that same night & we parted ways, because I married someone else many years ago.

  • is it me our does she look like Ann-Margaret spooky?

  • Wonderful piece of art all around. You can also see Peggy Lee performing this amazingly, live in concert, one year earlier. Just type "Peggy Lee -- Is That All There Is? 1969" in SEARCH.

  • It was November of 69 but... if it was anywhere on the charts into 1970 it could be considered a 70's hit as well.

    RE: Arizona Mark Lindsay

  • Trailboyus66, are you referring to the fact that the description of this video says:

    "Is That All There Is? A superb performance of this Leiber and Stoller classic, with which Peggy had her last number 1 hit. 1970."

    The description is correct. The hit recording is from 1969 as you say, BUT this video clip that we are watching here is from a TV show broadcast in 1970.

  • You got it. Someone was challenging this song as not a 1970 song rather a 1969 hit. My point is this one is, was both.

  • I thought about this song when it was popular and thought it really is the truth and even today sometimes I still feel the same way about life.

  • the Cristina version of this song is really amazing. I don't know if it's better than this or anything, but it's really good. I wish they hadn't sued it out of existence.

  • Gives me goosebumps. No wonder people turn to drink and drugs if this is it..

  • the way my life has been lately

  • genius, one of the best songs in the past 50 years

  • So elegant - Peggy or Lieber & Stoller - not sure who's responsible for that.

  • The music is formula 1968-69, many dark freaky arrangements during this time.

  • @realgwoodard Hey, could you recommend me some stuff like this from the same period?? I heard this for the first time yesterday, was blown away and want to explore more stuff like it but not sure where to start! Any help would be very much appreciated :)

  • Lieber and Stoller...songwriting geniuses

  • As they say; truer words...

    Little kids should hear this one around 10.

  • this song has always creeped me out ever since i bought best of peggy when i was 12

  • is that all there is? LOL

  • All i wanted was a Pepsi and she wouldn't give it to me.

  • is that all there is

  • I can't stop laughing at all these comments... like the song, the video ends as well ... Is that all there is?

  • okay, i'm assuming that the end of the video is a joke.....great performance by Peggy, perfect voice for this song.

  • One of my fav songs and the video is just as tragic! Love it!!!!!!

  • Existential woohaa that I love!

  • she is magnificent

  • peggy lee syndrome.... look it up. lol

  • IS THAT ALL THERE IS ?!?!?!

  • Super.... one of the great singers----PEGGY LEE!

  • Sure have come a long way to todays music culture.

  • Hmm. Where's the rest of it? Is that all there is?

  • I remember at 8 years old, sitting in the kitchen at home in Denver with my mom and sister, the kitchen ceiling light was on, the adjacent living room was dark, it was about 930pm, my dad was out on after-hours call, and this song played from our radio/phonograph cabinet unit.

    To this day I still have that same spooky feeling whenever I hum this tune...

  • @DancingSpiderman are you a writer if not you ought to be one because you have great subliminal nuances.

  • @DancingSpiderman are you a writer if not you ought to be one because you have great subliminal nuances.

  • tja ...is dat al er is.

    Melancholiek ...is dat zo..

    Maar zo waar.

  • Is that all there is?

  • this one i just sent you (melancholy lullaby) is of great beauty: a masterpiece, as fragile as the late songs i love so much ... hope you enjoy it as much as i do (i've got lots of other early treasures, they come from a mosaic peggy lee/june christy set i've treasured for years ... guess it's time to share it a little)

  • Peggy <3 She looks so beautiful in this video.

  • Her assistant bought hoairey at Ohrbachs Wilshire LA. I was there in '74.

  • listen to her singing 'where or when' its too beautiful for words

  • Peggy Lee,Is that all there is,She will go on forever,thanks to people like you puglet.

  • I have seen and heard many versions of this 'haunting' song, but none are represented better than this one. It's almost perfect how it cuts off at the end......just like the song, you ask yourself, "Awe, is that all there is?"

    In her later years, she got more animated & sped it up, but this was my favorite version.

  • My mom said this song reminded her of me...and I was only 6 years old when it came out. Ever since I've been fascinated by Peggy Lee - the coolest chanteuse of the 20th Century. Though she's best known for this song, "Fever" and "I'm a Woman," I favor her other releases like "Somebody Loves Me," "My Man," and "Sans Souci."

  • I wish the ending hadn't been cut off

  • Pj harvey version is greAt too

  • this is a brilliant song... a depiction of those unexplainable moments of unfulfilled existence that permeate our souls sometimes, or maybe our cognitive awareness. we do not know what to call them nor really, how they came to be.

  • i'm a feeling ya pegs

  • ... then what at the end? THEN what! Edit Teaser!

  • So glad to have seen this, puglet. it's brilliant be-4 its time ... and didn't she write this herself?

  • Hi iKooKu,

    Thanks so much for your comment . Glad you enjoyed it . The song was written by Leiber and Stoller...but Peggy picked up on it right away , and made it hers , because the words applied eerily to her life .

  • One of the best songs from one of the best singers. Brava diva!

  • You've said it all. This song and "Fever" are masterpieces as performed by the incomparable Peggy Lee.

  • Peggy Lee fought to ensure she would be the one to perform this song, which she conceived of in the Brecht-Weill style. (I cannot send messages but can receive them, so I'm commenting here.)

  • I love the lyrics in this song

  • take a good look at an icon people!!!!!

  • beautiful'haunting song,beautiful;haunting lady

  • I don't know why, but there is just something incredibly unique about this song.

    People would probably think I'm weird for liking it since it came out waayy before my time.

    But I find it moving because it deals with cynicism and existentialism in a comically dark fashion and that even the most "profound" moments in life can leave you empty and indifferent. A topic not my songs had or have done since.

  • And then when this video was over I said, Is that all there is?

  • Great footage. Love to get the whole thing from somewhere.

  • Great song and performance...why did you cut it off at the end?

  • That's one of the weirdest things I've ever read! How can someone who won a Grammy in 1969, was in high demand in numerous TV shows and in concert venues all over the US, etc., etc. qualify as "washed up"? Hey, you must have a definition of washed up that is not in any dictionary known to man! :)

  • Washed up? I'm surprised you think so . She did suffer a lot of health problems from around the mid 70's , and semi-retired for a while, but carried on performing and recording well into her 70's . Her albums from the late 80's to 1990 are materpieces ...and now are collectable .

  • wish this wasn't cut off!!

  • it's a brilliant and moving song ... now take a second listen to my very favourite peggy lee song, i see you, her very last masterpiece

  • I love it!

    I want this to be sung at my funeral.

  • song inspired by a short story; that i managed to read to the end!!

  • One of the most perfect blends of song and artist in the history of pop music.

  • I'll drink to that

  • A view on life in general  Peace x

  • She is amazing! This is true, her home id burn down. I've just read her biography. Survived 1952 with a stepmother who beat her, and she made it despite her adversaries. God Bless.

    R.I.P. Peggy.

  • This song made me cry,its exactly how I fel about life too.

  • Peggy only had a vocal range of one and a half octaves! you wouldnt believe it but its true.

  • First time I heard this song was in the movie "After Hours."  It is a fantastic, quirky movie. This song is so melancholy - seems so unlike most songs of that era.

  • waaa I love this song!!

  • Too bad it cut off in the end? It has always been a very beautiful yet haunting song. Is there a hidden message in her lament?

  • Check out the version by PJ Harvey

  • I love this! I actually heard this song through Cristina's cover before I knew Peggy Lee sang it (I never realised the cover was so different to the original).

  • This is so great.

    what an underrated gem. Leiber and Stoller are also underrated songwriters.

  • This is exactly how I feel about life. Hell with the circus and love.

  • yes in After Hours this song is perfect. Great movie, great song.

  • Ever seen After Hours? They use this song oh so well innit. It's how I discovered this particular tune. Gorgeous, cynical, dark, moving!

  • Why's it cut off! Blah.

  • You are not fourteen !!

    You are a 29 year old man named Mark.

    I went to your profile !! So dont lie..

  • probably put that to get passed the censors. Ever think of that?

  • Yeah I bet other people our age do secretly like it but are just too afraid to say they like it. Just the same as us.

  • Thank you.

    I think she is a wonderful singer and I want to be able to talk about her to my friends with out being teased

  • I was 5 when I first liked Peggy Lee . My friends were into rock and roll , which I quite liked , but Peggy Lee was ( and still is ) my favourite . Never mind what anyone else thinks !! You've got real taste!

  • If they tease, they are insecure. Most people who tease do so because they are uncomfortable. I have always loved all kinds of music from KISS to PEGGY LEE et al. (as many other people do) BE TRUE TO YOURSELF and realize if anyone makes fun THEY ARE THE BOOBS and missing out. I am so thankful that my two kids love ALL music--if exposed to it, most people "get it!"

  • I am only 12 years old and my dad plays this song on his cd and I love it. I know I should be more into pop songs but this song is brilliant. I think all the old songs are better. But shh !! My friends will mock me :(

  • Love your attitude...delightful! Good for you! :)

  • Rainbows - hey dude

    im fourteen and i totally agre with you

    and the modern pop stuff is really anoying

  • This song reminds me of my phychology 101 class that described the condition of psychopathy as (among other symptoms) a lack of or diminished levels of anxiety/nervousness and other emotions. It's sad in that so many grievous things happen to her, yet it's also peculiar for her abnormally unfeeling reaction to those troubling occurrances. Maybe that's why the background musical accompaniment takes a somber/sad tone. But the song is both interesting & disturbing to say the least. Cheers!

  • It's called understatement.

  • It's called resignation.