MovieChat Forums > Starting Over (1979) Discussion > Candace singing.

Candace singing.

posted 11 years ago by kelly-527
4 replies | jump to latest

Anytime I ever think of singing, I think of Candace singing, Sour milk. Yep, if they ever needed someone to come in and sing like sour milk, Candace and I would belt it out. Sigh..

[–] dvlaries 9 years ago

It's the scene that cinched Bergen's nomination simply for its guts.

The point is that the character is totally without vocal talent, but completely oblivious to the obvious. There's an episode in the final season of the Mary Tyler Moore series, where Moore performs - accapella - "One For The Road" in Lou Grant's office, till he can't stop himself from bursting into derisive laughter. It may well be the bravest scene Moore ever did in the series' 7 year run, and that season won her another Emmy.

In "Starting Over," Bergen summons the same kind of fortitude.

- -
Truth is a hard master, and costly to serve, but it simplifies every problem.

[–] tomhenehan 9 years ago

There's a theory that a person needs musical talent to sing so obviously poorly - the idea is that you need the ear and the voice to know how it's done right in order to deviate from the ideal.
And how bout the songwriting? Hamlisch's tunes are fine, but the self-important *beep* lyrics are something else. Carole Bayer Sager has to have been kidding, right?

[–] !!!deleted!!! (61689113) 8 years ago

I think they're intentionally cringey lyrics, completely exposed by Bergen's hilariously awful singing. But when you hear Mills over the end credits with the full disco makeover, you realize that you buy an awful lot of crap from most song lyrics if the production and vocals are convincing. In retrospect the songs sound very much like Carol Bayer Sager, but when you see and hear Bergen performing them you can tell she's hoping to be some kind of mix of Carole King and Charo. All the musical moments in this film are priceless, including Bergen's suddenly being struck by an idea for a new atrocious ballad in the middle of her break-up.

[–] 8 years ago

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