Barbra Streisand (born Barbara Joan Streisand; April 24, 1942 Brooklyn, Ne… Read Full Bio ↴Barbra Streisand (born Barbara Joan Streisand; April 24, 1942 Brooklyn, New York), is an Academy Award-winning American singer, theater and film actress, composer, film producer, and director. She has won Oscars for Best Actress and Best Original Song as well as multiple Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and an honorary Tony Award. She received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor on December 7, 2008. She is the most successful female recording artist according to the Recording Industry Assoc. of America (RIAA).

Barbra Streisand has recorded more than 60 albums, almost all with Columbia Records. Her early works in the 1960s (her debut The Barbra Streisand Album which won two Grammy Awards in 1963, followed by The Second Barbra Streisand Album, The Third Album, My Name Is Barbra, etc.) are considered classic renditions of theater and nightclub standards, including her version of Happy Days Are Here Again. Beginning with My Name Is Barbra, her albums were often medley-filled keepsakes of her television specials.

Starting in 1969, Streisand tackled contemporary songwriters; like many talented singers of the day, she found herself a fish out of water in attempts to tackle rock, but her vocal talents prevailed and she gained newfound success with the pop and ballad-oriented Richard Perry-produced album Stoney End in 1971. The title track, written by Laura Nyro, was a big hit for Streisand.

Streisand's 1980 album, Guilty featured the songwriting, production and vocal talents of Barry Gibb and was the best-selling album of her recording career. During the 1970s, she was also highly prominent in the pop charts, with number-one records like The Way We Were, Evergreen, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (her duet with Donna Summer), and Woman In Love; some of these came from soundtracks of her films. She recently took part in supporting Haiti in singing "We are the World 25th anniversary.

When the 1970s ended, Streisand was named the most successful female singer in the U.S. - only Elvis Presley and The Beatles having sold more albums. [1]

[1] In 1982, New York Times music critic Stephen Holden wrote that Streisand was "the most influential mainstream American pop singer since Frank Sinatra."

Willow Weep for Me
Barbra Streisand Lyrics

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Willow weep for me
Willow weep for me
Bend your branches green, along the stream that runs to sea
Listen to my plea
Listen willow and weep for me

Yes,
Gone my lover's dream

Lovely summer dream
Gone and left me here, to weep my tears into the stream
Sad as I can be
Hear me willow and weep for me

Oh,
Whisper to the wind
And say that love has sinned
Leave my heart a-breaking, and making a moan
Murmur to the night to hide her starry light
Tho none will find me sighing and crying all alone

Weeping willow weep tree
Weeping sympathy
Bend your branches down along the ground and cover me
When the shadows fall,
Bend o' willow and weep for me

When the shadows fall,
Bend o' willow and weep for me

Overall Meaning

In Barbra Streisand’s song Willow Weep for Me, she tells the story of a lover’s dream that has ended and left her alone to weep her tears into the stream. The song is full of vivid imagery and symbolism, with the willow tree serving as a metaphor for sadness and grief, and the stream that runs to the sea representing the passage of time and the inevitability of change. Through the lyrics, Streisand pleads with the willow tree to listen to her cries and weep for her, as she mourns the loss of her lover’s dream.

Throughout the song, the willow tree is personified as having emotions, with the singer asking the tree to bend its branches down and cover her with its weeping sympathy. The imagery of the weeping willow and the stream that flows to the sea creates a melancholic mood that captures the sadness and longing of lost love. The song has a slow and mournful melody that accentuates the lyrics and brings out the emotion in Streisand’s voice.

Overall, Willow Weep for Me is a powerful and poignant song that uses vivid imagery and symbolism to capture the sadness and grief of a lost love. It is a classic example of the power of music to touch our deepest emotions and express our innermost feelings.

Line by Line Meaning

Willow weep for me
Please, weeping willow, cry along with me

Bend your branches green, along the stream that runs to sea
Lean your green branches over the stream that leads to the sea

Listen to my plea
Hear my desperate request

Yes, gone my lover's dream
The one I loved has departed

Lovely summer dream
We had beautiful moments together

Gone and left me here, to weep my tears into the stream
Now I'm alone, shedding tears into the flowing river

Sad as I can be
Heartbroken and grieving

Hear me willow and weep for me
Listen to me and cry along with me, willow tree

Whisper to the wind
Speak softly to the wind

And say that love has sinned
Tell the wind that love has done wrong

Leave my heart a-breaking, and making a moan
Let my heart cry out in anguish