Minnelli's first film appearance was at the age of three in the final scene of the 1949 musical In the Good Old Summertime, starring her mother and Van Johnson. Minnelli started performing at age 16, in 1963, in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward, for which she received good notices. The next year, her mother invited Minnelli to perform with her at the London Palladium. The audience loved her, launching her musical career. She returned to Broadway at 19, and won a 1965 Tony Award for Flora the Red Menace. Minnelli would also receive Tony Awards for The Act in 1978 and a special Tony in 1974. She was nominated in 1984 for The Rink but lost to her costar, Chita Rivera.
The film The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), in which Minnelli starred as a love-seeking teenage misfit, garnered the young actress her first Academy Award nomination. In 1972, Minnelli won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Sally Bowles in the movie version of Cabaret, along with Joel Grey who won an Oscar reprising his role from the original Broadway production (that of the Emcee).
Minnelli has the distinction of being one of the few Academy Award winners whose parents are both Academy Award nominees. She has also won an Emmy Award for the 1972 TV special Liza with a Z. Minnelli received a 1990 Grammy Legend Award. She received Golden Globe Awards for Cabaret and for the TV movie A Time to Live.
Minnelli, like her mother, is known for her powerful vocal style, as in her trademark songs "Cabaret" and "Theme from New York, New York". Minnelli's original version of the latter, for the film in which she was a co-star with Robert DeNiro, preceded Frank Sinatra's successful cover version (for his Trilogy album), by two years.
After her performance as leading lady to Dudley Moore in 1981's Arthur, Minnelli made fewer, and fewer successful, film appearances.
She returned to Broadway in 1997, taking over the title role in the musical Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews. In his review, New York Times critic Ben Brantley commented, "her every stage appearance is perceived as a victory of show-business stamina over psychic frailty... She asks for love so nakedly and earnestly, it seems downright vicious not to respond."
Following her 2002 wedding to David Gest, Minnelli and Gest signed with the American cable network VH1 to star in their own reality series, but production of the series was cancelled at the last minute.
In 2004 and 2005 she appeared as a recurring guest star on the critically acclaimed TV sitcom Arrested Development as the lover of sexually and socially awkward Buster Bluth.
On January 1, 2006, she sang "New York, New York" at the second inauguration of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Other famous performances were at the 1978 Studio 54 party honoring New York City's revival, at which a guest was Mayor Ed Koch; the reopening of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986; and at a 2001 New York Mets baseball game that was the metro area's first major sporting event after the September 11 attacks.
In 2013, she guest-starred on the NBC musical drama Smash, where she performed the number A Love Letter From the Times. She also reprised her role in the fourth season of Arrested Development.
Rent
Liza Minnelli Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You buy me things, I love it
You bring me food, I need it
You give me love, I feed it
And look at the two of us in sympathy
With everything we see
I never want anything, it's easy
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency we've spent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
You phone me in the evening on hearsay
And bought me caviar
You took me to a restaurant off Broadway
To tell me who you are
We never-ever argue, we never calculate
The currency we've spent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
I'm your puppet
I love it
And look at the two of us in sympathy
And sometimes ecstasy
Words mean so little, and money less
When you're lying next to me
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency we've spent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
Look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency we've spent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
Look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency we've spent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent (It's easy, it's so easy)
You pay my rent (It's easy, it's so easy)
You pay my rent (It's easy, it's so easy)
I love you (It's easy, it's so easy)
(It's easy, it's so easy)
(It's easy, it's so easy)
(It's easy, it's so easy)
(It's easy, it's so easy)
(It's easy, it's so easy)
(It's easy, it's so easy)
The lyrics to Liza Minnelli's song "Rent" describe a relationship that is built on material possessions and financial dependence. The first verse describes how the singer's partner controls and provides for them, and how their love is expressed through the exchange of goods and services. The second verse shifts focus to the couple's lack of conflict, but also highlights the emptiness of their relationship outside of their material transactions. The chorus emphasizes the singer's love for their partner's ability to provide for them, symbolized by paying their rent. The final verse reiterates the importance of the couple's financial arrangement and concludes with an expression of love.
The song can be interpreted as a commentary on the commodification of love and relationships, and how money and possessions can distort and replace genuine affection. The singer is depicted as passive and dependent, and their partner is portrayed as controlling and patronizing. The use of the phrase "currency we've spent" emphasizes the transactional nature of their relationship, and the repetition of the line "I love you, you pay my rent" reinforces the idea that financial security is the foundation of their love.
Overall, "Rent" is a song about the complex and often toxic interplay between money and relationships, and the ways in which financial dependency can distort our understanding of love and affection.
Line by Line Meaning
You dress me up, I'm your puppet
I allow you to control me and mold me into what you want me to be.
You buy me things, I love it
I enjoy the gifts and material possessions that you provide for me.
You bring me food, I need it
I rely on you for basic necessities in life, such as food.
You give me love, I feed it
I reciprocate your love and affection by staying with you, even if it means being dependent on you.
And look at the two of us in sympathy
We share a connection and understanding of each other that is evident in our actions and behaviors.
With everything we see
Our shared experiences and observations are a testament to our relationship.
I never want anything, it's easy
I don't have any desires or plans outside of our relationship, and being with you is uncomplicated and effortless.
You buy whatever I need
You fulfill all of my wants and needs, providing me with financial security and comfort.
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
Despite my contentment with our relationship, I still have my own aspirations and goals.
The currency we've spent
Our relationship is based on an exchange of love and material possessions.
I love you, you pay my rent
I am dependent on you both emotionally and financially, and my love for you is tied to the stability and security you provide.
You phone me in the evening on hearsay
You call me based on rumors or gossip you've heard about me, rather than spending quality time getting to know me.
And bought me caviar
You try to impress me with extravagant gifts rather than genuine affection and attention.
You took me to a restaurant off Broadway
You take me to fancy places as a way of showing off our relationship to others.
To tell me who you are
You use these outings as an opportunity to assert your dominance and control over me, rather than actually sharing your true self with me.
We never-ever argue, we never calculate
Our relationship is founded on a lack of challenge, tension, or conflict, and we don't need to make any real effort to sustain it.
And sometimes ecstasy
At times, our relationship is exhilarating and passionate, but this feeling is often fleeting and ultimately unsatisfactory.
Words mean so little, and money less
Our relationship is ultimately based on superficialities and materialism, rather than genuine emotion or connection.
When you're lying next to me
In the moment, however, I am content to simply be with you and enjoy the comfort of your presence.
It's easy, it's so easy
Being with you requires very little effort or sacrifice on my part, making it a comfortable and easy arrangement.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER LOWE, NEIL TENNANT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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on Ring them bells
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