Is That All There Is?

If there is one song that most accurately describes my worldview, it's this one. It was written by the great songwriting team of Leiber & Stoller, who also wrote "Hound Dog", "Stand By Me", "Jailhouse Rock", "Poison Ivy", "Yakety Yak", and literally 8 billion other songs that make up the canon of 20th century popular music. This song came a little after their heyday, and was obviously a big departure.

"Is That All There Is" is apparently based on a short story by Thomas Mann called "Disillusionment". It is funny and dark and an unmitigated masterpiece. It features the voice of the incomparable Peggy Lee, who is probably most famous for "Fever", although she also voiced four characters in Lady and the Tramp, wrote dozens of her own songs, and got nominated for an Oscar.

It was a hit upon its initial release in 1969, making it up to #11 on the charts (and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart). Can you imagine a world in which this song was a hit? Think about it next time that Beyonce "Upgrade" commercial comes on.

The song was such a hit that they made a record of (ahem) "art songs" with Ms. Lee called "Mirrors" in 1975. I am searching everywhere for it.


Peggy Lee - "Is That All There Is?"