i'm still here

I saw her on television the other week
and then there she was again...
her face staring at me
from the inside of a CD case
on top of a cabinet
in the home of a couple
who were feeding me dinner.

I exclaimed.
"I just saw her.
Wow....
I don't know what it was
about her...but
her song and her
presence moved me to the core."

And then they
went on and on about
her.

Old
Broadway
broad
Elaine Stritch.

She sang
"I'm Still Here"
during a
White House
special on a
National Public Television special.

The song offers
perspective...
her raspy voice
and unforgettable
stage presence brings
alive these words in a way
that...
well...
sticks to your ribs!

Here are the lyrics
written by David Sondheim:

Good times and bum times
I've seen them all and my dear
I'm still here.
Plush velvet sometimes
Sometimes just pretzels and beer
But I'm here.
I've stuffed the dailies in my shoes,
Strummed ukuleles, sung the blues
Seen all my dreams disappear
But I'm here.
I've slept in shanties
Guest of the WPA
But I'm here
Danced in my scanties
Three bucks a night was the pay
But I'm here
I've stood on breadlines with the best
Watched while the headlines did the rest
In the Depression, was I depressed?
Nowhere near.
I met a big financier
And I'm here.
I've been through Gandhi,
Windsor and Wally's affair
And I'm here
Amos and Andy,
Mahjong and platinum hair
And I'm here
I've been through Abie's Irish Rose,
Five Dionne Babies
Major Bowes
Had heebie-jeebies
For Beebe's bathysphere
I lived through Brenda Frazier
And I'm here.
I've gotten through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover
Gee, that was fun and a half
When you've been through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover
Anything else is a laugh.
I've been through Reno
I've been through Beverly Hills
And I'm here
Reefers and vino
Rest cures, religion, and pills
And I'm here
Been called a pinko commie tool
Got through it stinko by my pool
I should have gone to an acting school
That seems clear
Still someone said, "She's sincere."
So I'm here.
Black sable one day
Next day it goes into hock
But I'm here
Top billing Monday
Tuesday, you're touring in stock
But I'm here
First you're another sloe-eyed vamp,
Then someone's mother,
Then you're camp
Then you career from career
To career
I'm almost through me memoirs
And I'm here.
I've gotten through "Hey lady, aren't you whoozis?
Wow, what a looker you were."
Or better yet, "Sorry, I thought you were whoozis.
What ever happened to her?"
Good times and bum times
I've seen them all and my dear
I'm still here
Plush velvet sometimes
Sometimes just pretzels and beer
But I'm here.
I've run the gamut A to Z
Three cheers and damn it
C'est la vie.
I got through all of last year
And I'm here
Lord knows at least I was there
But I'm here
Look who's here
I'm still here.