Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody Page #2

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Are our future

Teach them well

And let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty

They possess inside

Give them a sense of pride

To make it easier

Let the children's laughter

Remind us

How we used to be

Everybody

Searching for a hero

People need someone

To look up to

I never found anyone

Who fulfilled my needs

A lonely place to be

And so I learned

To depend on me

I decided long ago

Never to walk

In anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I lived

As I believe

No matter

What they take from me

They can't take away

My dignity

[AUDIENCE CHEERING, CLAPPING]

Because the greatest

Love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest

Love of all inside of me

The greatest love of all

[AUDIENCE CHEERING]

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

Is the greatest love of all

And if, by chance

That special place

That you've been dreaming of

Leads you to a lonely place

Find your strength

In love

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING, CHEERING]

She's incredible.

CLIVE:
Okay.

Just okay?

I think I might have just heard the greatest voice of her generation.

Yeah. Yeah.

That kind of "okay."

Gerry, my "okay" is different than your "okay."

Mom.

CLIVE:
My "okay" comes with investment and legal obligations.

Yours comes with a side of fries.

[CHUCKLES]

That's my baby girl.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston.

WHITNEY:

"And distribution rights for all albums created by Whitney

Houston... Heh.

...or Arista during the term

of this agreement...

...in perpetuity throughout the universe"?

It means a damn long time.

Everywhere.

Wait.

Daddy, what?

She's coming here for you.

CLIVE:
Mm-hm.

If you move on, you take her with you when you go.

Mr. Davis, you are not my first record exec.

I'm just trying to protect my family.

No, no, no. I understand.

Well, we have never given that right to any artist.

Um...

But I believe in you.

So...

Best efforts.

Okay.

CLIVE:
Okay?

JOHN:
Mm-hm.

Here, let's take a picture.

Okay.

All right.

Ready for the shot?

Congratulations.

Welcome to Arista.

[LAUGHS]

Thank you.

CLIVE:
Thank you.

Cissy. Thank you.

Thank you, Clive.

John.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Congratulations.

Now, if you don't mind,

I want to get acquainted with my new artist and learn about her musical tastes.

Okay.

Alone would be great.

It's what I was trying to--

Okay.

Yeah.

CLIVE:
So, do you write songs?

No.

Have you ever tried?

Mm-mm.

Is that okay?

Yeah.

We'll just get people to write them for you.

Now, what kind of songs do you like?

[BREATHING DEEPLY]

Hm.

Great big songs.

"Great big songs"?

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

Yeah.

All right, great big songs.

Yeah, that you almost can't wrap your arms around.

Songs that are like climbing a mountain, that'll stretch me

vocally, that--

I really gotta sing my raggedy ass off to sell.

Gospel? Country? Black? White?

All the above.

All the above?

Mm-hm.

All of them.

A great song is a great song.

And you are 100% correct on that.

Okay. So, then, what we're gonna do is we're gonna hire the finest

songwriters in America--

In the world, to write a great big vocally-ambitious song for a great new

vocally-ambitious star.

What do you think?

Believe they'd do that for me?

No.

But they'll do it for us.

[CHUCKLES]

Okay, so--

Can I--

Can I ask you something?

Yeah, you can ask me anything.

I'm an open book, Whitney, just so you know.

Even though people say that the text size is so small that you need very strong glasses.

[LAUGHS]

What do you wanna know?

You went to Harvard?

Law, yeah.

What was that like?

Well, stressful.

Actually, anxiety att*cks.

I had--

Right here, darling.

Sure.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

You're welcome.

But, you know, you work through it. I worked through it.

How?

Uh, how?

Exercises. Breathing exercises.

[BREATHES DEEPLY]

[LAUGHS]

I do that too.

Yeah, but I did it, of course, you know, away from everyone because--

You know, you have to remember that in those days, and this was a long time ago--

In those days, you couldn't admit that there was ever anything wrong with you.

And can you now?

I want to tell you one thing, dear Whitney, before we begin.

I never get involved in the personal lives of my artists.

I am not a babysitter, I'm not a camp counselor, I'm not a rabbi.

I know music.

I have an ear, and I have an instinct.

And in this respect, I can serve you.

And I will be there for you at any hour.

Okay?

Okay.

To you. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Mm.

Okay. Let's test that ear.

He said he can get me on TV, and we drank champagne.

And, Mommy, he called me "vocally ambitious."

You let her come out looking like this?

She ain't got a dress?

She needs to start wearing a dress.

I told her to dress up.

Why?

These are my nice jeans.

[IN UNISON]

Nice jeans?

Yeah, well, it's just me.

Yeah, well, they don't wanna see "just you," and being Nippy ain't gonna get it.

And you need to take her wig shopping.

If she's gonna go all the way, hair short as mine is not going to get it done.

You're a princess.

With that voice and the looks, you could be America's princess.

Start looking like one.

Tough business, baby, I know.

I'm just gonna sing.

My next guest has nurtured such superstars as Barry Manilow,

Melissa Manchester, Chicago, Simon and Garfunkel,

Janis Joplin--

And the list is endless.

Today, he's brought his latest discovery with him, and she is, in two words, simply breathtaking.

Oh, God, I think

I'm gonna throw up.

No, no, no, no.

You got this in the bag, princess.

Come on now. Come on.

Stand up.

Baby, get her something to drink.

Some ginger ale, some soda pop--

Something like that.

All right.

Hey. Hey.

Mommy.

You're gonna be fine.

Just pretend you're singing in the shower.

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

You want me to imagine

I'm singing butt naked in front of Merv Griffin?

[LAUGHS]

Come on. It's not helping.

Remember...

Head, heart, gut. Right?

Yeah.

You're my princess.

All right? All right. Come on.

CLIVE:
You know.

You just know that you're in the presence...

You know what to do.

...of somebody special.

MERV:
She's got it.

CLIVE:
She's got it.

MERV:
Wait till you hear her.

Here's Whitney Houston.

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING]

[BAND PLAYING "HOME"]

When I think of home

I think of a place

Where there's love

Overflowing

I wish I was home

I wish I was back there

With the things

I've been knowing

Wind that makes

The tall grass

It's too slow.

No, he's fine.

Bend into leaning

And suddenly

The raindrops that fall

Her skin tone is off.

They have a meaning

They're not lighting her right.

It's fine, Cissy.

Sprinkling...

It's too slow.

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