The Greatest Love of All

The Greatest Love of All - George Benson

I believe that children 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's 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 shadow
If I fail, if I succeed at least I'll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all was happening to me
I've found the greatest love of all inside of me
The greatest love of all is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe that children 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

I decided long ago
Never to walk in anyone's shadow
If I fail, if I succeed at least I'll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all was happening to me
I've found the greatest love of all inside of me
The greatest love of all is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It 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

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在Michael Masser譜曲、George Benson演唱的歌曲當中，有兩首非常好聽卻沒有在走紅的作品，但卻都在翻唱版本出現之時，才廣受到世人的注意。其中一首是在1984年的"20/20"專輯中的"Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You"，其知名版本是夏威夷歌手Gerry Goffin於1988年翻唱。另一首則就是這首出現在1977年拳王Muhammad Ali的自傳電影"The Greatest"中的插曲，最後是於1986年，由當時才剛剛出道的Whitney Houston翻唱而廣受矚目。事實上，這兩首歌的翻唱版本的成功程度，都讓人們甚至有翻唱才是原版的錯覺，連Wikipedia對歌曲的介紹，都是以翻唱版本為主。也許我們也應該感謝這些獨具慧眼的製作人與歌手，將這樣精彩的作品重新挖掘出來，而不置於使這些作品就這樣被遺忘。

做為Whitney Houston在Billboard Hot 100第一名最長時間的單曲，很難想像當初這首歌原來是不太受到Whitney的經紀人Clive Davis喜歡，而試圖打壓的。在Whitney剛出道的時候，Clive Davis與當時已經製作許多歌曲的Michael Masser私交不錯，而特別請Masser為Whitney製作幾首歌曲。在Masser回應的四首歌曲（"Greatest Love of All"、"Didn't We Almost Have It All"、"All at Once"和"Saving All My Love for You"）中，Davis覺得"Greatest Love of All"實在太老派了（畢竟都要十歲的歌了，當初又不紅），所以本想勸退Masser不要這首歌。但聽過Whitney試唱帶的Masser卻相當堅持，他認為如果不要這首歌，那乾脆全部都不要。Davis沒有辦法，只好聽從Masser的意見，不過，他卻也把這首歌放進單曲"You Give Good Love"的B-side。萬萬沒想到，這首本來非主打的歌，卻會獲得比A-side的主打歌更好的成績。

關於"The Greatest Love of All"這首歌，歌詞的意境也是相當鼓舞人心的。畢竟，填詞的Linda Creed在完成這首歌時，身為年輕媽媽的她正面臨乳癌末期的病痛。於是，她將自己面臨壓力以及努力面對的心情填入詞中，讓我們可以從平實的歌詞中，卻見識到真正的堅強。實際上，也因為如此，相較於非常知名的Whitney Houston翻唱版本，我其實比較喜歡George Benson的原版。簡單的鋼琴伴奏，加上George Benson獨特的略帶沙啞、平淡語氣卻充滿感情的聲音，實在是非常適合這首歌曲背後的意境。不過，令人遺憾的是，當這首歌終於即將隨著Whitney的詮釋而大紅之時，在單曲推出的同一個月，Linda Creed也在不堪疾病的摧殘之下病逝。不過，歌詞中的堅強，卻也永遠留在聽眾的心中。

相關資訊：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Love_of_All