♫ Didn’t We Almost Have It All ♫

Posted on by under music

I’ve played many of Whitney Houston’s best songs, but turns out I haven’t played this one!  This song, written by Michael Masser and Will Jennings and released in 1987, was the fifth of seven consecutive US #1 hits for Houston.  

According to Will Jennings …

“I think that probably took longer than any other song. Michael was traveling and he was in the studio and doing this and that, so I think it was about a year or two after we started it that it was finished. And I sort of lost track of the whole thing. It was one of those never-to-be-repeated experiences, because he was producing the record and he wanted to really nail it down. He kept feeling it wasn’t finished and so he’d put it away, and I was off working on something. I’d lost track of what went on with it.”

There are two main versions of the song, and I shall play both here. My favourite is the first, for while I usually prefer a live version, like the energy and emotion that comes through in the artist’s body language and facial expressions, in this case the live version, from her September 2, 1987 concert in Saratoga Springs, New York, is a bit too melancholy to suit me.

Didn’t We Almost Have It All
Song by Whitney Houston

Remember when we held on in the rain
The night we almost lost it
Once again we can take the night into tomorrow
Living on feelings
Touching you I feel it all again

Didn’t we almost have it all
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall my friend
Loving you makes life worth living
Didn’t we almost have it all
The night we held on till the morning
You know you’ll never love that way again
Didn’t we almost have it all

The way you used to touch me felt so fine
We kept our hearts together down the line
A moment in the soul can last forever
Comfort and keep us
Help me bring the feeling back again

Didn’t we almost have it all
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall my friend
Loving you makes life worth living
Didn’t we almost have it all
The night we held on till the morning
You know you’ll never love that way again
Didn’t we almost have it all

Didn’t we have the best of times
When love was young and new?
Couldn’t we reach inside and find
The world of me and you?
We’ll never lose it again
‘Cause once you know what love is
You never let it end

Didn’t we almost have it all
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall my friend
Loving you makes life worth living

Didn’t we almost have it all
The night we held on till the morning
You know you’ll never love that way again
Didn’t we almost have it all

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Michael Masser / Will Jennings
Didn’t We Almost Have It All lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

21 thoughts on “♫ Didn’t We Almost Have It All ♫”

  4. I so love Whitney’s songs! Great song! She had a one of a kind powerful voice and have you watched her movie BodyGuard yet? I think I remember us talking about that movie before when you posted a song of hers! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Me too … she is among my favourite female artists, along with Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Diana Ross, to name a few. No, of course I haven’t watched the movie yet … I haven’t watched ANY movie yet, or even finished a book for the past six months! DDT (Deplorable Donald Trump) has occupied my every waking moment! It is still on the list, however … hopefully I’ll live long enough to start on that list! 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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  5. Another one of those I feel wasted her life. Such a stunning voice, such a stunning song (You’re right #1 is best) but shd cut her life short. Yes, her choice I know but look at the lost potential. Look how long her cousin’s career has been. She is sadly missed.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Yes, she did. She made some bad choices, and wasn’t strong enough, apparently, to pick herself up and move along. So sad, for we can only speculate on what beautiful music she might have given the world, had she lived. Until just now, I had no idea that Whitney Houston and Dionne Warwick were cousins! I Googled after reading your comment, and was astounded! How did I miss that?
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. I slightly remember this piece but I was no doubt busy at the time and wasn’t watching music videos. I figured out why I didn’t remember “Africa”. I was in India and haven’t been back to the U.S. since 2007. My husband was bipolar and I didn’t want to leave him here on his own. My children have been coming here since then. 🙂 — Suzanne

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • I never watched music videos, but I remember this one well from hearing it played often on the radio.

      Yes, that would explain why you didn’t remember “Africa”. Have any of your children been to visit you recently, or is travel greatly restricted because of the pandemic? It must be hard, being so far from your loved ones. Hugs.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Both children came in February 2017 when their dad died. My daughter and her husband were married in October 2018 but I couldn’t go because of my physical trouble in traveling. They were coming in 2020 but the Pandemic began. They want to come when the Pandemic ends, hopefully, this year sometime. Traveling this far is both expensive and takes time. Hugs to you also. 🙂 — Suzanne

        Liked by 1 person

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