I love this song very much but have heard it in perfoming by Randy Crawford.

Charlene sang it in far 1974. Charlene was christened by her mother under the name Charlene Marilynn D’Angelo, but later she shortened to Charlene for her record label. In 1973, Charlene signed with the legendary record label Motown Records under the name “Charlene Duncan”, and released her first single “All That Love Went to Waste” in January 1974. Charlene originally recorded “I’ve Never Been to Me” in 1976, and the single reached #97 on the USA’s Hot 100 singles chart in 1977. When released again in 1982, the single reached #3 in the United States (US), and #1, by June 1982, in the United Kingdom (UK). The song has been her only Top 40 hit as of 2010.

Charlene did three versions of the song, the initial version of which was actually the second version recorded. Her original (and ultimately most popular) version includes an expanded bridge, in which the singer makes an impassioned comparison between the noncommittal “fantasy about people and places as we’d like them to be,” versus the committed real love of a family

Hey lady, you lady
cursing at your life
you’re a discontented mother
and a regimented wife
I `ve no doubt
you dream about the things you never do
but I wish someone had a talk to me like I wanna talk to you

Oh, I’ve been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
Took the hand of a preacher man
and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces
Because I had to be free
I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me…

Please lady please lady
don’t just walk away
Cause I have this need to tell you
why I’m all alone today
I can see so much of me
still living in your eyes
won’t you share a part
of a weary heart that has lived a million lives

Oh, I’ve been to Nice and the isle of Greece
when I sipped champagne on a yacht
I moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo
and showed them what I’ve got
I’ve been undressed by kings
and I’ve seen some things that a woman ain’t s’pose to see
I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me…

Hey, you know what paradise is?
It’s a lie
a fantasy we created about people and places
as we like them to be
but you know what truth is?
it’s that little baby you’re holding
and it’s that man you fought with this morning
the same one you are gonna make love to tonight
that’s truth that’s love

Sometimes I’ve been to crying for unborn children
that might have made me complete
but I, I took the sweet life
I never knew I’d be bitter from the sweet
I spent my life exploring
the subtle whoring
that costs too much to be free
hey lady I’ve been to paradise
but I’ve never been to me…

I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me…

I should try to be good
Forever and ever, amen
So I’ll touch wood
And hope I don’t get caught again
Without my lines
And off the mark
Looking for signs
I can’t see here in the dark
My opening won’t be a great success
Till you come get me out of
This little black mess
I’ll play my part
And say never ever again
Then cross my heart
Cry until you say when
A little cheat while you turn away
Things we repeat one more time
Day after day
I’ve lost my appetite so nonetheless
It fits like a glove now
My little black mess

Who’s to say if we’ll know
When it’s time for this old thing to go

And so if I’m good
Could you forgive how I’ve been?
You misunderstood
Now if you’d just let me begin
To put on my face
I’ll put on the room
Go take my place
One more time
Then we can resume
It’s true I’m sure to die out here unless
You come help me out of
This little black mess