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In the Beginning Lyrics by Albert Brooks

A Star is Bought

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[Instrumental Intro]
[Charlie Van Dyke]
People ask me all the time, "Charlie Van Dyke, why do certain records become…hits?" In every case, the answer is the same. People heard it on the radio. People liked what they heard. People bought what they liked. And so on. But in all the years that recording artists have been trying to get on "the charts", those elusive indexes of what's selling, nobody ever did what elusive comedian Albert Brooks has done. He's assembled an album completely composed of cuts individually designed for different kinds of radio stations. In the next hour, we'll not only find out how this record came to be made, we'll actually hear it.
[Albert Brooks]
Jesus, the beach stinks today!
[Van Dyke]
From his Malibu Heights efficiency villa, comedian Albert Brooks.
[Brooks]
Everybody knows you need radio to sell your record. No airplay, no [?], right? Right, most artists put out a record and if they're lucky, it gets played on one or two kinds of radio stations. That's supposed it's aimed at one or two kinds of audiences. But that's taking a tremendous gamble! You're putting all your exposure eggs in one radio basket! Literally! Now I took my eggs and I aimed them at the entire radio dial. I mean, if this thing, the good Lord willing, gets the airplay that it's gonna, well, with my royalty deal, I'll be quite frank with you, I'm gonna be making some big—
[Unknown voice]
—blood donations.
[David Geffen]
What Brooks has done here is to take on a project of immense proportions.
[Van Dyke]
Asylum Records president David Geffen.
[Geffen]
I think he finally realized that if he could be heard everywhere, you'd have a good chance of being loved. If you loved me, don't you think you'd cough up a list price of $6.98 or $7.98 for my tape? I think you would.
[Instrumental Break]
[Van Dyke]
Country and western radio stations reach an average of forty million people a year. Sound impressive? It should. It is.
[Linda Ronstadt]
I told Albert that the secret of reaching a country audience through the radio—
[Van Dyke]
Country rockstar Linda Ronstadt.
[Ronstadt]
—was that you have to pick a song that deals directly and honestly with basic human emotions.
[Brooks]
I don't experience basic human emotions. It's just not my thing. Uh, except for patriotism. And that's very important, because it hit me, "What better for country radio, than a cut built around love of country?" I'm very patriotic! Very patriotic! I'll go to a game and I'll stand up sometimes for the entire game.
[Ronstadt]
So something I said must have clicked because the next thing I knew, he ran to the phone!
Credits
Albert Brooks

Albert Brooks

About “In the Beginning” by Albert Brooks

Read the complete lyrics to "In the Beginning" by Albert Brooks from the album "A Star is Bought". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Comedy, Non-Music.

"In the Beginning" is performed by Albert Brooks. from the album "A Star is Bought" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "In the Beginning", explore more songs by Albert Brooks using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"In the Beginning" is credited to Albert Brooks. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"In the Beginning" appears on "A Star is Bought".

Visit the Albert Brooks artist page at /artist/albert-brooks for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.