I Write the Songs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and recorded by David Cassidy, Captain & Tennille and Barry Manilow the same year. Manilow's version reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976, and it became one of his signature songs.
The title has been misunderstood to mean that the singer (or songwriter) "writes the songs," but the actual songwriter, The Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston, has stated that the "I" in the song is "music." He went on to say that songs come from the spirit of music in all of us: "I am music, and I write the songs." He also stated in several interviews that this song had been written as an homage to Brian Wilson, the "genius" who has written the best music of The Beach Boys.
The first time the song was released on a single was from David Cassidy in 1975 from the album, "The Higher They Climb". The single reached #11 on the charts in Great Britain[1].
Barry Manilow released his version of "I Write the Songs" as the first to be taken from the album Tryin' to Get the Feelin' and was released on November 15, 1975. It reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 nine weeks later, on January 17, 1976.
This song was also recorded by Johnny Mathis, Tom Jones, Dinah Shore, David Osborne, Don Estelle as well as Bruce Johnston himself on his 1977 Going Public album. Frank Sinatra sang it as "I sing the songs".
Manilow once did a parody duet titled "I Write The Songs/I Wreck The Songs" with Rosie O'Donnell on her show on April 18, 1997. A sample of the lyrics are:
B: I write the songs that you sing in the shower
R: You write the songs I mutilate by the hour
B: You sing my songs and make your neighbors complain
B: I write the songs
R: I wreck the songs
B: I am music
R: And I wreck the songs!
Manilow did another shortened performance of this song with Stephen Colbert when he was a guest on The Colbert Report on October 30, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Preceded by "Convoy" by C.W. McCall |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single January 17, 1976 |
Succeeded by "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" by Diana Ross |