I Write the Songs

Template:Template other Template:Template other "I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977. Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.

The original version was recorded by Captain & Tennille, who worked with Johnston in the early 1970s with the Beach Boys. It appears on their 1975 album Love Will Keep Us Together. The first release of "I Write the Songs" as a single was by teen idol David Cassidy from his 1975 solo album The Higher They Climb, produced by Johnston. Cassidy's version reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart in August of that year. After Manilow's hit, Johnston recorded the song for his 1977 album Going Public.

Johnston has stated that, for him, the "I" in the song is God, and that songs come from the spirit of creativity in everyone. He has said that the song is not about his Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson.

Manilow was initially reluctant to record the song, stating in his autobiography Sweet Life: "The problem with the song was that if you didn't listen carefully to the lyric, you would think that the singer was singing about himself. It could be misinterpreted as a monumental ego trip." After persuasion by Clive Davis, then president of Arista Records, Manilow recorded the song, and his version of "I Write the Songs" was the first single taken from the album Tryin' to Get the Feeling. It first charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 15, 1975, reaching the top of the chart nine weeks later, on January 17, 1976. Cash Box said of Manilow's version "Good work Barry" describing the song as "melodic, ballad-like beginning grows into an operatic crescendo, all done in clear production that all age groups will appreciate." Record World called it "an uplifting production number" and "perhaps [Manilow's] strongest offering since 'Mandy.'"

Chart performance

Weekly charts

David Cassidy

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	85
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UK Singles Chart	11

Barry Manilow cover

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Chart (1975–1976)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	5
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New Zealand (RIANZ)	13
South Africa (Springbok)	5

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)	52
Canada	49
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	13
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	5

All-time charts

Chart (1958–2018)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100	185

Popularity

After his version reached number one, Manilow himself composed a novelty song based on this song which he recorded under the title "I Really Do Write the Songs" in which he sings about how he composes each part of a song and the line "Sometimes I really do write the songs" at the end of each verse. In the finale, he sings, "sometimes...ah, what the hell...I write the songs." Unreleased at the time, it was included as a bonus track on the reissue of his album This One's for You in 2006.Template:Better source needed

It was covered by Frank Sinatra as "I Sing the Songs".

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1975 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1976 (U.S.)

External links

• Template:Trim Template:Replace on YouTube
• Template:Trim Template:Replace on YouTube