
“Our lyrics are designed to be an integral part of motion pictures,” Alan Bergman said. Ray Stark hired Marilyn and Alan Bergman to write the lyrics to Hamlisch’s melody.

“When I feel the emotional tug, when I react the way I hope the audience will, then I know I’ve got it.” Hamlisch had an emotional, not intellectual response to the “right” melody. “I was determined not to write something drippingly sentimental.” “I wanted to give her the notes that let her soar,” he wrote. Hamlisch was also customizing a song for the formidable Streisand. “By doing this,” he said, “I tried to give a sense of hope to this tragic story.” He felt a song composed in a minor key would be the obvious, “sad” choice for a tearjerker movie. I wrote it down and when I got up the next morning I made some minor changes and had the finished product.” I went to bed one night, still depressed, but I woke up at 2 a.m. I thought about the script and I was quite depressed because the perfect combination didn’t come to me right away. He explained that “on the surface it was a pretty difficult assignment. Hamlisch wrote in his memoir, “I put in weeks and weeks of struggle to find the right theme.” As Hamlisch told Cash Box Magazine, it was producer Ray Stark who “called me up and told me he needed a song that was roughly a cross between Michel Legrand and Carole King.” If the song worked, Stark would hire Hamlisch to write the score for the movie, too. Hamlisch had previously composed scores for The Swimmer, and Woody Allen’s Bananas,īut in 1973 he was still new to film scores and theme songs.
#THE WAY WE WERE SONG MOVIE#
Marvin Hamlisch, who met Streisand when he was the rehearsal pianist for Funny Girl, wrote the theme song for this movie – Barbra’s seventh film. She has said that she doesn't believe in the lyrics, and has very rarely performed it live.When the Sydney Pollack-directed movie The Way We Werewas previewed in San Francisco in July 1973, audiences reacted very favorably to the theme song.

However, she is not actually a fan of the song herself. It was a huge hit around the world, and is perhaps her greatest hit single ever. This was the song that truly took Barbra into the mainstream pop world, thanks to her collaboration with the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb, who co-wrote this song with his brother Robin. Although a top three hit in the States, it amazingly only reached number 34 in the UK! 1. The track was written by all three Bee Gees. Taken from her huge 1980 album of the same name, this saw Babs team up with Barry for one of pop's most classic duets.
#THE WAY WE WERE SONG TV#
It was intended as theme tune for the short-lived TV show All That Glitters, and was later recorded as two separate solo versions by Neil and Barbara.Īfter an early form of 'mashup' featuring the two versions gained popularity, an official duet was recorded by the pair, and it became a huge hit. This duet is about two lovers who have drifted apart over time, while they "go through the motions" and heartache of life together. 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' (with Neil Diamond) It was nominated for an Oscar the following year, but lost out to Irene Cara's 'Flashdance. This was taken from the 1983 musical movie Yentl, in which Barbra starred and directed. It later featured on the album of the same name in 1974. The song and movie helped revive her career, and it became one of her signature songs. This song is about a melancholic relationship between the two main characters in the 1973 film of the same name, which starred Barbra and Robert Redford. Many artists have performed the song over the decades, but it will be Barbra's powerhouse version that will forever be the definitive. This anthem appears in the Funny Girl musical, in which Babs starred in 1968.

The song won her and co-writer Paul Williams an Oscar (the first time a woman had won the award as a writer), as well as a Grammy and Golden Globe. This classic ballad was also known as the 'Love Theme' from her 1976 movie A Star is Born, in which she starred opposite Kris Kristofferson. Barbra did include a snippet of the song in her 2012 Back To Brooklyn Tour, and spoke about the recent passing of Donna, and how she wished she was alive to sing it with her. However, the pair never performed it live together after the song was released. This duet with released in 1979 for Barbra's Wet album and Donna Summer's On the Radio compilation. 'No More Tears (Enough is Enough)' (with Donna Summer) This became one of Barbra's first hits and transformed her into a worldwide star. The musical was based on the life and career of Broadway and film star Fanny Brice, and her difficult relationship with entrepreneur Nicky Arnstein. 'People'īarbra sang this song in the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl and its movie adaptation four years later. Barba recorded one of the most famous covers of the song in 1985 as a one-off single, and it won her a Grammy Award.
