I Write the Songs

"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^[3] after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975.^[4] It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977.^[4] Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.^[5]

"I Write the Songs"
Song by Captain & Tennille
from the album Love Will Keep Us Together
Released	May 23, 1975
Genre	Pop, adult contemporary
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Bruce Johnston
Producer(s)	Daryl Dragon
Audio Recording
" I Write The Songs - The Captain & Tennille (1975)" on YouTube

"I Write the Songs"
Single by David Cassidy
from the album The Higher They Climb
B-side	"Get It Up for Love"
Released	May 1975
Recorded	1975
Genre	Pop
Length	4:07
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Bruce Johnston
Producer(s)	Bruce Johnston
David Cassidy singles chronology
"Daydreamer" (1973) "I Write the Songs" (1975) "Darlin'" (1975)

"I Write the Songs"
Single by Barry Manilow
from the album Tryin' to Get the Feeling
B-side	"A Nice Boy Like Me"
Released	November 1975
Recorded	1975
Genre	Soft rock[1][2]
Length	3:43 (single version)
Label	Arista 0157
Songwriter(s)	Bruce Johnston
Producer(s)	Ron Dante Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow singles chronology
"Could It Be Magic" (1975) "I Write the Songs" (1975) "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" (1976)

"I Write the Songs"
Song by Bruce Johnston
from the album Going Public
Released	May 1977
Genre	Pop rock
Length	4:05
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Bruce Johnston
Producer(s)	Gary Usher

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.^[6] 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,^[3] 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.^[7]

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."^[4] 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."^[8] Record World called it "an uplifting production number" and "perhaps [Manilow's] strongest offering since 'Mandy.'" ^[9]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

David Cassidy

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	85
Ireland (IRMA)[10]	13
UK Singles Chart[11]	11

Barry Manilow cover Chart (1975–1976) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 5 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[13] 3 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[14] 2 Ireland (IRMA)[15] 11 New Zealand (RIANZ)[16] 13 South Africa (Springbok)[17] 5 US Billboard Hot 100[18] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[19] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1976) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)[20] 52 Canada[21] 49 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22] 13 U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[23] 5 All-time charts Chart (1958–2018) Position US Billboard Hot 100[24] 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."^[25] Unreleased at the time, it was included as a bonus track on the reissue of his album This One's for You in 2006.^{[26][better source needed]}

It was covered by Frank Sinatra as "I Sing the Songs".^[27]

See also

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