The Way We Were (song)

Infobox Single
Name = The Way We Were


Artist = Barbra Streisand
Album = The Way We Were
B-side = "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"
Released = November 1973
Format = 7"
Recorded = 1973
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:31
Label = Columbia
Writer = Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch
Producer = Marty Paich
Certification =

"The Way We Were" is the title song to the 1973 movie "The Way We Were", starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The song was written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, scored by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Streisand. It won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Song and also made AFI's list of top 100 songs from film; it was ranked number eight.

"The Way We Were" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974 and was replaced by "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra. It then returned to number one for two additional weeks. The song also spent two weeks atop the adult contemporary chart, Streisand's second single to reach the top of this chart (following 1964's "People").

The 45 version of the song is a different vocal take then the version which appeared on the original movie soundtrack and subsequent greatest hits compilations. Both versions use the same music track. The difference in the vocals can most easily be heard on the line "Smiles we gave to one another" at approximately 1:15 into the song. The true 45 RPM single version has never appeared on CD. The soundtrack version of the song, a completely different take with alternate music track, appears on "Just For the Record", Streisand's 4-CD box set collection released in 1991.

A bootleg of the recording sessions exists featuring Streisand with composer Marvin Hamlisch in a recording studio as they perform various takes of the song. One possibility was changing the opening line of the song from "Memories, light the corners of my mind." to "Daydreams, light the corners of my mind".

Streisand's version was listed at #90 on "Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time." [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-90.shtml]

A 1975 version by Gladys Knight & the Pips featured the intro to the song "Try to Remember", and was credited as "The Way We Were/Try to Remember". Released as a single, it reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

In Australia from March 1977 the song was used in Australia in advertisements for international phone calls by the Overseas Telecommunications Commission.

Donna Summer performed a cover on her 1978 live double album "Live and More".

In 1979 Gilda Radner recorded a somewhat humorous version of the song as character Lisa Lupner from her LP "Live From New York".

In April 2006, Paris Bennett performed a cover in the style of Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1975 version on "American Idol" Season 5 while she was in the Top 6.

In 2007, Barry Manilow included the song on his album "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies".

In 2008, Girlicious did a remake of the song on their self-titled debut album "Girlicious".

In the movie "", Priscilla Presley´s character sings this song in the shower, and an assailant out to kill her sings along with her for a long time before she realizes she's not alone.