"I Write the Songs" is a popular song by Barry Manilow from 1975 written by Bruce Johnston. Manilow's version reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 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 and became one of Manilow's 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 creativity in all of us.
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 UK Singles Chart in August of that year
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 relented and 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.
This song was also recorded by Captain & Tennille, Johnny Mathis, Tom Jones, Dinah Shore, David Osborne, as well as Bruce Johnston himself on his 1977 Going Public album. Frank Sinatra sang it as "I Sing The Songs". In 2008 Me First And The Gimme Gimmes recorded it on their album Have Another Ball. In 1979, Sammy Davis, Jr. performed it as part of his live show.
Manilow once did a parody duet titled "I Write The Songs/I Wreck The Songs" with Rosie O'Donnell on her talk show on April 18, 1997.
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