One Night Only: Barbra Streisand and Quartet at the Village Vanguard - September 26, 2009 cover

The Way We Were (Live at Village Vanguard, NYC - September 26, 2009)

From One Night Only: Barbra Streisand and Quartet at the Village Vanguard - September 26, 2009 · Released 4 May 2010 · Columbia

4:44

Lyrics

Memories

Light the corners of my mind

Misty watercolor memories

Of the way we were

Scattered pictures

Of the smiles we left behind

Smiles we gave to one another

For the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then

Or has time rewritten every line

If we had the chance to do it all again

Tell me, would we?

Could we?

Memories

May be beautiful and yet

What's too painful to remember

We simply to choose to forget

So it's the laughter

We will remember

Whenever we remember

The way we were

Lyrics from LRCLIB

Support Barbra Streisand

Plays on these apps pay Barbra Streisand and the song's owners.

YouTube Spotify Audiomack

Boomplay Deezer

About this song

"The Way We Were" is a song by American singer Barbra Streisand from her fifteenth studio album of the same name. It was released as the album's lead single on September 27, 1973, on Columbia Records. The 7" single was distributed in two different formats, with the standard edition featuring B-side track "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" and the Mexican release instead including an instrumental B-side. The song was written by Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch, while production was handled by Marty Paich. "The Way We Were" was specifically produced for the record, in addition to three other tracks, including her then-upcoming single "All in Love Is Fair" (1974).

Its lyrics detail the melancholic relationship between the two main characters Katie Morosky (Streisand) and Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford) in the 1973 film of the same name. Its appeal was noted by several music critics, who felt its impact helped revive Streisand's career. The song also won two Academy Awards, which were credited to the songwriters of the track. The single was also a commercial success, topping the charts in both Canada and on the US Billboard Hot 100, while peaking in the top 40 in Australia and on the UK Singles Chart. Additionally, "The Way We Were" was 1974's most successful recording in the United States, where it was placed at number one on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles list. It has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over one million units. Streisand has also included "The Way We Were" on various compilation albums, with it most recently appearing on 2010's Barbra: The Ultimate Collection.

Several renditions and versions of the single exist, including one by American singer Andy Williams, who sang it for his thirty-second studio album of the same name in 1974. American band Gladys Knight & the Pips also recorded a live cover of I Feel a Song (1974), which was commercially successful; it reached number four in the United Kingdom and number 11 in the United States.

From Wikipedia. Read the full article