The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand (1973-74) 12/30/20

It's hard to believe now, but in the early '70s, Barbra Streisand had become a legend, but was already fading from the limelight. She had a few hit records here and there, but her film career had stalled.

Things changed in 1973 when she teamed up with Robert Redford for “The Way We Were,” a romantic drama about two star-crossed lovers...whose stars kept crossing (so to speak). The physical attraction was always there...but her character was a Marxist Jew who had strong anti-war opinions, while Redford's character was a handsome WASP with no particular interest in social issues. That was just the beginning. The relationship was doomed to fail—and it did. It was heartbreaking and bittersweet, and the filmmakers (including director Sidney Pollack) needed a song for the film to underscore the dilemma being played out on screen.

Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music, while Alan and Marilyn Bergman wrote the lyrics. Barbra asked Hamlisch to write the song in a minor key, but he wrote it in a major key instead, telling Barbra it would have more emotional impact. Not many people could say no to Barbra (...and that's still true...) but it turned out that Marvin was right.

The film was a box office success, but received mixed critical reviews. The song, however, was a different story. It was released as a single in late 1973, and stayed on the charts for 23 weeks, crossing over into 1974, and peaking at #1 on the Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts in both the US and Canada. It sold over a million copies and Billboard Magazine ranked it the #1 song of 1974.

After that, the accolades kept on coming! “The Way We Were” won the Oscar and Golden Globe for “Best Original Song,” as well as the Grammy Award for “Song of the Year!” The National Endowment for the Arts and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranked it at #298 on their list of the top 365 "Songs of the 20th Century.”

Note: MANY artists have covered the song, but the most successful was Gladys Knight and the Pips, whose 1975 medley of the song with “Try to Remember” was a Top 10 hit on the adult Contemporary Charts in the US (#2), Canada (#3) and the UK #4).

“The Way We Were:” Truly a “Great Song of the '70s!

Barbra:

Gladys: