This song won an award the same year Starland Vocal Band won (over Boston) - it's a song Barry needs to play at the start and end of every show, in my opinion - if only there was a way to make the start of the song more heavy.
I completely agree. And not only would I love to see a performance....your demonstration of the song just screams out for a short piano tutorial of your arrangement if you'd ever consider that (camera angle above the keys to see your chord voicings) Really, really sounds great!
Bruce Johnson wrote some strong melodies. His Beach Boys tunes 'Tears In The Morning' & 'Endless Harmony' are also very good, IMHO, & Art Garfunkel covered his song 'Disney Girls'.
Weird that he did not record it with the Beach Boys and get the Brian Wilson production. Interesting to think about what a BB version would sound like! Excellent video.
I believe that he was sacked by the BBs for quite a while during the 70s and it may be that this was written during that period. Someone will know for sure.
@@bobfennell3717yes I believe Bruce was out of the BB’s from around 1972-80 so may very well have been written during that period. Not sure if he was “sacked “ or left on his own accord.
Interesting analysis! It is a well written song. I don’t mind “70’s production” in general, as it’s my favorite vintage for music. I listened to the Manilow version a lot when I was a kid (in the late 70’s). I always thought he wrote it as he did write songs and it says so right in the lyrics! Didn’t learn Bruce wrote it until a couple years ago. Just listened to all 4 versions. Had never heard the Bruce or the Cassidy versions before. The Cassidy version is my least favorite, and is, in truth pretty bad. (Who told him he had a good voice?) I love Toni Tenille’s voice and delivery, but the backing choir detracts from the song. I like the simplicity and the vocal of Bruce’s version but it’s almost too slow and understated. Which leaves Manilow’s definitive version as probably the best one overall. The production and performance elevate the song and give it more “punch”. The one thing that always bugged me about the song is it can seem self-congratulatory, and being sung by anyone other than the person that DID write this song comes off as ingenuine. The singer is literally saying he or she wrote the songs, but did NOT write this song that he or she is now singing! So, in that respect, Bruce is the best guy to sing the song.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree that it is easy to mis read this song into thinking that it is being self conragulatory. But I realized early on that, if you sing this song it is not about you, but about music as a concept or an entity.
Interesting history and breakdown of the song. I instantly think of Barry Manilow, when I hear this tune.
I would have liked to have heard The Beach Boys do a version of I Write The Songs. I can hear where they would have done some vocal harmonies on it.
Oh yes! I can only begin to imagine what that might have sounded like!
This song won an award the same year Starland Vocal Band won (over Boston) - it's a song Barry needs to play at the start and end of every show, in my opinion - if only there was a way to make the start of the song more heavy.
I completely agree.
And not only would I love to see a performance....your demonstration of the song just screams out for a short piano tutorial of your arrangement if you'd ever consider that (camera angle above the keys to see your chord voicings) Really, really sounds great!
Thanks!
Bruce Johnson wrote some strong melodies. His Beach Boys tunes 'Tears In The Morning' & 'Endless Harmony' are also very good, IMHO, & Art Garfunkel covered his song 'Disney Girls'.
Right on!
Awesome explanation and a great video. So sad nobody writes this kind of music anymore. And by the way, not a cheesy song at all!
Thanks for that! I don’t think the song is Cheesy, I think the production makes it sound cheesy.
Weird that he did not record it with the Beach Boys and get the Brian Wilson production. Interesting to think about what a BB version would sound like! Excellent video.
I believe that he was sacked by the BBs for quite a while during the 70s and it may be that this was written during that period. Someone will know for sure.
I can’t help but wonder too what a Beach Boys version might have sounded like.
@@bobfennell3717yes I believe Bruce was out of the BB’s from around 1972-80 so may very well have been written during that period. Not sure if he was “sacked “ or left on his own accord.
Interesting analysis! It is a well written song. I don’t mind “70’s production” in general, as it’s my favorite vintage for music. I listened to the Manilow version a lot when I was a kid (in the late 70’s). I always thought he wrote it as he did write songs and it says so right in the lyrics! Didn’t learn Bruce wrote it until a couple years ago. Just listened to all 4 versions. Had never heard the Bruce or the Cassidy versions before. The Cassidy version is my least favorite, and is, in truth pretty bad. (Who told him he had a good voice?) I love Toni Tenille’s voice and delivery, but the backing choir detracts from the song. I like the simplicity and the vocal of Bruce’s version but it’s almost too slow and understated. Which leaves Manilow’s definitive version as probably the best one overall. The production and performance elevate the song and give it more “punch”. The one thing that always bugged me about the song is it can seem self-congratulatory, and being sung by anyone other than the person that DID write this song comes off as ingenuine. The singer is literally saying he or she wrote the songs, but did NOT write this song that he or she is now singing! So, in that respect, Bruce is the best guy to sing the song.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree that it is easy to mis read this song into thinking that it is being self conragulatory.
But I realized early on that, if you sing this song it is not about you, but about music as a concept or an entity.
Barry Manilow didnt even write "I Write the Songs"! What a fraud
That would make sense if he had tried to deceive the public into believing he had written it.
But he didn’t.
So why would you say that?
I guess I took the song too literally