Who Wrote I Write the Songs that Make the Whole World Sing?

You remember Barry Manilow, of course. How could anyone forget? He’s still out there knocking ’em dead, or half-dead. In fact he recently (2023) packed Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena with boomers (and probably some of their kids and grandkids!).

“I Write the Songs” was a smash hit for Barry nearly 50 years ago. Ironically, although a songwriter himself, Barry did not write “I Write the Songs.” He also didn’t write the famous “You Deserve a Break Today” McDonald’s (yes, the hamburger people!) jingle. But he did sing it and he did do a lot of writing and performing of jingles in his early years in New York.

By the way, Rolling Stone magazine once proclaimed Manilow “The Showman of Our Generation.” Quite an honor indeed from a magazine that probably didn’t have a whole lot of good things to say about his music over the years.

A guy by the name of Bruce Johnston wrote “I Write the Songs.”

According to Allmusic.com, Johnston, a fixture in the ’60s California “surf music” scene, “was tapped to join the Beach Boys’ touring band after Brian Wilson announced his retirement from live performances; in 1965, he played piano on the group’s hit ‘California Girls,’ and subsequently remained an on-again, off-again member of their ranks for decades to come, most notably appearing on the 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds. Johnston left the band during the mid-’70s, recording a solo LP, 1977’s Going Public, and becoming the hit songwriter behind smashes like Barry Manilow’s ‘I Write the Songs.’ By the end of the decade, however, he was again producing the Beach Boys, and continued to tour with them well into the 1990s.”

You might find it interesting (I did) that Bruce Johnston and Brian Wilson happen to look a lot alike (didn’t all the Beach Boys look alike?):

I Write The Song Lyrics

I’ve been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music
And I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I’ve got my own place in your soul
Now when I look out through your eyes
I’m young again, even tho’ I’m very old

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

Oh, my music makes you dance and gives you spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock ‘n roll so you can move
Music fills your heart, well that’s a real fine place to start
It’s from me, it’s for you
It’s from you, it’s for me
It’s a worldwide symphony

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I am music and I write the songs