"Evergreen" is the theme song from the 1976 film A Star Is Born. It was composed and performed by Barbra Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams, and arranged by Ian Freebairn-Smith. The song was released on the soundtrack album to A Star Is Born.
As composers, Streisand and Williams earned an Academy Award for Best Original Song. the first woman to be honored as a composer. Streisand also earned a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. She and Williams also won Golden Globes for Best Original Song.
The song's opening couplet, "Love, soft as an easy chair, love fresh as the morning air," almost did not appear that way. Williams wrote the morning air line first, but told Streisand to "flip those two first lines, because it sings better."
In 1997, the track appeared on the tribute album Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute.
Chart performance
In the US, the single became Streisand's second number 1 single and spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks atop the easy listening chart. This was Streisand's second number-one song on the Hot 100 (following "The Way We Were" in 1974), and her third on the adult contemporary chart ("The Way We Were" and 1964's "People"). In its year-end chart for 1977, Billboard ranked the platinum-certified single, which sold more than 2 million copies, the fourth-biggest single of the year. In the UK Singles Chart, the song peaked at #3 in 1977.
Certifications
Awards
At the 20th Annual Grammy Awards the song was nominated in three categories, winning in two for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Song of the Year tying with "You Light Up My Life". The song was also nominated for Record of the Year.
Other versions
Streisand also recorded versions of the song in Spanish ("Tema de Amor de Nace Una Estrella"), French ( "De Reve en Reverie") with lyrics by Eddy Marnay, and Italian ("Sempreverde") with lyrics by Luigi Albertelli. The Spanish version was released as a track on the 1996 CD single, "I Finally Found Someone", a Streisand duet with Bryan Adams, and on the import CD version of the A Star is Born remastered soundtrack. The French and Italian versions have not yet been released commercially.
- American singer Frank Sinatra recorded the song in 1976.
- Paul Williams recorded the song for his 1977 album Classics.
- Ramsey Lewis recorded a jazz instrumental version for his 1977 album Love Notes.
- American trumpeter Blue Mitchell recorded the song for his 1977 album Summer Soft
- In 1977, Florence Henderson performed the song on an episode of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour
- Saxophonist Willis Jackson with guitarist Pat Martino recorded the song for theirs 1978 album Single Action
- British pop group Brotherhood of Man recorded the song theirs 1981 album 20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs
- British singer Hazell Dean recorded a dance version of the song in 1984, and reached #63 in the UK Singles Chart.
- American pop singer Johnny Mathis recorded the song his 1977 album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
- Luther Vandross recorded the song for his 1994 album Songs.
- Kenny Rogers recorded the song for his 1996 album Vote for Love.
- In mid-2001, Salbakuta, a rap band from the Philippines used the first lines of the song for the chorus of their best hit song "Stupid Love".
See also
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1977 (U.S.)
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1977 (U.S.)
References
External links
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics