"The Way We Were" is the title song to the 1973 movie The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The song was written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, scored by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Streisand. It won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Song and also made AFI's list of Top 100 Songs from Film; it was ranked number eight.

"The Way We Were" topped the Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974 and was replaced by "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra. It then returned to number one for two additional weeks. The song also spent two weeks atop the easy listening chart, Streisand's second single to reach the top of this chart (following 1964's "People").

The 45 version of the song is a different vocal take than the version which appeared on the original movie soundtrack and subsequent greatest hits compilations. Both versions use the same music track. The difference in the vocals can most easily be heard on the line "Smiles we gave to one another" at approximately 1:15 into the song. The true 45 RPM single version has never appeared on CD. The soundtrack version of the song, a completely different take with alternate music track, appears on "Just For the Record," Streisand's 4-CD box set collection released in 1991.

A bootleg of the recording sessions exists featuring Streisand with composer Marvin Hamlisch in a recording studio as they perform various takes of the song. One segment reveals Streisand changing the first word of the song from "Daydreams" to "Memories."

Streisand's version was listed at #90 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.[1]

A 1975 version by Gladys Knight & the Pips featured the intro to the song "Try to Remember", and was credited as "The Way We Were/Try to Remember". Released as a single, it reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

In 1975 Shirley Bassey recorded the song on her album Good, Bad, But Beautiful.

José José recorded the song in Spanish titled "Nuestros Recuerdos", included in his 1975 album Tan Cerca...Tan Lejos.

In Australia from March 1977 the song was used in Australia in advertisements for international phone calls by the Overseas Telecommunications Commission.

Donna Summer performed a cover on her 1978 live double album Live and More.

In 1979, Gilda Radner recorded a somewhat humorous version of the song as character Lisa Lupner from her LP "Live from New York."

In April 2006, Paris Bennett performed a cover in the style of Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1975 version on American IdolSeason 5 while she was in the Top 6.

In 2007, Barry Manilow included the song on his album The Greatest Songs of the Seventies.

In 2008, Girlicious did a remake of the song on their self-titled debut album, Girlicious.

On December 30, 2008, Beyoncé Knowles performed her cover of the song to Barbra Streisand at the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.