October 21, 1980, was a historic day for Don Williams. On this day, Williams celebrated his 11th No. 1 hit with “I Believe In You“. The song is the title track of Williams’ tenth studio album.
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Sam Hogin and Roger Cook penned “I Believe In You”, the only song they wrote for the record. “I Believe In You” became an international hit as well, charting in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
“I Believe In You” remains one of the biggest hits of Williams’ career. The song also became a Top 25 hit on pop radio.
I Believe In You won a CMA Award for Album of the Year. The song was also nominated for Single of the Year, with the trophy going to The Oak Ridge Boys for “Elvira” instead.
15 years later, in 1995, singer and Golden Globe-winning actress Bette Midler covered Williams’ hit song for her studio album Bette of Roses. Midler portrayed Winifred Sanderson in the hit Disney movie, Hocus Pocus.
The Story Behind “I Believe In You” by Don Williams
The version Don Williams recorded isn’t the original. Cook thought the song was finished until he looked at it after it was completed and realized he was unhappy with the lyric. Together, he and Hogin reworked the words, finishing it just in time to give it to Williams.
“Eventually, when Sam and I sat around until 2:00 in the morning one night, we had the lyric tight,” Cook recalls to The Tennessean. “I finally was really happy with the lyric. And went in and made a really good demo of it. And, about two or three days later, Garth called me one day, Garth Fundis, who was producing Don. He said, ‘If you got anything for Don, we’re going in the studio. We could use a song or two.’ I said, “I’ve just written a song. … I can hear Don singing it.”
“I Believe In You” says in part, “I don’t believe in superstars / Organic food and foreign cars / I don’t believe the price of gold / The certainty of growing old / That right is right and left is wrong / That North and South can’t get along / That East is East and West is West / And being first is always best / But I believe in love / I believe in babies / I believe in mom and dad / And I believe in you.”
As soon as Cook heard Williams sing “I Believe In You”, he knew that it would be one of his most successful songs.
“I thought straight away, ‘That’s it, I know we’re going to have a big hit,’” Cook shares, recounting when he heard Williams’ version for the first time. “I just knew, because his voice, that lovely, warm, ‘Hi, I’m your next-door neighbor’ kind of voice.”
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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