This Barry Manilow Hit From 1976 Was Actually Intended for The Carpenters

In 1976, Barry Manilow released “Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again”. The song is the title track of Manilow’s third studio album.

David Pomeranz is the only writer of “Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again”. The song became Manilow’s fourth No. 1 single on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. But interestingly, “Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again” wasn’t actually written for Manilow. Instead, when Pomeranz wrote the song, he had The Carpenters in mind, not Manilow.

“It was actually written for The Carpenters,” Pomeranz later told Songfacts. “I had heard that they were looking for a song. And they never recorded it, or so I thought. Then Barry put his record out, and it was as big of a hit as it was. And then cautiously, they released an album of The Carpenters called Interpretations in 1995, and on it was a version of ‘Tryin’ To Get The Feeling’ that Karen had recorded, which was a complete surprise to everybody. So it was recorded several times, but Barry’s was the big, big hit.”

In addition to The Carpenters, Pomeranz also released “Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again” on his own in 1975.

For Manilow, this song follows “I Write The Songs”, the first single from Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again. “I Write The Songs” became one of Manilow’s biggest hits.

The Story Behind “Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again” by Barry Manilow

“Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again” says in part, “‘Cause I been up, down, tryin’ to get the feeling again / All around, tryin’ to get the feeling again / The one that made me shiver, made my knees start to quiver / Every time she walked in.”

Pomeranz later reveals that problems in his own marriage led to him writing this song.

“We had a bit of a tumultuous time,” the songwriter shares. “My first wife and I had some ups and downs, which is what the song kind of speaks about. I kind of pulled from that experience. I also pulled from other times I’d had where I’d be kind of hot in love with somebody. And then one day the fear would be gone, and I would never understand.

“I’ve come to understand what that’s all about since,” he adds. “But there was a time that it was a mystery to me, how I could be in love and then not be. Which is kind of funny.”

Manilow’s version of this song excludes the bridge on the recording. However, he later added it when he performed the song live.

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