Music

"Up Where We Belong" is the theme song to the movie An Officer And A Gentleman. It won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1983. The movie is certainly a classic and the song goes along with the film perfectly. Let's find out about the creation of the tune. The entire process - from idea to inclusion in the movie and release - took only 30 days. Will Jennings wrote the lyrics. He's responsible for the words to many famous songs, including "My Heart Will Go On," "Looks Like We Made It," and many of Steve Winwood's hits. Flickr: badgreeb RECORDS-up where we belong Jennings told us: "Joel Sill, who was head of the music department of Paramount, asked me to consider writing a song for this film. I watched a rough cut, loved the film and I heard enough parts to make up a song. I asked Joel to send me the work track and I stitched together the verse, chorus, and bridge of the song and wrote the lyrics... Joel sent it to Stewart Levine, a fine music producer, and Stewart and I talked the song over on the phone and he went in to the studio and cut the hit track with Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes." RELATED: Joe Cocker: “Cry me a River” Will Jennings told us about coming up with the words to this song: "I am a working class person and these people in the film trying to make it, they are my people. The mountain imagery is about striving for the top - people often don't hear the lyric right - it is 'Where eagles cry, on a mountain high' instead of 'Where eagles fly, on a mountain high' - if you have ever heard an eagle cry, the power and beauty of it and all the wild freedom of it, you will get the distinction. As far as "All I know is the way I feel...' well, if you have nothing else to tell you what to do in your life, you have to go with the way you feel... if you are lost, you have only your instinct and passion to guide you." (source) Lyrics from this Academy Award Winning Song Who knows what tomorrow brings In a world few hearts survive All I know is the way I feel When it's real, I keep it alive The road is long There are mountains in our way But we climb a step every day Love lift us up where we belong Where the eagles cry On a mountain high Love lift us up where we belong Far from the world below Up where the clear winds blow Some hang on to used to be Live their lives looking behind All we have is here and now All our lives, out there to find The road is long There are mountains in our way But we climb a step every day Love lift us up where we belong Where the eagles cry On a mountain high Love lift us up where we belong Far from the world we know Where the clear winds blow Time goes by No time to cry Life's you and I Alive today Love lift us up where we belong Where the eagles cry On a mountain high Love lift us up where we belong Far from the world we know Where the clear winds blow Love lift us up where we belong Where the eagles cry On a mountain high Love lift us up where we belong The below clip is much older, unfortunately, Joe was ill during the performance. It is still beautiful. And finally, a clip from An Officer and a Gentleman: RELATED: How Much Each Artist Earned From Playing Woodstock