"Feelings" is a song by Morris Albert, first recorded by him as the title track of his 1975 debut album. The song's lyrics, recognizable by their "woah woah woah" chorus, concern the singer's inability to "forget my feelings of love." Albert's original recording of the song was very successful, reaching #6 on the pop and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts in America and performing well internationally. Over the next few years "Feelings" was performed by many other vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Sarah Vaughan and Johnny Mathis. It was also recorded by numerous easy listening bandleaders and ensembles such as Percy Faith and 101 Strings.
In more recent years "Feelings" has been best known as a target of parody and ridicule for embodying what are perceived by many as the most insipid lyrical and musical qualities of 1970s soft rock. It frequently appears on lists of "the worst songs ever"[1] [2] and was included on the 1998 Rhino Records compilation album '70s Party Killers.[3] The Offspring recorded a version of "Feelings" for their 1998 album Americana, substituting lyrics about hate for the original ones about love.
Because of similarities of style "Feelings" is sometimes mistakenly associated with Barry Manilow, though Manilow has never recorded or performed the song.
Dispute over authorship
In 1988 the French songwriter Louis "Loulou" Gasté sued Morris Albert for copyright infringement, claiming that "Feelings" plagiarized the melody of his 1957 song "Pour Toi". Gasté won the lawsuit and was awarded 88% of the royalties generated by the song.[4]
Recordings of the song have credited authorship variously to Albert alone, to Albert and Gasté, to Albert and Michel Jourdan, and to Albert and "Kaisermann". The last of these attributions is redundant, since the singer's full anglicized name is Morris Albert Kaisermann.[5]
Cultural references
- In a 1980s Doonesbury strip two characters play recordings of "Feelings" and other similar songs at a loud volume in a (successful) attempt to drive out drug dealers living next door.
- In a Saturday Night Live sketch, Bill Murray portrayed a lounge singer who performs an overwrought rendition of "Feelings".
- A Far Side cartoon showed a gorilla playing the piano in a café and singing "Peelings, nothing more than peelings."
- In the episode "Bionic Beauty" of The Bionic Woman, Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) sings the song as part of a beauty pageant talent show.
- An episode of The Muppet Show featured Beaker singing a version of the song using his "mee-mee-mee" and no actual words.
- On The Carol Burnett Show in a Mama's Family sketch, Eunice, played by Carol Burnett, appears on the The Gong Show (against her family's better judgment) and is quickly gonged after just a few agonizing lines of "Feelings".
- In one program of The Gong Show, each contestant came onstage singing "Feelings," totally exasperating the judging panel.
- A Sesame Street album had a version of the song sang by Marry Banilow and the Muppetones.
- Another cartoon skit from Sesame Street featuring a mouse singing about cats and their feelings parodied the song, calling it "Felines".
- A Pepsi ad with MC Hammer shows him singing it in concert after someone replaced his Pepsi with Coca-Cola and he drank it. A fan throws him a Pepsi, he drinks it, and goes right back to singing what he was before.
- In the film The Sure Thing, John Cusack sings the song while perched on a car hood as it tries to drive away.
- In the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy sings the song while on patrol.
- The film The Fabulous Baker Boys features Michelle Pfeiffer singing "Feelings" - one of the many familiar songs in the movie.
- In one of the segments of the film National Lampoon Goes to the Movies, called "Municipalians", the song plays a central role shortly before the hero of the story suffers a nervous breakdown.
- In one of the episodes of the sitcom Family Matters, Steve Urkel sings the song while serenading Laura.
Appearances in other media
References
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