Feelings (song)

"Feelings" is a song written by Louis Gasté, also known as Loulou Gasté, and Brazilian singer Morris Albert and made famous by Albert, who recorded it as a single released in 1974 that later appeared as the title track of his 1975 debut album. The song's lyrics, recognizable by their "whoa whoa whoa" chorus, concern the singer's inability to "forget my feelings of love". Albert's original recording of the song was very successful, performing well internationally. "Feelings" peaked at #6 on the pop and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts in America. Over the next few years "Feelings" was performed by many other vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Petula Clark, José José, Caetano Veloso, Frank Sinatra, Engelbert Humperdinck, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, The O'Jays, Sarah Vaughan, Walter Jackson, Sergey Penkin, Julio Iglesias, Dobie Gray and Johnny Mathis. It was also recorded by numerous easy listening bandleaders and ensembles such as Percy Faith, Ferrante & Teicher, 101 Strings and Herb Ohta whose ukelele rendition was recorded with André Popp's orchestra for A&M Records.

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" music. It appears frequently on lists of "the worst songs ever"  and was included on the 1998 Rhino Records compilation album '70s Party Killers. Actress and performer Julie Andrews once considered this song too difficult to sing during a lecture at Chautauqua Institution. She explained that the song was too difficult to sing, simply because it had no meaning behind it.

Because of stylistic similarities, "Feelings" is sometimes mistakenly associated with Barry Manilow, though Manilow has never recorded the song.

Dispute over authorship
In 1981, the French songwriter Loulou Gasté sued Morris Albert for copyright infringement, claiming that "Feelings" plagiarized the melody of his 1957 song "Pour Toi". They now share the credits of the song.

Recordings of the song have credited authorship variously to Albert alone, to Albert and Gasté (since the late 1980s), to Albert and Michel Jourdan (because of the French lyrics Dis-Lui), and to Albert and "Kaisermann". The last of these attributions is redundant, since the singer's real name is Mauricio Alberto Kaisermann.

Other versions
Mexican singer José José recorded the song in Spanish entitled "Sentimientos", it was included in his album Tan Cerca...Tan Lejos of 1975.

Andy Williams released a version in 1975 on his album, The Other Side of Me.

Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez also recorded the song when she was a young girl. The song was only released in 1997 and included in her album Through The Years/A Traves de los Años. The released version is a remixed version of the original that was recorded in the 1970s.

Israeli-born French pop star Mike Brant recorded a French version of the song entitled "Dis-lui" in 1975.

In 1976, Dutch comedian Andre van Duin recorded the song in his own language as the roadblock-themed "File" (meaning 'traffic-jam'). Although its parent album "And're Andre" was meant to include serious songs only, "File" can be considered a compromise.

Japanese vocal group Hi-Fi Set released a Japanese-language version of the same title in late 1976 and it became their breakthrough hit the next year.

The American punk rock band The Offspring recorded a version of "Feelings" for their 1998 album Americana, substituting the original lyrics about love for ones about hate.

Greek singer Sakis Rouvas released a Greek-language version entitled "Pes Tis" in 2003, while also covering "Feelings" and Brant's "Dis Lui" French version. The Greek version of the song won two MAD Video Music Awards for "Sexiest Appearance in a Video" awarded to Sakis Rouvas, and one awarded to Gens for "Best Direction".

The O'Jays released a version on their 1977 Travelin' At The Speed Of Thought album.

Perry Como included the song in his 1978 album, Where You're Concerned.

Todd Solondz sang the song in a short he made while studying film at NYU called "Feelings".

Enzo Stuarti released a version partly in English, mostly in Italian.

In 2011, the song was parodied by The Fringemunks to recap Fringe episode 3.14, "6B."

A cover of the song appears on the Sesame Street album, Let Your Feelings Show, sung by "Marry Banilow and the Muppettones". The song is first sung as normal (substituting 'girl' with 'boy' as it's sung by a girl), then is redone faster with a bunch of sound effects and soundbytes in the background.

In 2013, a bilingual English / French version of the song was released by Vigon Bamy Jay.

Avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler quoted the theme of "Pour Toi" in his song "Children", which was published in 1964.

Appearances in other media

 * "Feelings" was included on the soundtrack of the 2005 film Breakfast on Pluto.
 * "Feelings" was sung by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys.
 * "Feelings" was included on the soundtrack of the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman.
 * "Feelings" was sung by Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in the "Bionic Beauty" episode of The Bionic Woman (Season 1, 1976).
 * A version of the song appeared on an episode of The Muppet Show sung by Beaker in his "mee-mee" speaking.
 * MC Hammer sings it in a Pepsi commercial after he drinks a glass of cola not knowing it was replaced with Coke.
 * Misty Oldland cited it during a live-performance in Japan as an indication to her own song "Got a feeling".
 * Willie Colón cited it during a French festival-performance as an example of a non-English-speaking artist singing in English.
 * In the premiere episode of The Jim Henson Hour in the "MuppeTelevision" segment, Kermit and a companion enter into the semi-robotic character, Digit, to repair him and work on an interior function for his feelings. When they do so, Digit starts singing the song.
 * A short version of the song was sung by actress Nancy McKeon in a 1984 episode of the sitcom The Facts of Life. In the episode, McKeon's character, Jo, and Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) go to a piano bar where Mrs. Garrett ends up going on a date with the piano man, resulting in Jo taking over for him. She sings a chorus of the song and gets the enthusiastic guests to sing along with her.
 * In the Family Matters episode "Cousin Urkel," Urkel (Jaleel White) sings the chorus of the song in an attempt to serenade Laura Winslow, and plays the accordion to accompany himself. Urkel's rendition, off-key for comedic effect, is late at night (at Eddie's encouragement) and wakes up the entire neighborhood.
 * On The Carol Burnett Show in February 1977, Eunice (Carol Burnett) sings "Feelings" on The Gong Show and gets "gonged".
 * On The Jeffersons in January 1983, Hugo,(Irwin Keyes) serenades "Feelings" to Jenny Willis Jefferson (Berlinda Tolbert) from the street off key.
 * On The Jeffersons in March 1983, Florence,(Marla Gibbs)misunderstands when Louise, George, Tom and Helen plan a surprise party for Florence just to let her know how much they appreciate her friendship. However, when Florence walks in on the planning stages Tom makes an excuse and tells her she's invited but only to serve the meal. This prompts Florence to drown her sorrows in a $500 bottle of wine George just bought. Then she sings 'Feelings' while drunk.