" The Way We Were " received significant success after its original release in North America ; Jon Landau of '' Rolling Stone '' claimed that its impact proved worthy enough to revive her career as a musical artist . However , he was more critical of the singer " ignor ing the line-by-line variations in the song 's meaning " . Nevertheless , the mass appeal of the single was labeled by Turner Classic Movies 's Andrea Passafiume as " one of the most recognizable songs in the world " . Hamlisch and the Bergmans won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 46th Academy Awards , beating out four other nominees ; the former musician also won the award for Best Original Score for his credited work on " The Way We Were " and the soundtrack of the same name . It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1974 and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1975 . According to the National Endowment for the Arts and Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) in their list of the top 365 " Songs of the Century " , the single was placed at number 298
46th Academy Awards
46th Academy Awards
The Way We Were (song)