"Can't Smile Without You" is a song written by Christian Arnold, David Martin and Geoff Morrow, and recorded by various artists including

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

and

the Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

. It was first recorded and released by David Martin as a solo single in 1975. The version recorded by Manilow in 1977 and released in 1978 is the most well-known. In

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, the song is commonly sung by fans of English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, having reportedly been used by them since the late 1970s.

Origin

The song was inspired by and written by Martin about a woman named Debbie, who appears on the cover alongside Martin.

Carpenters version

The song was recorded in 1976 by the Carpenters and released on their May 1976 album, '' A Kind of Hush''. It was also the B-side track for their 1977 single, " Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft", released in support of their 1977 album, '' Passage''.

Barry Manilow version

"Can't Smile Without You" was recorded by Manilow in 1977 and released on his 1978 album, '' Even Now''. Manilow also issued the song as a single in 1978 where it reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart and No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Manilow's version has slightly different lyrics from the Carpenters' version such as the Carpenters's line "I can't laugh and I can't walk/I'm finding it hard even to talk" which was changed in Manilow's version to "I can't laugh and I can't sing/I'm finding it hard to do anything". The Carpenters remixed the song with additional orchestration for the B-side of the 1977 "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" single, revising the lyrics to read "I can't laugh and I can't sleep/I don't even talk to people I meet". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said that Manilow's version starts "sweetly with a soft whistle" and builds in intensity over the course of the song, similar to other of Manilow's popular songs. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that it "moves at a moderate, catchy tempo with a lost-love lyric of the sort that has swelled the artist's audience." A version on Manilow's greatest hits box set, '' The Complete Collection and Then Some...'', contains a slightly different version to the previously released version. During live performances, Barry Manilow will pull a girl out of the audience to sing the song as a duet with him. The Barry Manilow version is closely associated with the English

Football club

. The song first became associated with the club in the late 1970s, having reportedly been played on the team coach on away trips during that era. The song is played before home matches at

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur in North London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the List of football stadium ...

and at the club's previous home

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

George Michael lawsuit

On behalf of the songwriters, publishing company Dick James Music sued

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

for plagiarism in the mid-1980s claiming that the 1984

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

single, "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with " Everything She Wants" in several Eur ...

", lifted its melody from "Can't Smile Without You". The case was reportedly dismissed when a musicologist presented 60-odd songs from the past century that had a comparable chord sequence and melody.

In popular culture

In the film ''

Unconditional Love Unconditional love is known as love without judgment. There are many ways of describing unconditional love, but most will agree that it is that type of love which has no bounds and is unchanging. In Christianity, unconditional love is thought ...

'' (2002), the "Crossbow Killer" whistles the opening of "Can't Smile Without You," which is followed by

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress. Kathy Bates filmography, Her work spans over five decades, and List of awards and nominations received by Kathy Bates, her accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, t ...

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

, Meredith Eaton, and

Jonathan Pryce Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor. He is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nom ...

singing the song. Later in the film, Manilow joins Bates and other cast members in singing a reprise of the song. The Manilow version of "Can't Smile Without You" also appears in ''Starsky & Hutch'' (2004), ''Hellboy: The Golden Army'' (2008) and the episode "'' Game Face''" of the first season of the television series '' Matlock''.

References

{{authority control 1975 songs 1975 singles 1978 singles The Carpenters songs Barry Manilow songs A&M Records singles Arista Records singles Songs written by Geoff Morrow Torch songs 1970s ballads Pop ballads Songs about loneliness Tottenham Hotspur F.C. songs