People (1964 song)

"People" is a song that was written by Jule Styne (composer) and Bob Merrill (lyricist) for the Broadway musical Funny Girl (1964) starring Barbra Streisand, who introduced the song. It is often known by a line from its chorus, "People who need people....". It has been recorded by Dionne Warwick, Steve Lawrence, Jack Jones, Aretha Franklin, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, The Supremes and others, but is most closely associated with Streisand as her signature song. The song asserts that "people who need people" — that is, people who love others and are not emotionally cut off from them — are the "luckiest people in the world". It was released as a single with "I Am Woman", a solo version of "You Are Woman, I Am Man", also from "Funny Girl".

Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song live on her CBS release Ella Fitzgerald at the Live at Carnegie Hall. The Tymes had a top 40 hit with the song in 1968.

Origins

"People" was one of the first songs written for the musical score of Funny Girl. It is based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.

Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill were hired to write the musical score and met each other for the first time in 1962 in Palm Beach, Florida. They wrote their songs by day and tested them by night on the Palm Beach socialites at...
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