| "We Must Believe in Magic" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Crystal Gayle | |
| from the album We Must Believe in Magic | |
| Released | 1977 |
| Genre | Country |
| Songwriter(s) | Allen Reynolds, Bob McDill |
| Audio | |
| "We Must Believe in Magic" on YouTube | |
"We Must Believe in Magic" is a song written by Allen Reynolds and Bob McDill[1] and originally released by Crystal Gayle on her fourth studio album We Must Believe in Magic (1977).[2]
In 1978, it was covered by Jack Clement on his album All I Want to Do in Life.[1][3]
In his book on Johnny Cash, who recorded this song on a Jack Clement–produced album in the 1980s, John M. Alexander describes "We Must Believe in Magic" as a "whimsical piece of sound advice to hold on to our ability to always believe in magic and the guiding hand."[1]
The metaphorical ship bound for Alpha Centauri is filled with a crew of "dreamers and poets and clowns." And that's essentially how [Johnny] Cash and [Jack] Clement viewed themselves. They were the dreamers who believed in the music and, ultimately, had the universe at their command. [Allen] Reynolds recalls that the song was about Jack [Clement] and the label they started together, J-M-I Records. When he and McDill first wrote it they called it "The Company Song." And the magic appears to have worked because J-M-I achieved success when they released the first two Don Williams albums.
— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash[1]