The Power Of Love – Huey Lewis & The News | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#1 for 2 weeks); 1985

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

One of the most memorable scenes in Steven Spielberg’s monster hit movie, Back To The Future, takes place as teenaged time traveler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) swings into a scorching guitar intro at the band audition. From the judging panel comes a less-than-complimentary dismissal, “I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud.” Sharp-eyed filmgoers caught the insider humor of Huey Lewis, playing the dissenting teacher, attacking Marty’s take on Huey’s own composition. The Power Of Love wasn’t the first choice for BTTF. Huey had first offered Spielberg and director Robert Zemeckis In The Nick Of Time, which ultimately ended up in Brewster’s Millions. Next up was Back In Time, which played under the end titles, a song which many involved with Future firmly believed was a much better song and potential hit than Love. Bones Howe, veteran music producer and music supervisor for the film, stood by Love, which became Huey’s first #1.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2023 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

• Huey Lewis and the News

Lyrics Written by:

• Huey Lewis
• Chris Hayes
• Johnny Colla

Awards:

• Academy Awards Nominee for Best Original Song (1986)
• Grammy Awards Winner of Grammy Award for Long-Form Video for “Heart of Rock and Roll” (1986)
• Grammy Awards Nominee for Record of the Year for “The Heart of Rock & Roll” (1985)
• Grammy Awards Nominee for Record of the Year for “The Power of Love” (1986)
• Brit Awards Winner of Best International Group (1986)
• “The Power of Love” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
• The song was certified Gold by the RIAA