Can You Read My Mind
Written by John Williams / Leslie Bricusse.

Released on the 1982 album All By Myself.

This song is the love theme of the 1979 movie "Superman", originally performed by Maureen McGovern:

Maureen McGovern was a secretary when she was hired to sing the theme from the movie "The Poseidon Adventure" in 1973, which became a #1 hit. She was able to build a reputation as a sophisticated pop singer. For example she also sung "We May Never Love like This Again" from "The Towering Inferno" 1974, which was not a hit, but it did win an Academy Award.

And some info about the composers:

John Williams (born in 1932) is the most popular film composer of the modern era. His first academy award nomination was for "Valley of the Dolls" from 1968, and many more followed like for example: "The Reivers", "Goodbye, Mr. Chips", "The Poseidon Adventure", "Images", "Tom Sawyer", and "The Towering Inferno". His first award was in 1972 for "Fiddler on the Roof". He received an Emmy award for his musical compositions for the TV show "Heidi". In 1974 he first teamed up with the young filmmaker named Steven Spielberg on a movie titled "The Sugarland Express". The two frequently teamed up again with great results, for example "Jaws", "E.T." and "Schindler's List" all winning the composer Academy Awards.

Williams' other most frequent collaborator was George Lucas; beginning with 1977's "Star Wars", another Oscar winner. Other notable scores included "Superman", "The Witches of Eastwick", "The Accidental Tourist", "JFK", and "Nixon". In 1980, Williams also took over as the conductor of the Boston Pops.

Leslie Bricusse (born in London 1931) was among the most prolific and popular songwriters of the post-war era, authoring numerous hits for both the stage and the screen. He started with song writing whilst still at school. In 1954 he got his first "Ivor Novello Award" for the song "Out Of Town" from which Max Bygraves had a UK Top 20 hit. In 1961 Bricusse earned a second award for "My Kind of Girl," a Top Five smash for Matt Munro.

Bricusse teamed often with his song writing partner Anthony Newley. They wrote together the musical "Stop the World - I Want to Get Off" 1961, from which Shirley Bassey has recorded "What Kind of Fool Am I?", and "Once in a Lifetime". Another musical by the same team is "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd" 1964, from which Shirley Bassey has recorded three songs: "Who Can I Turn To?", "The Joker", and "On A Wonderful Day Like Today". Later they also wrote together "The Good Old Bad Old Days". In 1964 they also wrote together the words to Goldfinger. Leslie Bricusse also participated in other Bond songs "You Only Live Twice", and the "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".

Bricusse won an Academy Award for his song "Talk to the Animals" from the musical fantasy film "Dr. Doolittle", and another one later for the score to "Victor/Victoria" together with composer Henry Mancini. Additionally he was nominated for the scores to "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (see You And I), "Scrooge", "Life in a Looking Glass" from "That's Life", "Somewhere in My Memory" from "Home Alone", and "When You're Alone" from "Hook".

Most successful of all was 1971's movie hit "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", which featured "The Candy Man," a pop chart-topper for Sammy Davis, Jr. the following year. Among many other, Bricusse co-wrote later for example "Superman: The Movie" and "The Revenge of the Pink Panther".

In 1989 Bricusse received the Kennedy Award for excellence in British song writing, and was also only the fourth Brit inducted into the American Songwriters' Hall of Fame. In 1989, his musical Sherlock Holmes opened in London. In 1995 his score to "Victor/Victoria" was adapted for Broadway; "Jekyll and Hyde" followed 1997.

Lyrics

Can you read my mind?
Can you picture the things I'm thinking of?
Wondering why you are
All the wonderful things you are
You can fly
You belong to the sky
You and I
Could belong to each other
If you need a friend
I'm the one to fly to
If you need
To be loved
Here I am
Read my mind

Will you look at me, quivering
Like a little girl, shivering
You can see right through me

If you need a friend
I'm the one to fly to
If you need
To be loved
Here I am
Read my mind

(Transcribed by Roman)