The haunting instrumental was composed by French artist Francis Lai for the 1970 romantic drama Love Story .
While the Soundtrack Version by Francis Lai is the original, several other renditions helped make it a 70s phenomenon: Theme From Love Story (Love Story/Soundtrack Version)
: An instrumental version that also reached the Billboard charts. The haunting instrumental was composed by French artist
: Composer Francis Lai was reportedly inspired by his own previous work for a film called Love Is a Funny Thing . Paramount executives asked him to use a similar style but "slow it down" to match the film's tragic tone. Theme From Love Story (Love Story/Soundtrack Version)