Who Wrote They Re Going To Love You In The Original Song?

Sometimes I go full nostalgic about these things: back in the day I would flip through physical liner notes or ask record store clerks; now the web does most of that heavy lifting. If the lyric 'they're going to love you' is what stuck with you, it's worth remembering there are two separate roles to track — the lyricist and the composer — and credits can name multiple people. Start by locking the exact wording and the recording you heard (live, studio, cover?), then search the title with the word 'writer' or check PRO databases like ASCAP or BMI. Wikipedia and AllMusic are often helpful for older or well-documented songs, while Discogs and MusicBrainz are great for releases and pressings.

A fun tip: when a cover is more famous than the original, the cover’s artist will be listed as performer, but the songwriting credit will still point to the original writer. That’s how I uncovered unexpected giants — one moment you’re humming a pop hit, the next you’re reading about a folk songwriter who wrote it decades earlier. I enjoy that little breadcrumb trail of music history.

I’ve chased down songwriting credits for songs many times, and I’ll be blunt: that exact phrase — 'they're going to love you' — shows up in a bunch of tracks, so there isn’t a single universal songwriter to point at without the specific song title or performer. What I do instead is walk through the most reliable trail of breadcrumbs so you can find the original writer: start with the version you know, then look at album liner notes or the digital booklet on streaming platforms; these almost always list composers. If that fails, check performance rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC — they list songwriters and publishers for registered compositions.

Another solid route is Discogs and AllMusic for physical release credits, and Genius for crowdsourced lyric pages that often include composer info. If the song you heard is a cover, compare the credited writer on the cover release with older releases; the original writer will be credited across versions, unless it’s a translation or major rearrangement, in which case co-credit or adaptation credits appear. I once traced a cover I loved back to a relatively unknown songwriter from the 1970s by matching the publishing name on BMI and then finding the earliest pressing on Discogs — felt like sleuthing through musical history.

So, without the exact artist or title I can’t give one definitive name, but those steps will usually get you to the original writer. If you follow them, you’ll almost always find the composer’s name and sometimes a fascinating backstory about how the song moved between artists — I always enjoy that part.

Wow, tracking down who wrote a specific lyric can be a fun little mystery hunt. Without the exact song title or artist, the phrase 'they're going to love you' could show up in a bunch of different tracks across genres and decades, so there isn't a single universal songwriter I can point to. What I do when I hit this kind of ambiguity is treat it like detective work: search the lyric phrase in quotes on a search engine, check lyric sites, and then follow up by looking at the song's official credits on streaming services or the record's liner notes.

If you find a promising match, the credits on Spotify (click the three dots → 'Show credits') or Apple Music often list writers. Professional databases like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, MusicBrainz, Discogs and AllMusic will show publishing and songwriting credits too. Remember that the person who sings a famous cover isn't always the original writer — think of how 'All Along the Watchtower' is credited to Bob Dylan despite Jimi Hendrix making it iconic. I love this kind of sleuthing; it makes music history feel alive and personal.

I get why this pops up as a quick question — you heard a line and want to know who penned it — but lyrics like 'they're going to love you' aren’t unique enough on their own to point to a single songwriter. In practice, the fastest way is to identify the recording you heard (artist and release year) and then inspect the credits: on Spotify and Apple Music you can sometimes view writer credits directly under the song info, and for older songs the CD/LP insert or Discogs entries are gold.

If you’re dealing with radio edits or live covers, watch for differences between the performing artist and the credited composer — often the composer is someone else entirely and gets listed as such. Also keep in mind that many modern tracks have multiple co-writers and producers who share songwriting credit, so you might see several names instead of just one. I’ve tracked down dozens of song origins this way; it’s a little tedious but satisfying, and you usually end up discovering other songs by the original writer that you’d never heard before. It’s like finding the source of a river and realizing it branches into a whole playlist of gems.

That phrase is common enough that there’s no single author I can name without knowing which recording or title you mean. My go-to method: find the exact song version you heard, then check the release credits (liner notes, Discogs, AllMusic) and PRO databases like ASCAP/BMI for the composer/publisher listing; streaming services sometimes show writers too. Remember that covers and translations will credit the original songwriter(s) even when the performer changes, and modern pop songs frequently have multiple co-writers listed. I’ve used those steps many times and usually end up learning not only who wrote a line, but also why the song moved between artists — it’s always a neat little music-history rabbit hole to fall into.