Always Remember Us This Way” is a song from the 2018 film A Star Is Born and its soundtrack of the same name, performed by the film’s star Lady Gaga. It was released as soundtrack’s second single in Italy and France in January 2019. The song was written by Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, and Lori McKenna, and produced by Dave Cobb and Lady Gaga.
Always Remember Us This Way” was recorded immediately after the songwriters finished composing it. They also provided backing vocals as Gaga recorded her vocals in the studio. Cobb said, “It was pure magic when that went down and you can hear it in the film—the energy and the excitement that was happening. It’s amazing to hear that kind of voice come through headphones.” Lindsey, who had previously collaborated with Gaga on her fifth studio album, Joanne (2016), recalled that the singer had imbibed in the character of Ally she was playing in the film completely. “She was living in the hurt and ache of Ally losing the love of her life. We all just wanted to hug her. She was so broken up and in so much raw pain,” Lindsey added. McKenna described the songwriting as a powerful moment because the lyrics made them all tearful, and they decided that if “Maybe It’s Time” was Cooper’s character Jackson’s song, then “Always Remember Us This Way” belonged with Ally.
According to Cobb it was magical when “[Gaga] got in the vocal booth on the microphone and the writers were in the control room. I was playing with the band, and it just happened. Her voice was as big as the house. All of us had goosebumps. That happens very seldom.” The song is a piano-driven country ballad, which is “pushed along” by Gaga’s raw, powerful vocals. It was inspired by the music of the 1970s. Following the first verse being on piano, the guitars and drums kick in from the second verse and Gaga’s vocals build up to the final chorus uttering the lines, “When the sun goes down/ And the band won’t play/ I’ll always remember us this way”. The song is composed in the time signature of common time and is performed in the key of A minor with a slow tempo of 65 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of Am–F–C–G, and the vocals span from G3 to E5.
he song received widespread critical acclaim upon release. Jon Pareles of The New York Times described the song as a “hushed-to-heroic”, Elton John-inspired “showstopper”. Rolling Stone‘s Brittany Spanos and The Washington Post‘s Emily Yahr called the song “explosive” and “haunting”, respectively. USA Today‘s Patrick Ryan said the song “ranks up there with 2009’s “Speechless” and 2013’s “Dope” as one of Gaga’s best ballads”. Natalie Walker of Vulture thought that “this song really illuminates what a virtuoso vocal chameleon Gaga is”, and compared aspects of the track to Lorde’s “Liability” and the songs of Adele. Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly picked “Always Remember Us This Way” as the best track of the soundtrack. She opined that the song is “a poem in its own right, evocative and elegiac” with its lyrics, while also serving as a “showcase for Gaga’s powerhouse voice, as it moves from the whisperings of its opening lines, soft and invoking love as an act of prayer, to the heroic belt of the chorus.” The Guardian‘s Michael Cragg found it to be Gaga’s “finest ballad”, noting, “like most of her best songs, it was written and recorded quickly, with the creases and scuffs in her vocals adding to the emotion behind the delicate pre-chorus, before she finds more solid ground on the gorgeous open road of a chorus.”
Following the soundtrack’s release, “Always Remember Us This Way” debuted at number-two on the US Digital Songs chart. The song consecutively debuted at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 along with four other tracks from the album charting. It was present on the chart for a total of nine weeks. As of February 2019, the track has sold 248,000 copies in the United States and accumulated 71 million streams. “Always Remember Us This Way” entered the UK Singles Chart at number 39 with sales of 11,029 units on the chart dated October 12, 2018. By its third week on the chart, the track had moved up to reach a peak of number 25 while selling 16,815 units, being present within the top 100 for eleven weeks. As of February 2025, the song has sold 1.6 million copies in the UK with 189 million streams and is certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In Ireland the song reached number three on the chart in its third week. That same week first single “Shallow” held the top-spot on the Irish Singles Chart while album track “I’ll Never Love Again” also reached the top-ten.
