"The Way You Are" is a song by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 band Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...

. It was the band's sixth single release overall and their fourth UK top 40

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. The song was written by the full band while on tour in support of their debut LP The Hurting

The Hurting

The Hurting is the debut album by the British pop band Tears for Fears. It was released on 7 March 1983, and peaked at no. 1 on the UK Album Chart...

in 1983

1983 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...

 and was recorded immediately after the tour's end. Bassist Curt Smith

Curt Smith

Curt Smith is an English musician. He is best known for forming the band Tears for Fears, along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Also a solo artist, he released his third album Halfway, Pleased in May 2008....

 performs lead vocal on the song. The single was intended as a stopgap between albums, mainly to keep the group in the public eye, and was not included on the band's second album.