"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" is a 1971 song performed by Carly Simon. Her friend and frequent collaborator Jacob Brackman wrote the lyrics and Simon wrote the music. The song was released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, Carly Simon, and it reached peak positions of number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

It was an art song with a semiclassical melody in the style of Gabriel Fauré, and Elektra staffers were worried the single was too emotionally complex to be released as Simon's first single. With subject matter that includes "the parents' bad marriage; the friends' unhappy lives; the boyfriend's enthusiasm for marriage but controlling nature; the woman's initial resistance and ultimate capitulation."

Simon was quoted as saying, "When I first wrote it I thought it was an unusual thing for people to break up, and now all my friends are divorced."

The success of the song propelled Simon into the limelight. Apart from being a Top 10 hit, Simon also received her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She also was nominated for and won Best New Artist.

"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" has been included on several compilations of Simon's work, including The Best of Carly Simon (1975), Clouds in My Coffee (1995), The Very Best of Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better (1999), Anthology (2002), and Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits (2004).

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