Huey Lewis was approached to write a
theme song for the film.
[4] He met with
Bob Gale,
Steven Spielberg, and
Robert Zemeckis, from the film's production team, who intended that the band be Marty's favorite band. Though flattered, Lewis did not want to participate because he did not know how to write film songs and did not want to write one called "Back to the Future".
[4] Zemeckis assured Lewis he could write any song he wanted. Lewis agreed to submit the next song he wrote, which was "The Power of Love". The lyrics do not make any mention of the film's storyline.
[4]
Lewis was asked by Zemeckis to write one more song for the film’s end credits, which came to be "Back in Time".
[4] Unlike "The Power of Love", the lyrics for "Back in Time" center around the movie’s story points. In an interview with
People in 2015, Lewis states: "Sean [Hopper], [Chris] Hayes and I put together "Back in Time" – and it turned out that it’s actually quite easy to write for film! In a way, it’s easier, in that you don’t have to invest yourself in it. So that was a lot of fun, actually."
[5]