Knit to This
Knit to This: Burt Bacharach
The death of composer Burt Bacharach this week sent me straight to the internet to immerse myself in his music. His songs were so different from everything else people my age listened to in the 1970s, ’80s, and beyond, but it always felt absolutely correct. As smoothly polished and artfully arranged as his songs are, their emotional punch is undeniable.
In the window at the top of this post, you can watch a British documentary on Burt Bacharach’s life and music, narrated by the great Dusty Springfield. After that, just stay on YouTube and keep listening. There’s so much, and it’s so good.
Personal favorites: Aretha Franklin’s 1970 performance of I Say a Little Prayer.
And, with Elvis Costello, This House Is Empty Now.
Update: 60 Minutes recently posted a great segment from their 1999 archives.
The Weekly Giveaway
This week we’re giving away two little things we don’t want to live (or knit) without: a set of Flower Stitch Markers and a travel 8-pack of Soak Laundry Soap.
How to Enter?
Two steps:
Step 1: Sign up for MDK emails, right here. If you’re already signed up, you’re all set. We have a new option for texting, so when you sign up for those, you’ll get a coupon code good for 10% off your next MDK order.
Step 2: Leave a comment with your favorite Burt Bacharach song, preferably with a video link so we can all run over and listen to it.
Deadline for entries: Sunday, February 19, 11:59 PM Central time. We’ll draw a random winner, who will be notified by email.
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
Say a little prayer for you, is my fav
Raindrops keep falling on my head.
Raindrops isn’t my favorite but it’s the most most childhood nostalgic one for me. (Is child hood nostalgic a phrase?)
The first 11 years of my life we rented a summer place where speakers played music along the route to the pool. (Set-up by another renter who worked for ABC). Whenever I hear raindrops I immediately see myself walking down the hill to the pool in the flimsy flip-flops of the 70s, although we called them thongs back then then, just as we called thongs g-strings.
Close To You by The Carpenters and Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head by BJ Thomas
Raindrops keep falling on my head
Another favorite of mine! Oh, so many!!
My fav too
Growing up on the San Francisco peninsula, it was a kick to hear “Do you know the way to San Jose?” since it was literally just down the road. But how do you choose only one,?!
I say a little prayer
Alfie. Second is Walk on By
What do you get when you fall in love
Yes yes yes
Close to you.
Not Goin Home Anymore from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Ohhh … torture! He has so many great songs! ❤️ But the Carpenter’s They Long to be Close To You is my personal fave … we had a record of it then a CD and it’s one of my desert island hits!
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head sung by Burt himself! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksFr8-pK3I0 on Youtube.
Close to you is his best song!
He has always been one of my favorites. But to choose just one it’s This Guy’s in Love with You
‘I just don’t know what to do with myself’. So many great versions, my favourite is probably the white stripes 🙂
Of course it would have to be Close to you with the legendary Barbara Streisand!! Enjoy
https://youtu.be/7rfFoG4rxxY
“This guys in Love With You” https://youtu.be/2dDGnl8_Dzg
I say a little prayer, What’s new Pussy Cat? Too many to choose!
This was one of my favorite songs when it first came out.
https://youtu.be/VZzNOhPK2Cw
Also I grew up listening to this song Chain of Fools. I thought this would give a few a smile or even get someone up dancing too.
https://youtu.be/W29xpRD0BwE
Choosing just one is just not possible, but “The Look of Love” is one of my top 20. https://youtu.be/jJmPljOWq7s
How to pick? Close to you—Carpenter’s performing
What the World Needs Now Is Love has always been a favorite of mine and something we need right now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Chxe89O6c
Raindrops falling on my head
So many .. What do you get when you fall in love …
I confess I’ve never been a big Bacharach fan (too old, maybe, when he was popular) but I didn’t realize that Aretha Franklin’s great “I Say a Little Prayer” was written by him – Yow!
Do you know the way to San Jose? That’s my favorite!
What the World Needs Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head is my fav. But so many of them have associated memories!
I love so many!! But this version of what’s new pussycat is bonkers! https://www.pbs.org/video/in-performance-at-the-white-house-whats-new-pussycat/
Enjoy!
Whoa! Not sure I’ll ever ‘un-see’ that!
Bonkers hardly begins to describe it! The cat ears! Thanks for making my morning.
What the World Needs Now. Still so appropriate and there are so many good renditions of it.
Without a doubt, the Dionne Warwick version of ‘I say a little prayer for you’ in the movie ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’…I always laugh out loud at the part.
That’s the one that immediately came to my mind, too! My Best Friend’s Wedding is my favorite movie and that’s my favorite version of I Say a Little Prayer For You
OOPS….it was Diane King’s version of I Say a Little Prayer For You in the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding!
Agreed
Any of his song that Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick sang. Wonderful match. During my “paying attention” years (I was 9 in ’65), BB was married to Angie Dickinson.
What’s New, Pussycat?
There are so many! Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head is one of my top favs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sySlY1XKlhM
Say a little prayer is an all time favorite.
Close To You!
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
The Best that you can do (Arthur’s theme)
https://youtu.be/CQe6O0Ab5nc
Billboard’s top ten Burt Bacharach songs.
https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-burt-bacharach-songs/whats-new-pussycat-1965/
My favorite- This Guy’s In Love With You.
I think he also wrote the theme from Arthur.
I will ditto the “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head” comment as that is the song going through my head right now. There are so many!
‘Message to Michael’ is just one of my favorites. Dionne Warwick sang it beautifully. (Sorry, I never learned how to link computery things.) Burt was playing and, occasionally, singing his songs on tv all thru the 60’s. He was GORGEOUS. I never heard a song from him that wasn’t wonderful.
He was pretty amazing, my favorite is “The best that you can do”—Arthur’s theme.
I agree with Jennifer. What the world needs now
There are so many! I love “Only Love Can Break A Heart” sung by Gene Pitney, with music by Burt Bacharach.
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head with the accompanying scene from ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’.
Wow wow wow – Kay I have never seen Aretha’s version of Say a little prayer… perfection.
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again…
I don’t have a favorite—I love all of his work, and I sing along and know all the words! BUT, I really loved hearing Mr B sing his own work and play the piano. I don’t remember what variety show it was (Ed Sullivan? Andy Williams? Flip Wilson? Smothers Brothers?) but I loved hearing him sing. Not a classically “great” voice, but very cool to hear his interpretation of his labor.
It’s difficult to pick just one but I will go with That’s What Friends Are For sung by Rod Stewart and many additional talented artists.
It is too hard to pick a favorite but the two that I think of ( or actually hear) most often are Raindrops from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Say a Little Prayer from my best friends wedding. Both just make me smile and sing out loud.
What the world needs now.
For me, it’s Dionne Warwick singing “I Say A Little Prayer”
https://youtu.be/kafVkPxjLYg
I think he did the Martini and Rossi commercial song. Sorry, it’s the only one I remember.
Think he sang it with Angie Dickenson?
It just has to be “What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love”….some things never change….here we are NOT at war again and here he is….he certainly paid forward every gift he had. What a tremendous loss and how fortunate we were to grow up through his work.
I’ll never fall in love again, or anything he wrote for Dionne Warwick.
Do You Know the Way to San Jose. I love the partnership Burt Bacharach had with Dionne Warwick. Here’s the link for your listening pleasure:
https://youtu.be/FZLa-1q-lkw
Close to You, The Carpenters; Walk on By, Dionne Warwick; One Less Bell to Answer, 5th Dimension. I couldn’t pick just one. All of these songs evoke such memories and emotion when I hear them.
I’ll be ok if I never hear Raindrops again though. Lol
I am with you on that one! Thanks to St Mary’s spring show, I still hate the memories that song dredges up
My favorite is “A House is Not a Home” — especially this version by Luther Vandross! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3kEQQgMM-E
I love that version.
Luther got every drop out of that song! Gorgeous!!!
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head❤️ My best friend and I were in kindergarten and our moms took turns taking us to school. We learned every word to that song and sang it over and over every day. Pretty sure the moms were more than ready for us to get out of their station wagons asap!
Walk On By.
I’ll never fall in love again.
https://youtu.be/FzQBOBoPg04
I’ll Never Fall in Love Again! The classic styling of Dionne Warwick. https://youtu.be/FzQBOBoPg04
I fell in love with “Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head” when I first heard it in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!
Hard to pick a favorite, but my grammar school chorus in the ‘60s sang Raindrops so that will always have a place in my heart. RIP Burt Bacharach.
The Look of Love is my favorite. It’s just about the most sultry song ever, especially when sung by Dusty Springfield,
Aren’t all of his songs ones we could listen to over and over? The Look of Love is the first one I always think of.
I love the musical Promises Promises. “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” was one of my karaoke regulars when I lived in Japan.
One Less Bell To Answer
Really hard to pick just one. What a brilliant songwriter he was. I still sing “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” to my grandchildren!
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head…great song, great memories of a first love.
“Raindrops…”. my current ear worm.
I had the Dionne Warwick album which I played everyday. Walk on by is my favorite Bacharach song.
So many classics to choose from but I’m going to say “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”. https://youtu.be/_VyA2f6hGW4
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Raindrops keep falling on my head. The first time I heard his music was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Wow.
What the world needs now
I say a little prayer
Has to be Message to Michael. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3-NRM-WRfQ
I Say a Little Prayer is my favorite.
Raindrops Keep Falling…this was my parents “song” and one of the first albums bought when they bought our first stereo (it was a massive beast!). They played that song over and over and would dance…such a happy memory.
A House is not a Home
I’m torn between Walk on By and I’ll Say a Little Prayer for You. Don’t make me pick one!
I remember my dad getting the stereo, full piece of furniture , open on Sunday afternoon. Playing the album from the movie The Sting. Raindrops keep fallin on my head playing and dad singing along. Close to you, Say a little prayer. All playing in my mind this week!
Oh, Turkey Lurkey Time, no question. It’s an in-disguise Christmas song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZualTksF8A
The White Stripes’ version of I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself. Reminds one of the brilliance of Bacharach’s writing, that it can be stretched so fantastically and still be a great song.
Do You Know the Way to San Jose. I love the jauntiness of the melody. And that I can remember some of the lyrics.
Oh my, so many great songs that I recall from my childhood! I’d have to choose What the World Needs Now. Sadly, just as timely now as it was when first written.
Ditto! Could sing along with most all of these, right?! Cannot choose one…
Walk on By sung by Dionne Warwick. Still brings back all the feels.
https://youtu.be/p9M744rDd40
That was Chloe, not chlie. Doh!
Close to You!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6inwzOooXRU
My parents thought Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were very groovy, so I heard a lot of that music early on. Perhaps that’s why “This Guy’s In Love With You” comes to mind first….although I’ve never heard a Bacharach song I didn’t like!
I say a little prayer for you! Favorite song!
Burt wrote so many wonderful songs and obviously Dionne Warwick thought so too because she performed so many of them. I think my favourite is “Walk on By’… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGsCvJWEo8
I Say A Little Prayer
I have loved Burt (we’re on a first name basis you know) for as long as I can remember so identifying just one song is difficult for me. However, the song that came to mind when I learned of his passing is ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head’
What the World Needs Now
Close to You is probably my favorite but I really love every song Bacharach (& David) wrote.
https://amp.smoothradio.com/features/the-story-of/close-to-you-carpenters-lyrics-facts/
The Best That You Can Do from Arthur!
How about the Burt Bacharach song A House is Not a Home sung by Luther Vandross. It gets me every time!
https://youtu.be/cBCzXsCDcCE
Theme from Arthur
Alfie
Too many! But, I used to play “What the World Needs Now …” over and over again and it would certainly fit the times today. Here’s the track on Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/track/6JFgBE2seXKTUkHdOVq3N1
I confess I’m not a huge fan, often love the words but the music is too smooth. But I agree with whoever said the White Stripes version of ‘I just don’t know what to do with myself’
Any Dionne Warwick version cause my dad loved her, always makes me think of him.
So hard to choose. This version of The Look of Love by Dusty Springfield is very good
https://youtu.be/Tf1d65OHYXo
Great walk down memory lane in these comments. Hard to pick a favorite, but I remember watching B J Thomas sing Raindrops keep falling on my head on TV!
Dionne Warwick’s I say a Little Prayer for You! Love
So many!! But I love Arthur’s theme. https://youtu.be/s-DptvkxvNw
What the world needs now…an anthem for our times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA
Do you know the way to San Jose
What the World Needs Now
Favorite Bacharach song is “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head!” – sung in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
” I say a little prayer for you”. Being married to my best friend for almost half my life, I really get this song.
You actually picked my two favorite Bacharach songs and my two favorite performances. I’ll add another, recorded by the best little cover band in the land: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AWUTlM6hz0g
His guest appearance in Austin Powers had me in stitches!
https://youtu.be/TDyiREoBw0o
Say a little prayer for you
This Guy’s in Love With You
What the world needs now is love sweet love
So many. But if I had to pick one, it would be “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.”
I say a little prayer
Knowing When to Leave
So many unforgettable songs. I recall the first time hearing Close To You — the radio was usually on in the kitchen where I grew up and tuned in to my mom’s favorite easy listening station. I was a pre-teen and it stopped me in my tracks! And who can forget Nikki’s Theme, named after his daughter with Angie Dickinson? Keep listening past the ABC Movie of the Week intro.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=omTLNhBmdaI
Say a little prayer!
What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
Say a little prayer for you
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. A friend in grad school recommended Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was a wonderful movie and music experience, with good feelings about friendship and life.
So much in the collective memory, playing in our heads. (If you are a certain age).
It wasn’t my favorite, but the first one that popped into my head was Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head! I loved his music.
Raindrops keep Falling on my head
There are so many great songs! My favorite is the Dionne Warwick version of “That’s What Friends Are For” with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder,
I hope the link works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyTpu6BmE88
Such a talent. So many favorites but if I have to pic one, Say a little prayer performed by Aretha. Great music endures.
I am a huge Burt Bacharach fan. His music is the soundtrack to my childhood, especially the songs he did with Dionne Warwick. My favorite, which is really hard to choose, is “House is not a Home”. Hal David, Burt Bacharach, and Dionne Warwick were the dream team!! RIP Burt.
There are so many! Starting way back in my mind with Baby It’s You by the Shirelles, Town Without Pity by Gene Pitney, only Love Can Break a Heart, Walk On By, A House Is Not A Home, and Living Together Growing Together from one of my all time favorite movies, Lost Horizon, the list goes on.
Close to you, What the world needs now and Raindrops keep falling on my head.
Raindrops keep falling on my head. I remember singing it over and over to my Mema when she kept me
What’s new pussycat?
As a fan of the melancholy, I have to submit One Less Bell – https://youtu.be/Xy2YOL8wdBA but I also grew up singing Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. I checked out the song list on Wikipedia – it was amazing to see decades and decades of music, most of which I could remember snatches of – Who does that?? Wow!
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head…..this has been often suggested prior to my comment.
When I was a kid in the late 60s, every time we drove past a sign mentioning San Jose my siblings and I would break into song. My poor parents. My favorites now are Walk on By and Say a Little Prayer.
Do you know the way to San Jose? I’ve been away so long, I may go wrong and lose my way.
He was so good
Burt, I was uncomfortable watching and listening to you perform, but, oh, the songs were worth the trip. Thank you for it all. We should say a little prayer for you.
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head
True then and true now: What the world needs now is love sweet love
Close to you.
His songs are so memorable! Say a Little Prayer immediately burst forth upon hearing of his passing.
That Aretha performance have me chills! But you asked for another, so here’s a great one saying by the also amazing Dionne Warwick
https://youtu.be/vsGsCvJWEo8
Raindrops keep falling on my head. Isn’t it amazing how we remember the lyrics to so many of his songs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBSranIgmYM. From the Carpenters album of the same name. This medley has it all: a great collection of his music arranged and performed by Karen and Richard Carpenter!
Really too hard to choose, but I’ll say Arthur’s Theme.
Don’t Make Me Over https://youtu.be/dDblF-J6qvY
What the world needs now is love
https://youtu.be/YUaxVQPohlU
Hard to choose . . . looking forward to the brilliant Mark Morris performance tribute, The Look of Love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR7r70V7L2s
Loved his collaboration with Elvis Costello in Painted From Memory album. My favorite is “God Give Me Strength.”
Here’s the link to hear the songs.
elvis costello painted from memory songs https://g.co/kgs/q4oXwW
So many great songs…Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head and What the World Needs Now are at the top of my list of Bacharach favorites.
The Look of Love ❤️
Just one? Burt’s music is pervasive and relevant to many events in my own life. Songs on all the juke boxes growing up, the backdrop song as we packed up and moved to San Jose, his collaborative work with Dion Warwick, the Carpenters, and a favorite Elvis Costello…now dive into the lyrics and the meaning and the artistic presentation… genius.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=EOPXvtZvb7g&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
I love the mellow music – this is a good one on YouTube
Reach out for me
https://youtu.be/va00Ge4dr1E
It would be awesome to put a playlist together with all of the songs suggested by your readers!
I say a little Prayer for You
Unlike with most composers, I could name a couple of dozen of his songs. He certainly did dominate the playlists in my teens. I’ll go with Alfie, though, which I was delighted to read this morning was also the one he picked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmd-JVXMo5I
Walk on by, sung by Dionne Warwick.
I was so sad to hear that he died. He was a huge part of my teenage and young adult life.
When my dad bought a Chevy Cutlass the dealership threw in an 8 track player and two tapes, one was Dionne Warwick and I think it was the only music that we all agreed on. That tape was worn out.
What to you get…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B0i_Ou4QuA
Maybe because we’re on the verge of Valentine’s Day, The Look of Love was the first that popped into my mind as favorite. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CaF3VIqZhSs
Raindrops keep falling on my head. The scene from movie seems so odd to have music but it worked perfectly.
Such a wonderful post leading me down the lane of pleasure and memories and renewed respect and admiration for a great artist. What the world needs now is love-then, now and always.
Walk on By (Dionne Warwick)
My girlfriends and I used to act out the songs What’s New Pussycat and Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head.
“Raindrops” was one of the first “popular” pieces I ever learned to play on piano. My cousin and I played and sang with my uncle when we were kids.
The Look of Love…(is in your eyes)!!
Wow! So many good ones and so many memories come with them. I choose What The World Needs Now.
So hard to pick, I’ll go with Walk on By https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGsCvJWEo8
I say a little prayer… Love this song!
What the World Needs Now, we needed it then, and even more NOW.
Definitely “Close to You.”
My song, Do you know the way to San Jose.
I have also been binging on Bacharach’s music since hearing about his death. I was a fan as a young teen, 13-14 years old in 1969-70. I had three of his albums, including the soundtrack for the movie Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. I love the complexity of his music and his instrumentation. A favorite is this lovely tune called The April Fools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YwZ3DXlJxE
My favorite today is Do You Know the Way to San Jose?, because it points the way to my son’s home. But how can I forget, Raindrops Keep Falling on your Head and What the World Needs Now is Love, for Valentine’s Day. Just listen here for one great song after another. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LwYYD2pOxk
One Less Bell by Dionne Warwick. Also – The Blob. So talented – Burt and Hal David.
I Say A Little Prayer w/Dionne Warwick. My mom had all Dionne’s albums, and the cover with her in the mist is tops! And I do love the collab with Elvis C, too. “https://youtube.com/shorts/H6OjM7qbldk?feature=share4
Any of his that Dione Warwick sang, Do You Know the Way to San Jose especially, but so many others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VyA2f6hGW4
I will always remember my father (1920-1988) singing ‘Alfie.’It was his favorite song.
What the World Needs Now even more now than any other time in our history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Chxe89O6c
They long to be close to you..
Has to be Say a Little Prayer for You! It was a great song but being featured in the movie “My Best Friends Wedding” makes it iconic! It makes me happy EVERY time I hear it!
What the World Needs Now Is Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Chxe89O6c
I love Burt Bacharach! My favorite is “Raindrops Keeping Falling on My Head.” Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsbkPDeC3tI
A House is Not a Home – My favorite was Burt Bacharach singing this on his 1967 Reach Out album.
Promises, Promises, won’t leave my brain since he passed.
Not sure it was my favorite, but it is now!
Rain drops are falling
Attended a fine Herb Alpert concert recently. Mr. Alpert had the audience sing along to “This Guy’s in Love with You.“ Knew most words despite the fact that I was just a kid when it was a hit!
I like all the songs Dionne Warwick sang and since I lloved Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid with rain drops keep falling on my head
What the World Needs Now and Close to You are the best. So many to choose from, but those make me stay tuned to the whole song!
I have many favorites but I remember my parents and What’s new pussycat. It is a fun memory. I love Raindrops Keep falling on my Head.
Thank you. I should be showered and in bed, but I am enjoying this instead.
I Say A Little Prayer The moment I wake up, before I put on my make up, I say a little prayer for you.
Perfection!!!! News of his death brought me to tears.
Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
https://youtu.be/jqWt49o7R-k
What the world needs now
Aretha’s version of ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ has always been a favorite – I remember my girlfriends and I singing this song together as kids 🙂 https://youtu.be/TDyiREoBw0o
My favorite Burt Bacharach song is “I Say a Little Prayer” specifically the Mary Black version. We danced a choreographed rhumba, complete with Cuban walk, to this as the first dance when we got married back in 1999.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrwbHIpavqA
Never heard one I didn’t like but one of my favorites is Reach Out For Me.
Well, heck. I was on a business trip in California when the news came that Burt Bacharach had died. I knew he had written a lot of songs, but that’s about all the knowledge my brain holds on the subject. So, I read one of the obits while going about my morning routine, which provided a much-needed education.
On my drive back to the airport, I shouted, “Siri, play some Dionne Warwick!” with my newfound knowledge that, while he didn’t write all of her songs, her was instrumental in her career, so I’d get a healthy dose.
Driving down 101 in Northern California with Dionne Warwick on the radio was the experience I didn’t know I needed. Have I been travelling wrong all this time?
So, there you go. I realize I didn’t name a favorite Bacharach song, but I thought perhaps my story was better – we Southerners love our stories, after all.
P.S. You can yell at your Siri, too – she can take it.
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head was a staple in our house when I was growing up.
The Look of Love–takes me back to High School, my best friend would instert bits of this song into conversations that she wanted to move into a different direction. We could be talking about anything, a crush, geometry homework, what we were going to do after school. Everything works as a lead in to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr8xDSPjII8
First of all, I must be living under a rock because I didn’t know that he passed away! I’m so sad to hear about this. Like so many others have said, his music chronicles my childhood. He was a master at writing music as much as Hal David was a master at writing lyrics, and Dionne Warwick singing them. There are too many songs to pick just one, so…What the World Needs Now, That’s What Friends Are For, A House is not a Home and more. Thank you for the walk down memory lane.
I love Burt Bacharach! I Say a Little Prayer is excellent!
I love Burt Bacharach’s music so it is torture to choose one but, if forced to do so, it would be Walk on By.
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (but now that song is stuck in my head again)
There are so many of his songs that touched my heart- A House Is Not A Home, What The World Needs Now Is Love, This Guy’s In Love With You and do many more. What a legacy he’s left us.
Thought I wouldn’t top your Aretha Franklin clip but Karen Carpenter… brings me back to weddings when I was a kid… ahhh. Just classic (and classy) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woKKnEn8h9w
This Guys in Love With You. My all time favorite and “our” wedding song in 1972.
I say a little prayer for you. But there are so many good ones. Burt Bacharach wrote the soundtrack to my teenage years.
“Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” – so catchy!
Burt Bacharach was a distant cousin of mine. I never met him but it was our family’s claim to fame. My parents were always playing his music on their stereo. I love all of his songs but Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head is the one my father loved and it always reminds me of him.
It’s hard to choose just one song from what amounts to the soundtrack of my childhood, but I suppose I’d go with “Close to You.”
What the World Needs Now! Although tough call between that and Raindrops…
What the World Needs Now has been playing in my mind since I heard of Barachacs passing. We’ve lost one of the greats. ❤️
Close to you
Do you know the way to San Jose
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
https://youtu.be/DZWtlgADNYA
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
https://youtu.be/DZWtlgADNYA
I really didn’t know he wrote so many songs. I like them all! Raindrops and Walk on By and Close to You.
What the World Need Now is Love. (I apologize if this appears twice, but I think my first attempt failed.)
Honestly, I can’t pick a favorite. There are so many. I doubt we will ever see a talent like that again.
Because I saw Tom Jones in London in 1978, with my mother and grandmother (!), it has to be What’s New Pussycat. So evocative of the time and place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUI27WhoWBQ
Rain Drops Keep Falling on my head
My favorite BB song is “Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head”.
Anyone Who Had a Heart. Second is Alfie.
Close to You
So hard to pick just one! But I love “Say a little prayer”!
What I’m finding out is that there are so many songs I recognize that he wrote that I didn’t even know. And since I just enjoy music it’s hard to pick just one song!
Close To You
Little Red Book – best Bacharach & David song that many people would not associate with them at all. Great version by Love (1966).
Definitely say a little prayer for you. Which will now be in my head all day.
B J Thomas sang Burt’s song, “Raindrops keep falling on my head”. BJ sang it in person at the Iowa State Fair one summer. Incredibly beautiful!
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head.
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head
Love a Burt and Dionne medley! https://youtu.be/9MStO6Jb9t8
Alfie—powerful movie, powerful song https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060086/
Aretha and the Carpenters, two of my favorites, very different but united by Bacharach. Singalongs for loves lost but not forgotten.
What the world needs now!!! ❤️❤️❤️
https://youtu.be/iX8FH9vO6v4
I Say a Little Prayer for You
so many great songs – “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”
Close to You performed by the Carpenters. One of the anthems of my childhood! https://youtu.be/iFx-5PGLgb4
Alfie. Nice video, lots of memories.
yes, What Do You Get When You Fall In Love!
Raindrops keep failing on my head! https://youtu.be/HsbkPDeC3tI
What the World Needs Now is Love. I sing this a lot every election season.
TBH, I was unaware of him except as a crossword puzzle clue. Reading through the comments it’s interesting how many of these songs I knew. What’s New Pussycat is my earliest recollection of a song. It’s what my mom sang to me most days when I was little.
I didn’t know raindrops keep falling on my head was him! I still hum that to myself when it rains.
Definitely Raindrop Keep Falling On My Head
Raindrops
I Say a Little Prayer!
What the world needs now is love. ❤️
Close to you https://youtu.be/QWJeTJ8KYFU
i love burt but i have a song to recommend that’s not his but related: say a little prayer by greg brown, a great iowan folk singer (who just retired LAST NIGHT). here’s a live recording from a kate wolf festival 20-odd years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFRtUVP-MUs. you can also hunt around for a nice cover that shawn colvin did. the music that keeps giving: burt –> aretha –> greg –> shawn –>??
Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) https://www.google.com/search?q=best+that+you+can+do&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
That’s What Friends are For, co-written with Carole Bayer Sager. ❤
What do you get when you fall in love?
Raindrops keep falling on my head.
Oh so hard to chose! Raindrops keep falling on my head, my all time fav!
My father was a huge fan, especially when Dionne Warwick was singing. Impossible to pick one favorite – he was so prolific!- but after reading the comments, I’m going to check out the White Stripes singing BB.
Walk On By … I think… too many to choose!
What the World Needs Now… sung by the great Dionne Warwick. My sister had a Bacharach & Warwick album – we played it all the time. Love these memories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1wgUwD4XnY
Close to you!
Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head!
Fun to read everyone’s favs – most of them come right back to me even though I haven’t listened to one in years. If I have to pick a favorite, I’ll say What The World Needs Now Is Love
“Raindrops keep falling in my head”
https://youtu.be/sySlY1XKlhM
What the needs now is love
What the world needs now is love
What the World Needs Now (is love, sweet love)
“I say a little prayer” – but it was very hard to choose!
Close to You by the Carpenters but Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by BJ Thomas is a very close second.
I grew up listening to Dionne Warwick and her amazing renditions of Bacharach’s work, but Elvis Costello singing I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself blew my mind. Here is a version with Bacharach himself on piano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqUnznxa29g
Not being that attentive to who wrote — or even sings the music I listen to…I have nothing of value to add to this thread. But I do use Soak so here I am
The Look of Lovr
You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling
https://youtu.be/xbg1gkWb0Wo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJJmDzVXCx8 Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head
Raindrops keep falling on my head
What the World Needs Now is a favorite. Something about it can bring me to tears.
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head https://youtu.be/sySlY1XKlhM
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. I was 13 when the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid came out and I can still remember the scenes where this music was played.
Close to You is would be my fave Burt Bacharach song.
What the world needs now is love sweet love…o not just for some, but for everyone!!
Say a Little Prayer
walk on byyyyyyyyyy…
My favorite is What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love. https://youtu.be/o1wgUwD4XnY
I don’t know if he sang it, but, I know he wrote it – I do love What’s new pussy cat, sung by Tom Jones
Raindrops Keep Falling in my Head. And cue up the image of Katherine Ross riding her bike to this song in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
I liked all Burt’s songs. My favorite: What the World Needs Now.
do you know the way to San Jose…..we sang this in a 2nd or 3rd grade performance
All of his songs bring back fun memories! I just can’t pick one.
“What The World Needs Now Is Love” https://youtu.be/XIccm6CpLqY
I’ve always loved this song and I think it speaks to exactly what we need in these times.
Raindrops keep falling on my head is my favorite
Walk on By, all time fave.
I grew up loving the Carpenters…..so ‘Close to You’ is a favorite Burt song. I also loved BJ Thomas and ‘Raindrops are falling on my Head’.
Raindrops, no Close to You. Wait… Do You Know the Way. Oh how can you chose just one? His music is definitely intertwined with the great American songbook.
“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” was such a soundtrack of the 70s – must have been one of my mother’s favorites. As soon as I read he had died, I texted her immediately to let her know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VyA2f6hGW4
“What the World Needs Now Is Love” is my all-time favorite ❤️
https://youtu.be/o1wgUwD4XnY
This Guy’s in Love With You.
I don’t know if I’d say I was a fan but just reading all the titles made me realize how many of the songs I actually knew enough to sing along!
Walk On By
I love Dionne Warwick’s rendition of Walk on By
Raindrops keep falling on my head
My mother listened to a lot of Burt Bacharach, so hearing many of his songs takes me back to my early teen years. Working in the sewing room with mother, listening to the radio. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head was my favorite
Do You Know the Way to San Jose, mostly because I ended up moving there from NY in my 20’s (o long time ago ) https://www.google.com/search?q=do+you+know+the+way+to+san+jose&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
I Say a Little Prayer
Raindrops for sure!
Say a Little Prayer !
What the world needs now
The Look of Love https://youtu.be/j_k1GZjXMwQ
God Give Me Strength with Elvis Costello!
Say a little prayer. Many good versions
What the World Needs Now is Love and Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, plus several others.
Hmmm…How about those of us who listen to more serious music? At the moment my favorite is Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor.
“Say A Little Prayer for You” always makes me smile. But there are so many that have been performed by legendary singers that it is hard to choose just one!
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
What the world needs now is love sweet love. Timeless.
Raindrops keep falling on my head.
What’s New Pussycat! I remember Tom Jones singing this. So much energy. I didn’t realize it was a BB song.
Soak: the new Wild Mint!
Unbelievable. I looked at the list of Bacharach songs and so many I had never heard of. For favorite I’m going with Making Love sung by Roberta Flack . . . a definite fan of Roberta. Want to play all of them now.
Say a little prayer
What the World Needs Now is Love
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwih7dm-yZ_9AhUOOUQIHZvpBtEQyCl6BAggEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DlSBrn6wTZSA&usg=AOvVaw0jR6jwdxB79AJhxsfoWEqW
I have always favored “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Also, the crazy thing for me is that I hadn’t heard of Burt Bacharach till the Austin Powers movie he cameoed in, and it was crazy to discover that even though I hadn’t heard of him, I knew so many of his songs.
Here I am, trying to decide which song is my favorite but I just don’t know what to do with myself. I mean, it’s wonderful to be young, but at my age, I have a lifetime of his songs and I just don’t know what to do with myself. I asked a few people in my circle, because you know, that’s what friends are for, but no one else could agree on one. I asked all kinds of people but it seems I’m on my own. It’s a really good prize this week and once in a blue moon I win something this good but unless I have some magic moments or crazy times any day now, I’m going to have to walk on by. It’s the story of my life.
Although, I do have one day left and I’m wishin’ and hopin’ that someone decides to reach out for me and help me decide. There are only three wheels on my wagon right now and I just say a little prayer that things turn around and that anyone who has a heart forgives me for wasting some Saturday sunshine and not being able to narrow down my favorite Burt Bachrach song. Rest in peace and thank you Mr. B for all decades when you chose to make the music play.
Wait, wait! It just came to me! I will never not love him singing “What the World Needs Now is Love” in the movie Austin Powers.
Favorite Burt Bacharach song: Don’t Make Me Over. https://youtu.be/LEgxuE7WD6U
I can’t pick a favorite. I just can’t. What a body of work!
What the world needs now!
Raindrops keep falling on my head! I had the 45!
For an undertreasured Christmas tune. The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.
I am old enough (sort of) to know his work, but I didn’t know the mastermind behind these songs. Thanks for an education beyond my love of knitting.
A House is not a Home is my favorite Bachrach song. The first time I heard Luther Vandross was when he sang it at a Dionne Warwick tribute concert in 1988. The song is heartbreakingly beautiful, and it this performance still makes me cry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3kEQQgMM-E
I never cared very much for Bacharach’s music. Sorry.
Promises, Promises https://youtu.be/XTPgIUZ2FO4
This House is Empty Now, sung by Elvis Costello!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xID7AxShew0
How do you choose just one? It’s impossible! Walk on By, I Say a Little Prayer, Close to You, God Give Me Strength…the list goes on.
https://youtu.be/YG1c3Oasifc
This guy’s in love…this guy’s in love with you…
So many to choose from, but at the moment I’ll select “We’ve Only Just Begun” … and love that the Carpenters also include another Bacharach snippet (“Close To You”) in this Youtube selection: https://youtu.be/9hJCr9cq5co
Close to You sung by the Carpenters https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFx-5PGLgb4
Alfie…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9MStO6Jb9t8. How could I ever choose one song? This medley says it all!
My favorite Burt Bacharach song is “What the World Needs Now is Love”. It brings me right back to the days of my seven-year-old self, when my mom played it on that huge stereo. It brings me back every time I hear it. What a fitting song for the world today as well.
https://secondhandsongs.com/work/10428
Closer to you, Karen carpenter
My favorite has always been
‘Raindrops keep falling on my head’.
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
One less egg to fry….
What’s New Pussycat, introduction to the great Tom Jones.
Aretha Franklin’s version of I Say a Little Prayer for You.
I’ll.. never fall in love again
“The Look of Love”
Close to You
Elvis Costello: I’ll Never Fall In Love Again
https://youtu.be/7cp4VTztoao
Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head
This Guy’s In Love With You still makes my heart go pitty pat. Sung by himself of course!
Hands down the best song and best version of it ♡
https://youtu.be/6inwzOooXRU
I didn’t recognize the name, but I love his songs! I learned “The best that you can do”—Arthur’s theme for one of my piano recitals growing up.
My first thought was the song Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head (memories of singing this with a choir in Grade 2), but, really, my favourite is What the World Needs Now is Love, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA. True through every age.
I always think of the scene from Father of the Bride (the remake) where Steve Martin is trying on his (navy blue) tux and dancing around singing “What’s new, Pussycat?”
I’ll say a little prayer for you!
I will knit to anything Burt! But Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head is “happy music”!
What the world needs now &
Walk on by I couldn’t pick one.
https://youtu.be/M268Csnue9I Hard to choose! But love Close to you sung by the Carpenters
Too many of his songs are favorites but I love this video of Dionne Warwick singing “Walk on By”. https://youtu.be/p9M744rDd40
“Only Love Can Break a Heart” and I have to mention my late mom’s favorite “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” It’s hard to pick just one!
One Less Bell to Answer reverberates with new meaning for me as a widow. Marilyn MacCoo singing (and on guitar) and the 5th Dimension—Amazing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2YOL8wdBA
I have great memories of singing these songs with my mom many years ago. Thanks for bringing them back to me. One of our favorites was What The World Needs Now. True, then, true now. Same as it ever was.
What the World Needs Now … he recorded more than one version, but see one here https://youtu.be/lSBrn6wTZSA.
I love the message.
This is my favourite as well: Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
I Say a Little Prayer (and don’t we need a few of these some days!!!!)
Raindrops keep falling on my head. https://youtu.be/_VyA2f6hGW4
Watching Paul Newman ride Katherine Ross on his bicycle made my tween heart soar!
“Only Love Can Break A Heart”
“Don’t Make Me Over”
You are right sooo many fabulous songs!! And memories.
What The World Needs Now Is Love
Alfie. It has to be Alfie. Because my glamorous oldest sister was dating a guy named Alfie a few years after the song came out, and I was then a miserable pre-teen youngest sister, who could do a devastatingly accurate imitation of Alfie’s nervous mannerisms, and afterwards, I would say rhetorically, to the rest of our family, when my sister and her date were out the door, So, what Is it all about, Alfie? I mean, over 50 years later, it’s a terrible story to tell on yourself, but it sure makes my sister and me both laugh now.
Say a little prayer for me
Walk on By hits a chord with me, but I have to choose “Do you know the way to San Jose” as an East Bay kid …
Close to you. I mean. Hubs only just “discovered” this one and thought it was a lost gem. I was like “how did you not know the lyrics from when you were old enough to walk?”
What the World Needs Now Is Love
https://youtu.be/iX8FH9vO6v4 on YouTube with Burt singing – beautiful