What The World Needs Now Is Love - Wikipedia

1965 single written by Bacharach & David This article is about the song. For other uses, see What the World Needs Now Is Love (disambiguation).

"What the World Needs Now Is Love"
A-side label of the 1965 US single
Single by Jackie DeShannon
from the album This Is Jackie DeShannon
B-side	"I Remember the Boy"
Released	April 15, 1965
Recorded	March 23, 1965
Studio	Bell Sound (New York City)
Genre	Easy listening
Length	3:10
Label	Imperial Records
Songwriters	Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Producers	Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Jackie DeShannon singles chronology
"When You Walk in the Room" (1964) "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (1965) "A Lifetime of Loneliness" (1965)

"What the World Needs Now Is Love" is a 1965 song with lyrics by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon, it was released on April 15, 1965, on the Imperial label after a release on sister label Liberty records the previous month was canceled. It peaked at number seven on the US Hot 100 in July of that year.[1] In Canada, the song reached number one.

In 2008, the 1965 recording by DeShannon on Imperial Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[2]

Songwriting

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Co-songwriter Burt Bacharach revealed in his 2014 autobiography that this song had among the most difficult lyrics Hal David ever wrote, despite being deceptively simple as a pop hit. He explained that they had the main melody and chorus written back in 1962, centering on a waltz tempo, but it took another two years for David to finally come up with the lyric, "Lord, we don't need another mountain." Once David worked out the verses, Bacharach said the song essentially "wrote itself" and they finished it in a day or two.[3]

The song's success caught the two songwriters completely by surprise, since they were very aware of the controversy and disagreements among Americans about the Vietnam War, which was the subtext for David's lyrics. Bacharach continuously used the song as the intro and finale for most of his live concert appearances well into the 2000s.

Recording history

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The song was originally offered to singer Dionne Warwick, who turned it down at the time, saying she felt it was "too country" for her tastes and "too preachy"[4] though she later recorded it for her album Here Where There Is Love. (Warwick also recorded a second version in 1996, which scraped the lower reaches of the US Hot 100.) Bacharach initially did not believe in the song, and was reluctant to play it for DeShannon.[5] The song was also rejected by Gene Pitney, reportedly over a financial dispute.

DeShannon's version was recorded on March 23, 1965, at New York's Bell Sound Studios.[6] Bacharach arranged, conducted and produced the session. In 1967, the Chambers Brothers recorded a soul version of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" using gospel harmonies and 44 metric, on their album "The Time Has Come".[7]

Glenn Yarbrough recorded a version on his 1965 album It's Gonna Be Fine.[8]

An instrumental version of the song was featured regularly on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon for many years, most frequently heard when pledge amounts were announced on the broadcast.[citation needed]

R&B singer Luther Vandross recorded a version of the song on his 1994 album Songs.[9]

Burt Bacharach performs a version of the song in the 1997 American film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, with the film's director describing Bacharach's performance as "the heart of our film".[10]

DeShannon's version of the song was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2023.[11]

In 2016, Broadway for Orlando recorded the song for sales to benefit the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.[12]

Tom Clay version

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"What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John"
Single by Tom Clay
from the album What the World Needs Now Is Love
B-side	"The Victors"
Released	June 22, 1971[13]
Recorded	Early 1971
Genre	Pop medley spoken word sound collage[14][15]
Length	6:10
Label	Motown (MoWest MW5002F)
Songwriters	Hal David, Burt Bacharach, Dick Holler
Producer	Tom Clay
Tom Clay singles chronology
"What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" (1971) "Whatever Happened to Love" (1971)

In addition to the DeShannon hit recording and the numerous cover versions, "What the World Needs Now is Love" served as the basis for a distinctive 1971 remix. Disc jockey Tom Clay was working at radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California, when he created the single "What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" (combining with the top 5 hit, in 1968, by Dion), a social commentary that became a surprise hit record that summer.[16]

The song begins with a man asking a young girl to define such words as bigotry, segregation, and hatred (to which the girl says she does not know); she says that prejudice is "when someone's sick". Following that is a soundbite of a drill sergeant leading a platoon into training, along with gunfire sound effects, after which are snippets of the two songs – both as recorded by the Blackberries, a session recording group.[17] Interspersed are excerpts of speeches by John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, the eulogy given (by Ted Kennedy) after Robert's assassination, and Martin Luther King Jr., and soundbites of news coverage of each assassination. The ending of the song is a reprise of the introduction.

"What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1971, and was Clay's only top 40 hit.[18] Reviewing Tom Clay's track for AllMusic, Andrew Hamilton called it an "inspirational sound collage" but felt that, after ten songs have been recited by Clay, "the concept wears thin and gets downright irritating."[14] In 2019, Billboard writer Morgan Enos included the "obscure medley" in his list of songs that sample King Jr.[19] Oliver Wang of NPR noted that the song, "a collage of found-sound snippets set to a syrupy arrangement of the Burt Bacharach tune", was the first single on Motown's Hollywood-based subsidiary label MoWest. He added that the song "became a surprising Top 10 hit and also helped set the tone for what would be a short and often strange history for the label."[20]

Chart history

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Weekly charts [edit] Jackie DeShannon Chart (1965) Peakposition Canada RPM Top Singles[21] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22] 7 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[23] 9 Sweet Inspirations Chart (1968) Peakposition U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100[24] 128 Tom Clay (medley) Chart (1971) Peakposition Australia Kent Music Report [25] 3 Canada RPM Top Singles[21] 11 New Zealand (Listener) [26] 6 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22] 8 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[27] 7 Dionne Warwick Chart (1998) Peakposition U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22] 87

Year-end charts [edit] Chart (1965) Rank U.S. Billboard Hot 100[28] 63 U.S. Cash Box [29] 27

In popular culture

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The Jackie DeShannon version was used in the final scene of the 1969 film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

The song was used in 1997 film My Best Friend's Wedding.

The song (and a cameo from Burt Bacharach himself) also appears in the 1997 film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley.[30]

Ania Karwan performed a version for the 2017 film Letters to Santa.[31]

Missi Hale performed a version for the 2017 film The Boss Baby.[32]

In April 2024, the song was used in the teaser trailer of Joker: Folie à Deux, which used Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones' cover. Despite the film receiving negative reviews, the trailer was heavily praised.

In a 2024 Amazon ad titled "Midnight Opus," a former singer turned movie theater janitor sings the song at a surprise concert coordinated by his colleagues.[33]

See also

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• List of anti-war songs

References

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1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 174.
2. ^ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
3. ^ Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music by Burt Bacharach, 2014, New York, NY: Harper ISBN 0062206079
4. ^ Warwick, Dionne (November 2006). "Dionne Warwick: Q&A; Session, November, 2006 - DIONNE WARWICK". Soul Music (Interview). Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
5. ^ Burt Bacharach interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
6. ^ Are You Ready For This reissue liner notes
7. ^ "The Time Has Come". Spotify. 1966.
8. ^ What the World Needs Now Is Love by Glenn Yarbrough on Apple Music, 1965-08-26, retrieved 2025-04-08
9. ^ Songs by Luther Vandross on Apple Music, 1994-09-20, retrieved 2025-04-08
10. ^ Saad, Nardine (February 9, 2023). "'Austin Powers' director on Bacharach cameos: 'His song became the heart of our film'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
11. ^ "2023 National Recording Registry selections". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
12. ^ Cox, Gordon (June 15, 2016). "Broadway Bands Together for Song to Benefit Orlando LGBT Center". Variety. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
13. ^ "45cat - Tom Clay - Tom Clay's What The World Needs Now Is Love / Abraham, Martin And John / The Victors - Mowest - USA - MW 5002F".
14. ^ a b Hamilton, Andrew. "What the World Needs Now Is Love Review by Andrew Hamilton". AllMusic. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
15. ^ Dominic, Serene (2003). "What the World Needs Now Is Love". Burt Bacharach: Song By Song. London: Music Sales. ISBN 9780857122599. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
16. ^ Hamilton, Andrew. "Tom Clay | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
17. ^ "Tom Clay". Answers.com. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
18. ^ Whitburn, Joel, Top Pop Singles: 1955–2006, 2007.
19. ^ Enos, Morgan (January 21, 2019). "10 Songs That Sampled Martin Luther King, Jr". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
20. ^ Wang, Oliver. "The Strange Sound Of Motown's Early Hollywood Years". NPR. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
21. ^ a b "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. September 11, 1971. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
22. ^ a b c Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
23. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, 1965".
24. ^ Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
25. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 66. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
26. ^ https://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=1308#n_view_location search Listener
27. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 28, 1971". Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
28. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1965/Top 100 Songs of 1965 | Music Outfitters". www.musicoutfitters.com.[permanent dead link]
29. ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1965". tropicalglen.com.
30. ^ "Flashback: Burt Bacharach Serenades Austin Powers with 'What the World Needs Now is Love'". Rolling Stone. 9 February 2023.
31. ^ "Listy do M. - składanka bardzo romantyczna!". WP Film (in Polish). 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
32. ^ The Boss Baby (2017) - Soundtracks - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-04-08 – via www.imdb.com.
33. ^ Staff, Amazon (2024-11-04). "Watch: Amazon's uplifting 2024 holiday commercial set to the 1965 classic 'What the World Needs Now Is Love'". www.aboutamazon.com. Retrieved 2024-12-20.

Bibliography

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• Platts, Robin (2003) Burt Bacharach & Hal David: What the World Needs Now, Collector's Guide Publishing, ISBN 1-896522-77-7

External links

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• Hal David Recollections. Accessed June 2007.
• Songfacts Accessed July 2008
• Jackie de Shannon Discography, Accessed July 2008
• Jackie DeShannon - What the World Needs Now Is Love on YouTube
• Tom Clay - What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John (medley) on YouTube
• Dionne Warwick - What the World Needs Now (Is Love) on YouTube

v t e Burt Bacharach
Albums	Hit Maker!: Burt Bacharach Plays the Burt Bacharach Hits Reach Out Woman Painted from Memory (with Elvis Costello) At This Time The Songs of Bacharach & Costello (compilation)
Film scores	What's New Pussycat? After the Fox Casino Royale Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Lost Horizon Arthur Night Shift Arthur 2: On the Rocks
Compositions	"Alfie" "Another Tear Falls" "Any Day Now" "Anyone Who Had a Heart" "Are You There (with Another Girl)" "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" "Baby It's You" "Back at You" "Blue Guitar" "Blue on Blue" "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" "Don't Make Me Over" "Don't Say Goodbye Girl" "Don't You Believe It" "God Give Me Strength" "Heartlight " "A House Is Not a Home" "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" "I Say a Little Prayer" "I Want You" "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" "Living Together, Growing Together" "Long Ago Tomorrow" "The Look of Love" "Love Power" "Magic Moments" "Make It Easy on Yourself" "Making Love" "Message to Michael" "My Little Red Book" "On My Own" "One Less Bell to Answer" "Only Love Can Break a Heart" "Please Stay" "Rain on Me" "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" "Reach Out for Me" "Slow Jamz" "The Story of My Life" "That's What Friends Are For" "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" "(They Long to Be) Close to You" "This Guy's in Love with You" "Three Wheels on My Wagon" "Tower of Strength" "Trains and Boats and Planes" "Turkey Lurkey Time" "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa" "Walk On By" "What the World Needs Now Is Love" "What's New Pussycat?" "The Windows of the World" "Wishin' and Hopin'" "Wives and Lovers"
Tribute albums	Connie Francis Sings Bacharach & David Johnny Mathis Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert Four Bacharach & David Songs One Amazing Night To Hal and Bacharach Back to Bacharach When Ronan Met Burt (also produced by Bacharach)
Related articles	Awards and nominations Hal David DJM Records Back to Bacharach and David The Look of Love (musical) Promises, Promises (musical)

v t e Billie Jo Spears
Discography
Studio albums	The Voice of Billie Jo Spears (1968) Mr. Walker, It's All Over! (1969) Miss Sincerity (1969) Country Girl (1970) Just Singin' (1971) Blanket on the Ground (1975) Billie Jo (1975) What I've Got in Mind (1976) I'm Not Easy (1976) If You Want Me (1977) Lonely Hearts Club (1978) Love Ain't Gonna Wait for Us (1978) I Will Survive (1979) Standing Tall (1980) Only the Hits (1981) Country Girl (1981) Unmistakably (1991)
Compilation albums	The Billie Jo Spears Singles Album (1979)
Singles	"The Harper Valley PTA" "Mr. Walker, It's All Over" "Daddy, I Love You" "Marty Gray" "I Stayed Long Enough" "It Could 'A Been Me" "See the Funny Little Clown" "Blanket on the Ground" "Stay Away from the Apple Tree" "Silver Wings and Golden Rings" "What I've Got in Mind" "Misty Blue" "Sing Me an Old Fashioned Song" "Never Did Like Whiskey" "I'm Not Easy" "If You Want Me" "Too Much Is Not Enough" "Lonely Hearts Club" "I've Got to Go" "'57 Chevrolet" "Love Ain't Gonna Wait for Us" "Yesterday" "I Will Survive" "Livin' Our Love Together" "Rainy Days and Stormy Nights" "Standing Tall" "Natural Attraction" "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" "What the World Needs Now Is Love" "Midnight Blue"
Related artists	Philomena Begley

Authority control databases	MusicBrainz work