"What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of."

September 1, 2012 10:12 PM

Legendary lyricist Hal David, who collaborated often with composer Burt Bacharach and provided the words to dozens of pop-music hits, including What the World Needs Now, Randrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, Magic Moments, (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me, I Say a Little Prayer, What's New Pussycat?, Wishin' and Hopin', (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance, Walk on By, One Less Bell to Answer, To All The Girls I've Loved Before, Broken Hearted Melody, Don't Make Me Over, and Do You Know the Way to San Jose?, has passed away of a stroke at the age of 91. His full catalog includes over 700 songs.

"Now, how do I go about the business of writing lyrics? I wish I really knew. If I did it would make writing much easier for me." ~ Hal David. Official Site. In 1972, he was inducted into the ASCAP songwriter's Hall of Fame.

Fresh Air Interview: Burt Bacharach and Hal David, from May 5, 2010.

posted by zarq (3 comments total)

The two obits I linked to above (NPR and the NYTimes) were the most extensive I could find. They give a great deal of biographical information, and discuss Mr. David's business relationship with Burt Bacharach in depth. A third, at Entertainment Weekly, also mentions that Bacharach and David received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a White House tribute concert attended by President Barack Obama this past May.

More than 55 years after their first songs hit the airwaves, Obama said "these guys have still got it." He noted their music is still being recorded by such artists as Alicia Keys and John Legend.

"Above all, they stayed true to themselves," Obama said. "And with an unmistakable authenticity, they captured the emotions of our daily lives — the good times, the bad times, and everything in between."

posted by zarq at 10:17 PM on September 1, 2012

this must be the encore post
posted by bashos_frog at 10:17 PM on September 1, 2012

Please mods, keep this one up. The links here are simply incredible.
posted by roboton666 at 10:21 PM on September 1, 2012