I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

With Burt Bacharach's passing at 94 the tributes are pouring in along with those lengthy lists of memorable songs.  I've written twice about Burt in Is Christopher Walken The Burt Bacharach Of Acting? and on his wonderful 1990s collaboration with Elvis Costello, Painted From Memory.

Here are four favorites (lyrics on the first three by brilliant Hal David), starting with Colin Hay's version of I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself.

Next up are two from Dionne Warwick, Anyone Who Had A Heart, with its odd-timing and rhythms (a Bacharach trademark), and Alfie, a simply sublime combination of musical composition, lyrics, and a perfect vocal, creating a very odd tune, and the title song for the movie which made Michael Caine, playing a rotten guy, a star.

 

 

Last is Burt and Elvis with the title song from their album Painted From Memory.

Painted From Memory

Elvis Costello is the only person Paul McCartney has co-written songs with other than John Lennon.  And Elvis is the only person to partner with both McCartney and Burt Bacharach.  Only 1998's Painted From Memory, Elvis and Burt collaborated on twelve songs of love and heartbreak.  Elvis wrote the lyrics while the two of them worked together on the music, which incorporates Burt's trademark time signature changes, Christopher Walken phrasing, and distinctive horn arrangements.

Here are some favorites:

This House Is Empty Now posing the memorable lyrical question, "does the extinguished candle care about the darkness?"

Toledo

You hear her voice
"How could you do that?"

Painted From Memory

Those eyes
I try to capture
They are lost to me now forever
They smile for someone else

Such Unlikely Lovers

I'm not saying that there will be violins
But don't be surprised if they appear
Playing in some doorway
Still I can't believe that this is happening

Is Christopher Walken The Burt Bacharach Of Acting?

Furthering our mission to answer questions you never even thought to ask:

Christopher Walken has had a long and successful career and one of the things he is best known for is his odd speech pattern; hesitations, pauses, phrasing and offbeat word emphasis.  Here's an example from Catch Me If You Can:


Because of his distinctiveness, Walken is one of the actors most frequently subject to the impressions of his fellow actors such as Kevin Spacey and Kevin Pollak.

Recently, THC was listening to some old Burt Bacharach/Hal David tunes when the similarity to Walken's speech pattern struck me.  During the 1960s and 70s, Bacharach and David wrote a ton of hit songs; here is just a small sample:

Walk on By
Alfie
Close To You
Wishin' and Hopin'
What The World Needs Now Is Love
What's New Pussycat?
I Say A Little Prayer
The Look of Love
This Guy's In Love With You
Do You Know The Way To San Jose?
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

   (Burt & Hal)
Their favorite singer was Dionne Warwick for whom they wrote 22 Top 40 singles.  Hal David wrote the lyrics with Burt doing the music which was unusual with odd chord progressions, pauses, syncopation which resulted in unusual phrasing of David's lyrics.  It's the musical version of Walken's speech patterns but since Bacharach came first it would be unfair to ask if he's the Christopher Walken of music.

We'll take a typical Bacharach/David song to illustrate the patterns.  It's Anyone Who Had A Heart, a hit by Dionne Warwick in 1964 and one of my personal favorites from their catalogue.  Listen in particular to the end and you can hear the odd singing pattern required by the rhythmic changes.  It's just like listening to Walken dialogue! 
As long as we've talking about Christopher Walken let's take a couple of minutes and watch him in Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice.