Burt Bacharach, RIP

 

The reach and influence of Burt Bacharach’s music in the last half of the 20th century was immeasurable and unmatched. Bacharach wrote songs that you could easily hear and listen to. They were songs that expressed feelings that you had felt. They were often open to literary and musical interpretation, and the number of artists who recorded his music was enormous.

Bacharach died at the age of 94 earlier this month.

Stephen Holden, writing his obituary for the New York Times, said:

Because of the high gloss and apolitical stance of the songs Mr. Bacharach wrote with his most frequent collaborator, the lyricist Hal David, during an era of confrontation and social upheaval, they were often dismissed as little more than background music by listeners who preferred the hard edge of rock or the intimacy of the singer-songwriter genre. But in hindsight, the Bacharach-David team ranks high in the pantheon of pop songwriting.

If you watch any of the compilations of Bacharach’s music on YouTube, you will undoubtedly be surprised at some of the songs that you didn’t know were his.