Jackie Deshannon ~ What The World Needs Now Is Love (1965) Today

Hal David and Burt Bacharach, the legendary songwriting duo, had written "What the World Needs Now Is Love" a year earlier. They first offered it to Dionne Warwick. Dionne, usually the perfect vessel for their sophisticated melodies, turned it down. She thought it was "too preachy."

Inside a dimly lit recording studio, Jackie DeShannon stood behind the microphone. She was already a trailblazer—one of the first female singer-songwriters to really crack the code of the industry—but today, she was nervous. Jackie Deshannon ~ What the World Needs Now is Love (1965)

The year was 1965, and the air in New York City felt heavy. Between the flickering news reports of the Vietnam War and the rising tensions of the Civil Rights Movement, the world felt like a string tuned so tight it was about to snap. Hal David and Burt Bacharach, the legendary songwriting

She was about to record a song that had already been rejected. The Song That Nobody Wanted She thought it was "too preachy

For months, the song sat in a drawer. Bacharach himself was hesitant; he worried the lyrics were a bit too simple, maybe even naive, for such a cynical time. But then, they thought of Jackie. She had a voice that sounded like sunlight hitting gravel—sweet, but with enough "grit" to make you believe she’d seen some things. The Session

Jackie DeShannon’s version remains the definitive one because she didn't treat the lyrics like a Hallmark card. She sang them like a woman standing in the middle of a storm, holding a candle and refusing to let it go out. If you'd like, I can: