I just heard (on the radio appropriately) that Hal David has died. As a kid I grew up with David/Bacharach songs without even knowing it and when I was old enough to know I sort of wrote them off as middle of the road... pretty stupid yeah ? Nowadays I appreciate them more all the time. Whether it's Isaac Hayes or Elvis Costello, The Carpenters, Paul Weller, Bobbie Gentry, Dionne Warwick or Aretha performing them, even the Stranglers version of Walk On By, they take me someplace else.
There will be enough tributes and blog entries about the man who wrote some of the most fantastic lyrics going so I won't even try - but this one is special to me, it's the song that my mum used to sing when she was doing things around the house, ironing, cleaning, making my meals and hanging out the washing. I wonder sometimes what she invested in it. It's the song that brings her immediately to mind.
