The Windows of the World

_______________________________________

The Windows of the World (Burt Bacharach & Hal David)

Bacharach and David had scored a #7 hit in 1965 with Jackie DeShannon’s message song hit “What the World Needs Now is Love” but “The Windows of the World” was unique in the composers’ canon in being a protest song. Inspired by such songs as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Hal David wrote lyrics for “The Windows of the World” which overtly but gently lament US involvement in the Vietnam War, an especial concern to David who had two young sons, one of them almost of eligible age for the draft. The arrangement for “The Windows of the World” has a subtle Asian flavor featuring strings plucked in the style of a koto and also finger cymbals the latter evoking the sound of raindrops on a window.

“The Windows of the World” represented a thematic departure for Warwick who had built her career as a romantic balladeer and had passed on the chance to introduce “What the World Needs Now is Love” (although her stated objection to the last-named was not its theme but rather that it sounded “too country”). Released in July 1967, “The Windows of the World” was not one of Warwick’s biggest hits reaching #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#27 R&B/ #32 Easy Listening). However Warwick stated in 2002 that “The Windows of the World” was her favorite of all of her singles.^[1]

_______________________

Dionne Warwick — recorded on 13 April 1967, arranged by Burt Bacharach; issued in July 1967 on the single Sceptre SCE 12196, b/w “Walk Little Dolly” (Bacharch & David). The single entered Billboard’s Hot 100 chart on 29 July ’67 and peaked at #32. It also became the title track of Warwick’s eighth album, released on 31 August that year.

The Free Design — from the group’s 1968 LP You Could Be Born Again, Project 3 Total Sound ‎PR 5031SD

From Wikipedia:

The Free Design was a Delevan, New York-based vocal group whose music can be described as sunshine pop and baroque pop. Though they did not achieve much commercial recognition during their main recording career, their work later influenced bands including Stereolab, Cornelius, Pizzicato Five, Beck and The High Llamas.

The members were all members of the Dedrick family: Chris Dedrick (12 September 1947–6 August 2010), sister Sandy and brother Bruce were the original lineup. Chris Dedrick wrote most of the songs. Younger sister Ellen joined the group later, and youngest sister Stefanie (1952–1999) joined near the end of their initial career. Their father, Art, was a trombonist and music arranger. Their uncle Rusty Dedrick was a jazz trumpeter with Claude Thornhill and Red Norvo. They formed the band while living in New York City. Chris has said the group was influenced by vocal groups like The Hi-Los (who performed in Greenwich Village frequently at the time) along with Peter, Paul and Mary and the counterpoint experiments of Benjamin Britten. Their trademark sound involved complex harmonies, jazz-like chord progressions, and off-beat time signatures, all products of Chris’s classical training.

Stan Getz — recorded in August, 1967, at Ter-Mar Studios, Chicago; issued on the 1968 album What the World Needs Now, Verve Records V6-8752

Jimmie Rodgers — from his 1969 LP The Windmills of Your Mind

Isaac Hayes — from the 1973 LP Live at the Sahara Tahoe, Enterprise ‎ENS-2-5005, ENX-2-5005

(Most of the intro has been edited out)

McCoy Tyner Trio with Symphony — from the 1997 album What the World Needs Now: The Music of Burt Bacharach; recorded at The Hit Factory, NYC, on 5 & 6 March 1996

* McCoy Tyner: piano
* Christian McBride: bass
* Lewis Nash: drums
* John Clayton: arranger, conductor

Burt Bacharach and Ronald Isley – on the live concert television series Soundstage, July 2004. The pair had recorded the song for their 2003 collaborative album Ronald Isley Meets Burt Bacharach: Here I Am.