I Say a Little Prayer

Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this song and also produced it. They first heard Dionne Warwick singing backup for The Drifters, which is when they realized she had the perfect voice for their songs. Bacharach and David had a string of hits with Warwick, including "Walk On By" and "Do You Know the Way to San José."

The song's writers were never happy with the tempo of this song, and thought it would flop. Burt Bacharach said in Record Collector magazine: "I never thought I made the right record on that. I think I made the tempo a little too fast, a little bit too nervous with Dionne. I didn't want the record to come out but got overridden. I'm glad that I got overridden."

In this joyful song of devotion, the singer doesn't just think about her man, she prays for him, starting from when she wakes up in the morning and continuing through her workday. She sounds a little co-dependent ("To live without you would only be heartbreak for me"), and there's even a chance that this is an unrequited love ("Why don't you answer my prayer?"). Nonetheless, most ears hear it as an expression of true love, which makes it a favorite at weddings. The song also resonated with wives and girlfriends whose men were fighting in the Vietnam War.