The song is composed by Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David and popularised by Jackie De Shannon. As many of Burt Bacharach songs this song was originally offered to Dionne Warwick, who turned it down but then later recorded it. Over 100 artists have recorded this song.

What we like

• The words are so simple and powerful and the melody carries like a whisper of hope

Soul experience

• The song became part of history when it was played for over 24 hours on LA radio to mourn the death of Robert Kennedy, summing up how Robert Kennedy was as a leader and what the public felt for him. In Ted Kennedy’s eulogy to his brother he spoke about the importance of one man or woman making a difference: “..Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man.” Some of us are not destined to be great leaders of many people but we are all leaders in our own life. When we look at what good can be done we can start with what is around us, what we can effect in our own life that will make a gift to those around us. Giving love is a treasure that can be felt beyond the time it was given

To reflect on

• What the world needs now is love, sweet love
  It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
  What the world needs now is love, sweet love
  No, not just for some but for everyone
  

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