Everything Flows: This Guy's In Love With You

Cover version of the month #14

Noel Gallagher covers Burt Bacharach - This Guy's In Love With You

I wasn't intending for this to be cover of the month for July, however earlier on this morning I was driven to listening to Burt Bacharach's beautiful What The World Needs Now after turning on the news to learn of the terrible attack on France last night.

Friends of ours have just returned from Nice. With two daughters, I imagine that if they had been there an extra week, then they would have been out to enjoy the Bastille celebrations. It makes you think.

I let Burt play on and YouTube returned a cover of Noel Gallagher covering Burt Bacharach....with Burt Bacharach at the height of Britpop. I remember reading about this in an old NME.

Noel was never one to shy away from talking about his influences; The Beatles, The Jam and Johnny Marr in The Smiths were often mentioned in his interviews. Yet Noel also talked of This Guy's In Love With You being one of his all-time favourite songs.

Noel has good taste and he has an exceptional ear. Listen to Bacharach's This Guy's In Love With You and then listen to Noel's Half The World Away.

Gallagher senior shaped his songwriting style and structure from the masters; verses, bridges, choruses, middle eights....

This Guy's In Love With You is a beauty of a song and Noel singing it with Bacharach at piano, backed by strings, at the Royal Albert Hall is two genius songwriters coming together. Gallagher's voice is rich and tender.

The way the song rises, falls and soars is something Gallagher mastered in songs like Don't Look Back In Anger, The Masterplan and Stop Crying Your Heart Out.

The song was written by Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Herb Alpert.

Alpert has to take a great deal of credit as Bacharach has recalled that Alpert asked him if he had any old compositions lying around that he hadn't used. Burt brought out This Guy's In Love With You that had been lying around gathering dust!

The song has been covered by everyone from The Supremes and The Temptations, Dusty Springfield, to (first and hopefully only mention in this blog) Des O'Connor!

Listen to the original HERE and the Noel version with Burt and an orchestra HERE

You see this guy, this guy's in love with you

Yes I'm in love, who looks at you the way I do?

When you smile I can tell,

We know each other, very well.

How can, I show you,

I'm glad I got to know you cause

I heard some talk, they say you think I'm fine

This guy's in love and what I'd do, to make you mine

Tell me now, is it so

Don't let me be the last to know

My hands are shaking

Don't let my heart keep breaking