What The World Needs Is Love Lyrics - Jackie DeShannon

Song Facts:

• Genre: Pop/Rock


• Lyricists: Hal David.


• Composer: The music was composed by Burt Bacharach.


Awards/nominations: Below is one iconic track that the message was honored for, but in a melodious way laid out. The track so far hasn't won any great awards since its release.
"Historicisation": Presented at a time in troubled America between the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam, this song had reverberations with listeners and became an anthem for peace and love.

Annotations and Meaning:

Few songs say so much with its title, quite like "What the World Needs Now Is Love." It's a powerhouse plea for just exactly that: more love, more understanding in an era beset with nothing but conflict and division.

Its plain but deeply meaningful words lead to this song conveying one common message about the yearning for peace and compassion that reflects the turmoils of social and political unrest of the 1960s but could be applied at any other time. Opening with the lines, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love," these lines set the tune for the appeal that all this world needs is love as medicine to all the unnecessary evils and problems.

But this is not only the voice of love calling—meaning romantic love or love of one's family. No, this is that deeper, all-inclusive voice of love calling that transcends all barriers and heals all wounds. The song further underlined the fullness in nature and the physical world, suggesting that if we have so much of the landscape and light and rain, then just maybe what really is missing is love. The difference between the two is a direct statement that, unlike material resources, love isn't quantifiable in amounts but far too precious to quantify.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the song is its insistence on the simplicity of its message. Not in grand gestures or monumental acts, but in the easiest thing one could give and spread, which is love. And yet, this simplicity is balanced with an understanding of the complexity in human nature and society. Love is normally surrounded by greed, hate, and prejudice.