Dusty Springfield – ‘The Look of Love’
Embarrassingly, actually, the first version I heard of this song was by Deacon Blue. But a lot of these classic songs people make out that they always knew the original. And actually, often it was some kind of ropey band that covered it – although I think the Deacon Blue version is pretty good. Then I heard this version, and I just think it's the best pop song ever recorded. You've got Bacharach's music, you've got Hal David's lyrics which are great – but then Dusty brings this thing to it... It's quite a conventional love song in terms of the lyrics, but the way she sings it, it sounds like the opposite. She sings it with an increasing kind of desperation, and it feels like she knows this love affair is going to end even as it begins. And I think as you get older, that's something you know about love. Sometimes, you know, that from the very beginning, but also how it doesn't matter. Just because something ends doesn't mean it's not worth it, and it doesn't take away the pleasure of something new beginning. So I think it captures that quite profound feeling. This song has probably been there every time I've started or ended a relationship. And it's quite unusual in terms of songs in that normally either songs are about falling in love, or something ending and this is about both.