I Say a Little Prayer

This article is about the song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. For the Australian film directed by Richard Lowenstein, see Say a Little Prayer.

"I Say a Little Prayer"
Song
B-side	"(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls"

"I Say a Little Prayer"
Song
A-side	"The House That Jack Built"

"I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967. On the R&B Singles chart it peaked at number eight.

Background

Intended by lyricist Hal David to convey a woman's concern for her man who's serving in the Vietnam War, "I Say a Little Prayer" was recorded by Dionne Warwick in a 9 April 1966 session. Although Bacharach's recordings with Warwick typically took no more than three takes (often only taking one), Bacharach did ten takes on "I Say a Little Prayer" and still disliked the completed track feeling it rushed. The track went unreleased until September 1967 when it was introduced on the album The Windows of the World which largely consisted of older material; it was Scepter Records owner Florence Greenberg rather than Bacharach who wanted "I Say a Little Prayer" added to that album from which it had a single release in October 1967 as the intended B-side of the newly recorded track "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls". However, the brisk sound of "I Say a Little Prayer" which Bacharach disliked proved to be the comeback sound for Warwick as "I Say a Little Prayer" became the original favored side reaching #4 that December on the Billboard Hot 100 – Warwick's first Top Ten appearance since "Message to Michael" in the spring of 1966 – and also #8 on the Billboard R & B Chart and #4 on the Canadian Charts. "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" would become a hit subsequent to the success of "I Say a Little Prayer" reaching #2 in February 1968: Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer"/"(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" single would receive gold certification from the RIAA for sales of a million units becoming the only certified gold single of the first phase of Warwick's career.

"I Say a Little Prayer" b/w "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls", became one of the most successful double-sided hits of the Rock era. Like several Bacharach compositions, both sides contain passages written in unusual time signatures. The verses of "Prayer" are constructed of 2 successive measures of 4/4, a measure of 10/4 (using 4/4 + 2/4 + 4/4), and 2 final measures of 4/4. The chorus is in 11/4 (using 4/4 + 3/4 + 4/4), played by session drummer Gary Chester.

Other recordings

• Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer" did not appear on the Billboard Easy Listening chart although two instrumental versions of the song were Easy Listening chart items in 1968: the first by Sérgio Mendes at No. 21 in the spring of 1968 while that fall Julius Wechter and the Baja Marimba Band took "I Say a Little Prayer" to No. 10 Easy Listening.
• "I Say a Little Prayer" also returned to the Pop & R&B Top Ten in the fall of 1968 via a recording by Aretha Franklin taken from her 1968 Aretha Now album. Franklin and background vocalists the Sweet Inspirations were singing the song for fun while rehearsing the songs intended for the album when the viability of Franklin actually recording "I Say a Little Prayer" became apparent, significantly re-invented from the format of the Dionne Warwick original via the prominence of Clayton Ivey's piano work and the choral vocals of the Sweet Inspirations. Similar to the history of Warwick's double-sided hit, the Aretha Franklin version was intended the B-side of the July 1968 single release "The House that Jack Built" but began to accrue its own airplay that August. Even with "The House That Jack Built" ranking as high as No. 6 (#2 R&B) in September 1968. That October. "I Say a Little Prayer" reached number ten and number three on the R&B singles chart. The same month the single was certified Gold by the RIAA. "Prayer" became Franklin's ninth and last consecutive Hot 100 top 10 hit on the Atlantic label (not counting every flip side), with each of the nine curiously peaking at a different position. Franklin's "Prayer" has a special significance in her UK career, as with its September 1968 No. 4 peak it became Franklin's biggest UK hit; subsequently Franklin has surpassed that track's UK peak only with her No. 1 collaboration with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". In February 1987, UK music weekly New Musical Express published its critics' top 150 singles of all time, with Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer" ranked at No. 1, followed by Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone" and Warwick's "Walk On By". (Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer" did not appear in the magazine's in-house critics' top 100 singles poll conducted in November 2002.)
• In Australia, "I Say a Little Prayer" and "The House That Jack Built" were assigned a joint chart ranking which saw the double-A-side hit reach No. 10 in November 1968. "I Say a Little Prayer" also gave Franklin a European hit with chartings in France (#12), Germany (#29) and the Netherlands (#4).
• The 1971 album Anne Murray / Glen Campbell features a medley of "I Say a Little Prayer" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"; the songs are sung in counterpoint to each other, with Murray vocalizing on "I Say a Little Prayer" while Campbell reprises his "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" hit. The track was a minor C&W hit at No. 40 and reached No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. The concept had previously been used on a 1968 single release by Big Dee Irwin and Mamie Galore and was subsequently reworked when Dionne Warwick herself sang "I Say a Little Prayer" while Isaac Hayes sang "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" on their joint live album A Man and a Woman (1977).
• The song is also a popular soundtrack item: in the 1969 comedy The April Fools, for which Warwick sang the title song, "I Say a Little Prayer" is performed at a swanky house party in a live performance by singer Susan Barrett. "I Say a Little Prayer" is one of several Bacharach/David songs featured prominently in the comedy My Best Friend's Wedding in 1997, which featured both a reggae-style cover by Diana King and a version sung by the film's cast. King's version was released as a single and brought the song back to the Top 40 almost thirty years after Dionne Warwick's original, albeit with a No. 38 peak; King's single also reached No. 38 in France. Cassie Henderson, 14, sung this song for Soul Week on The X-Factor NZ Season 1 Episode 16. A parody of the song with altered lyrics was featured in the 2006 comedy film Date Movie making fun of its use in My Best Friend's Wedding.

Other recorded versions

• Jackie Leven on his 1994 album "The Mystery Of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery Of Death"
• Jane McDonald on her 2001 album "Love at the Movies"
• Martha and the Vandellas on their 1968 album Ridin' High.
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk on his 1969 album Volunteered Slavery.
• Anita Kerr Singers on their 1969 Dot label album, "Reflect On the Hits of Burt Bacharach and Hal David."
• Eija Merilä in Finnish as "Iät Ja Ajat" in 1972.
• Al Green on his 1978 album Truth n' Time (reissued on The Right Stuff Records label), as well as "The Very Best of Al Green" (Music Club label) in 2001.
• UK dance act Bomb the Bass in 1988.
• Mary Black on her 1989 album No Frontiers.
• Karine Costa in 2002: a No. 16 hit in France which also charted Swiss charts at #82: this version was used in a television advertising campaign for the Crédit mutuel.
• The BossHoss in 2006: a minor German hit (#79). In 2012, the group re-recorded this song as a collaboration with Ivy Quainoo, the first winner of The Voice of Germany.
• Trijntje Oosterhuis on her 2006 album The Look of Love.
• In Spain, the song was covered by Presuntos Implicados in their album "Banda sonora"
• In Mexico, the song was covered by girl-group Pandora. The version is called "Rezo Una Oracion Por Ti", literally translated.
• In Mexico, the song was covered by Enrique Guzmán. The version is called "Una pequeña oración", in 1978.
• In Mexico, the song was covered by Julissa. The version is called "Mi pequeña oración". In 1963.
• In 1968, the song was covered by Monna Bell. The version is called "Yo digo una pequeña plegaria".he
• In 1978, Spanish singer Paloma San Basilio performed this song in her live album "Paloma San Basilio en directo".
• The Japanese Band Ground Zero covered the Rahsaan Roland Kirk cover version of this song on their 1997 album "Plays Standards"
• Maleewan Jemina (th) recorded the song for her 2003 album Me & Moment in Time.
• Zeds Dead, a Canadian electronic music duo sampled this song for their track titled "Coffee Break" in or around 2011.
• Japanese R&B singer kazami (jp) released a single "I Say A Little Prayer" in July, 2003. The song was also included on her album Sprout later that year.
• This song was covered and used in the television show Glee. It was sung by Dianna Agron, Naya Rivera and Heather Morris in their characters as Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce as their audition song to join the school's glee club. "I Say a Little Prayer" charted in the UK Singles Chart at 125.

See also

• I Sign a Little Player or Two, a parody of both the song and Chelsea manager José Mourinho

External links

• Template:MetroLyrics song