Music by Burt Bacharach, Lyrics by Hal David

Originally Performed by Burt Bacharach

Bacharach and David wrote the song at a time when they had achieved great popular success, and Bacharach in particular was traveling widely to record and promote his songs. The pair intended the song to be recorded by Gene Pitney, who had had several hits with earlier Bacharach and David songs including "Only Love Can Break a Heart" and "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa". However, Pitney declined to record it, telling Bacharach "it's not one of your better ones". Bacharach then recorded it, in London, with an orchestra, chorus, and uncredited vocals by female session singers The Breakaways. His version was issued on the album Hit Maker!: Burt Bacharach plays the Burt Bacharach Hits in 1965, and as a single. According to writer Serene Dominic, the Breakaways' "dispassionate delivery blends perfectly with Hal David's haunted verses, which give all the responsibility for coming and going to the transportation and not the passengers ... Trains and boats and planes are capable of bringing back someone they took away, if the person they left behind prays hard enough for their return."

    Release Date: 1965