The soundtrack was appropriate for the film as it too was subversive. The combination of Newman and Redford, with an Oscar winning script, and especially Bacharach’s unconventional score for the film led the film to becoming the biggest box office hit of 1969. The song was the breakout hit from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the revisionist Western. BJ Thomas was the next to be offered the song, and he took it, puzzled that anyone would turn down a song that was going to be featured in a Paul Newman film. Bacharach initially offered the song to Ray Stevens, who was known for novelty hits, but Stevens passed on it because he didn’t understand the song. “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It can also be an anthem to living worry free despite the challenges of the world. It is about remaining positive in spite of the negative things that you are facing, a song particularly important in the face of some of the coming challenges of the 1970s. The lyrics reflect an optimism about life. I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining 'Cause, I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining It won't be long 'till happiness steps up to greet meīut that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep fallin' Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep fallingĪnd I said I didn't like the way he got things done It begins with some cheerful ukulele strumming, then jumps right into lyrics that sound like a nursery rhyme:Īnd just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed We are, thankfully, a bounce-back industry.Īnd that too, thankfully, is DNA encoded.“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” is so odd that it's almost a novelty song. You have to bounce back think of a new script, get another director, another client. The film is rejected, the budget a pittance, the launch is delayed.Īnd there’s no luxury of being down and staying down. The account managers hope that the client’s plans remain on schedule, that the campaign will launch as had been originally planned, and that the payments come through as required. If the client approves, the CDs hope for a budget that will allow them to shoot with the director of their choice, with the models of their choice and at locations of their choice. Creative directors bust their asses and come up with ideas that they hope the client will like. It’s not that tough, in our industry, to have hope. We need to hope that the industry grows at a rate that affords senior management in adland the confidence to not downsize and, hopefully, to resume recruitment. We need to hope that marketers will launch new products and continue hawking existing ones. In our little world of advertising and media, we need to hope that the consumer starts spending again. We need to hope that we have a stable government after the general elections. We need to hope that the Sensex bounces back. We need to hope that the economy will perk up. BJ THOMAS performs his award winning song from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, live in Branson MissouriSee more Branson Stars at. To cut a long story short (actually the original story isn’t too long), the villagers resist and overcome the ruler because his ban took away Love, Freedom, Valour and Hope, words that meant a lot to them.Īt times of distress such as the present, it’s the only driver we have. A little known book by James Thurber, called The Wonderful O, in which a despotic ruler hates the letter ‘O’ and bans everything that looks like it and all words that contain the offending letter. Which brings me to another book I grew up with. The difference is, I see tomorrow from a perspective that is distinctly rose-tinted. See the world and the economy and the downturn and the layoffs and the terror as they are. Even if it’s a book written for children.Īnd my father insisting that there were ‘no problems, only solutions.’Ī lot of you might argue that it’s better, at times like this, being a realist. We were taught it at school, and every time this sentence came up it raised a smile or a chortle from the entire classroom.Īnd Georgette Heyer, (yes, I read her as well) in a book I can’t remember the name of, saying ‘we shall contrive’.Īnd Eleanor Porter’s Pollyanna playing ‘the glad game.’ I play the game every single day of my life. Reading included Charles Dickens I loved Micawber’s ‘something will turn up’ in David Copperfield. I grew up with Raindrops keep falling on my head, where ‘The blues they sent to greet me won’t defeat me it won’t be long till happiness steps out to greet me.’ The optimism is sort of DNA encoded in me, dictated by the people I grew up with, especially my father, the books that I read, the music that I listened to – and, perhaps, by the times that we then lived in. Those of you who know me for any length of time will acknowledge that I’m an eternal optimist. And the present gloom reminds me of this wonderful song.
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