Charlotte Latvala: I'll never fall in love again with anything like Bacharach's songs

Sometimes you never know what someone means to you till they’re gone.

Even if you never knew them.

Burt Bacharach died last week, aged 94. The prolific songwriter’s career spanned a huge swath of American pop culture and musical genres. The guy worked with Marlene Dietrich, Dionne Warwick and Elvis Costello, for crying out loud. His songs have been covered by thousands of artists — country, pop, jazz — all over the globe.

You probably have a favorite Burt Bacharach song. Even if you don’t know you do.

Maybe it’s “Promises, Promises.” Or “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Or maybe even “Arthur’s Theme."

Is there anyone who doesn’t love “I Say a Little Prayer?”

For me? As a kid, I wasn’t entranced by the music of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. But Burt Bacharach? Please.

As soon as I hear the opening notes of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” I’m part of a neighborhood musical revue making its debut in our Lakewood, Ohio, backyard. (My other big number was “Those Were the Days” by Mary Hopkin, which suggests a rather jaded view of the world for an 8-year-old.)

I don’t remember every detail about our backyard show. We made and sold tickets. I think one of the cast froze at the last minute and had to be dragged onstage. (The stage being the inside of our garage, the audience, made up of a few parents and unsuspecting neighbors, sat on folding chairs on the grass.)

But I remember singing “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” pouring my soul into the line “I’m out of those chains, those chains that bind you” as only a third-grader could.

Burt was there with me in spirit that day. He was with me when I drove my siblings crazy by singing “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” ad nauseum a year or so later. (It was either that or “Puff, the Magic Dragon” — take your pick; that was my repertoire.)

During my 1980s New Wave phase, Burt didn’t abandon me. Naked Eyes’ synth-heavy version of “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” was in heavy rotation during my senior year of college.

Burt even reappeared recently, when my daughter performed a high-energy dance solo to “Turkey Lurkey Time” from the musical “Promises, Promises.” (Well, there really couldn’t be a low-energy version of “Turkey Lurkey Time.”)

Why do some songs from our childhood and adolescence stick with us? How exactly do they become embedded so deeply in our brains?

To this day, I often find myself humming “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” at random times — washing the dishes, driving to Costco, outlining a blog piece. It’s more than nostalgia. It’s as much a part of me as the little scar on my ankle, my love of cats, or my intermittent social anxiety,

Like love itself, maybe it’s a happy mystery. So, for at least, until tomorrow — goodbye Burt. Eight-year-old me says thanks for everything.

Charlotte is a columnist for The Times. You can reach her at charlottelatvala@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Latvala: I'll never fall in love again with anything like Bacharach's songs