Take a sultry voice, soft and sexy almost beyond belief, giving life to some very sensuous lyrics, add a jazz combo laying down a Bossa Nova beat in the background, and you get Dusty Springfield’s “The Look Of Love.”
Burt Bacharach said watching Swiss model and actress Ursula Andress inspired the melody for this song. He was not referring to the iconic scene in Dr. No where Andress rose out of the Caribbean Sea sporting a white bikini and a knife. He instead was referring to the 1967 James Bond parody Casino Royale in which she played Bond girl Vesper Lynd.
Hal David would later add the lyrics, which Dusty Springfield brought to life. And did she ever.
There is a moment in time when you realize someone is in love with you. In that same moment, you know you are in love with them, too. You see it in their eyes. It is a look their smile can’t disguise.
The look of love
Is saying so much more than
Just words could every say
And what my heart has heard
Well, it takes my breath away
In “The Look Of Love,” the emotion is revealed in a look and the response is revealed in a longing – “I can hardly wait to hold you, feel my arms around you.” It is something you have waited for but thought you may never find. It is something you are afraid to lose. “Now that I have found you – don’t ever go.”
The lyrics tell the story but Dusty’s vocals convey the sensuousness, the passion, the longing, and even the eroticism of the moment. The Stan Getz saxophone bridge and Herb Alpert’s trumpet outro add the excitement and sensation of the moment.
“The Look Of Love” is a song that very much lives in the present rather than looking back on a nostalgic moment or dreaming of a future one.
Dusty Springfield was well known as being a perfectionist and it is said she would listen to each take with an ear toward what she could improve. The final version that appears on the Casino Royale sound track, and which is featured with this article, shows that perfection.
Over 660 artists have covered “The Look Of Love”. There are many good covers – such as Diana Krall’s from 2001. But it is Dusty Springfield who set the standard.
