Co-songwriter Burt Bacharach revealed in his 2014 autobiography that this song had among the most difficult lyrics Hal David ever wrote, despite being deceptively simple as a pop hit. He explained that they had the main melody and chorus written back in 1962, centering on a waltz tempo, but it took another two years for David to finally come up with the lyric, "Lord, we don't need another mountain." Once David worked out the verses, Bacharach said the song essentially "wrote itself" and they finished it in a day or two.^[2]

The song's success caught the two songwriters completely by surprise, since they were very aware of the controversy and disagreements among Americans about the Vietnam War, which was the subtext for David's lyrics. Bacharach continuously used the song as the intro and finale for most of his live concert appearances well into the 2000s.

The song was originally offered to singer Dionne Warwick, who turned it down at the time, saying she felt it was "too country" for her tastes and "too preachy"^[3] though she later recorded it for her album Here Where There Is Love. (Warwick also recorded a second version in 1996, which scraped the lower reaches of the US Hot 100.) Bacharach initially did not believe in the song, and was reluctant to play it for DeShannon.^[4] The song was also rejected by Gene Pitney, reportedly over a financial dispute. DeShannon's version was recorded on March 23, 1965, at New York's Bell Sound Studios.^[5] Bacharach arranged, conducted and produced the session. In 1966 The Chambers Brothers recorded a soul version of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" using gospel harmonies, on their album "The Time Has Come".^[6]

Glenn Yarbrough recorded a version on his 1965 album It's Gonna Be Fine.^{[citation needed]}

An instrumental version of the song was featured regularly on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon for many years, most frequently heard when pledge amounts were announced on the broadcast.^{[citation needed]}

Burt Bacharach performs a version of the song in the 1997 American film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, with the film's director describing Bacharach's performance as "the heart of our film".^[7]

DeShannon's version of the song was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2023.^[8]

In 2016, Broadway for Orlando recorded the song for sales to benefit the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.^[9]

In addition to the DeShannon hit recording and the numerous cover versions, "What the World Needs Now is Love" served as the basis for a distinctive 1971 remix. Disc jockey Tom Clay was working at radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California, when he created the single "What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" (combining with the top 5 hit, in 1968, by Dion), a social commentary that became a surprise hit record that summer.^[13]

The song begins with a man asking a young girl to define such words as bigotry, segregation, and hatred (to which the girl says she does not know); she says that prejudice is "when someone's sick". Following that is a soundbite of a drill sergeant leading a platoon into training, along with gunfire sound effects, after which are snippets of the two songs – both as recorded by the Blackberries, a session recording group.^[14] Interspersed are excerpts of speeches by John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, the eulogy given (by Ted Kennedy) after Robert's assassination, and Martin Luther King Jr., and soundbites of news coverage of each assassination. The ending of the song is a reprise of the introduction.

"What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1971, and was Clay's only top 40 hit.^[15] Reviewing Tom Clay's track for AllMusic, Andrew Hamilton called it an "inspirational sound collage" but felt that, after ten songs have been recited by Clay, "the concept wears thin and gets downright irritating."^[11] In 2019, Billboard writer Morgan Enos included the "obscure medley" in his list of songs that sample King Jr.^[16] Oliver Wang of NPR noted that the song, "a collage of found-sound snippets set to a syrupy arrangement of the Burt Bacharach tune", was the first single on Motown's Hollywood-based subsidiary label MoWest. He added that the song "became a surprising Top 10 hit and also helped set the tone for what would be a short and often strange history for the label."^[17]

In April 2024, The song was used in the teaser trailer of Joker: Folie à Deux which used Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones’ cover.

• List of anti-war songs

• Platts, Robin (2003) Burt Bacharach & Hal David: What the World Needs Now, Collector's Guide Publishing, ISBN 1-896522-77-7

• Hal David Recollections. Accessed June 2007.
• Songfacts Accessed July 2008
• Jackie de Shannon Discography, Accessed July 2008
• Jackie DeShannon - What the World Needs Now Is Love on YouTube
• Tom Clay - What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John (medley) on YouTube
• Dionne Warwick - What the World Needs Now (Is Love) on YouTube