This Guy’s In Love With You has recently become one of my most favorite songs and I feel very compelled to write about it today. I only discovered this Herb Alpert song about 1 month ago and to be honest, the first time I heard it, I thought it was bad. In fact, I thought it was crap and a bit cheesy. But the fact that it was number 1 on the US charts for 4 consecutive weeks in 1968 made me give it another go. It was after listening to it a third time that I fell in love with the song. Now I am thinking that I should have put it in my top 60s songs list.
The first thing you’ll realize when listening to this song is the poor and somewhat stale vocal performance from Herb Alpert. The reason for that is that Herb Alpert was primarily a trumpet player (and still is) and this is a rare occasion where he actually sings. The songwriters, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, wrote the song that wouldn’t require a big vocal performance specifically for Herb Alpert. The song was never expected to be released, however, after being used in a television special in 1968 and thousands of people calling CBS (the TV channel) asking about it, it was released as a single. To Herb’s surprise, it reached the top of the US charts and remained there for 4 weeks.
In my opinion, Herb’s voice is important in making this the beautiful record that it is. This is because the song is about a guy (the singer) who is in love with a woman but has not been able to tell her out of fear. Herb’s limited vocal ability actually fulfils the role of this shy person who is too scared to admit his love to this person.
In fact, “the guy” singing the song is a lot like me. In the past, I’ve been secretly in love with certain women but have not been able to tell them out of fear of getting rejected. And I arguably still have that fear today. And I’m sure a lot of men out there are or have been in the same situation.
The lyrics of This Guy’s In Love With You are absolutely beautiful. In fact, to me they are the exact words I want to say to a woman I really admire more than just a friend. “You see this guy, this guy’s in love with you, yes I’m in love, who looks at you the way I do.” And that’s just the start of the song.
I think the next time I do meet that special someone and hope to share my feelings for them, I will simply make them listen to this song as if it is speaking for me. I will let everyone know how it goes when it happens.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this Herb Alpert classic: This Guy’s In Love With You.
