Hasbrook Heights is my new favourite song at the moment. What I love about Burt Bacharach and Hal David is that together they create a zephyr that sweeps you off your feet as a performer. Everything is in the melody and lyric. You just have to sing it as it's written.
The song was originally written and recorded by Burt Bacharach himself in 1971, but its best-known version can be found on Dionne Warwick's 1972 album Dionne. It's not quite clear whether the location is an actual place: there's a Hasbrouck Heights in New Jersey, where some believe Bacharach lived. Still, Hasbrook Heights retains a kind of dreamy quality, where the lyrics invite you to "come rest up / Bring along your swimsuit / That's how we get dressed up". The song is inviting you to get away to a better place, somewhere you can relax – whether it's a fantasy or not.
I recently had the honour of being invited to sing at the White House, where Bacharach and David were awarded the Gershwin prize by President Barack Obama. It was the most surreal and wonderful evening of my life. One of the best things about Mr Bacharach is that he's always up for a chat about work, even when being given an award. So I spoke to him afterwards about how obsessed I'd become with Hasbrook Heights, and explained to him that it made me emotional, just imagining this place. "That's a great song," Bacharach said. "It should've been a hit." I'm going to sing it at the Royal Albert Hall with Dionne Warwick later this month, as part of World Hunger Day, so a few more people can discover this beautiful song.
• You can read Rumer's Old Music from Monday here.
