"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David that was written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises. Several recordings of the song were released in 1969; the most popular versions were by Dionne Warwick, who took it to number 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and spent three weeks topping the magazine's list of the most popular Easy Listening songs, and Bobbie Gentry, who peaked at number 1 in Ireland and the UK and made the top 5 in other countries.
Writing
In the fall of 1968, Bacharach and David were in Boston for previews of Promises, Promises, the new musical for which producer David Merrick had asked if they would write the score, and Merrick realized, "We're missing a song in the middle of the second act, and what we need is something the audience can whistle on their way out of the theater." But around this time, Bacharach was hospitalized with pneumonia and was unable to sit at a piano to write the music until after he was released. By that time "Hal had already come up with the lyrics to 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again,' and my hospital stay had inspired him to write, 'What do you get when you kiss a girl? / You get enough germs to catch pneumonia / After you do, she'll never phone you.'" When he finally sat with the lyrics in front of him, he recalls, "I wrote the melody for 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' faster than I had ever written any song in my life." The surge of creativity paid off. "We came in with the song the next morning, and it went into the show a couple of nights later. 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' became the outstanding hit from the score and pretty much stopped the show every night."
First performance and recording
Promises, Promises had its Broadway premiere on December 1, 1968, and the song was originally performed as a duet between the characters played by Jill O'Hara and Jerry Orbach as they ruminate on the various troubles that falling in love brings. They recorded it for the original Broadway cast album.
Johnny Mathis recorded "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" on January 18, 1969, with an arrangement by Robert Mersey, who also produced the recording. It was released as a single three months later, on April 8. It was also included on his next album, Love Theme from "Romeo And Juliet" (A Time for Us), which was released three months after the single, on July 30.
Chart performance
The Mathis recording of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" was the first to reach any of the charts in Billboard when it debuted on the magazine's Easy Listening chart in the issue dated May 17, 1969. It reached number 35 over the course of three weeks there. It peaked at number 32 on the Easy Listening chart in Record World magazine and number 32 on their Singles Coming Up chart, which listed songs that had not yet reached their list of the 100 most popular hit records.
Critical reception
The editors of Billboard wrote, "The infectious rhythm ballad … is loaded with commercial appeal in this top Mathis reading." The editors of Cash Box magazine wrote, "One of Mathis's most delightful performances in quite some time, with a younger lilt and the charm of a sparkling song" that had an "especially captivating lyric and sweet arrangement". The editors of Record World magazine wrote, "This is a beautiful Bacharach-David melodic ballad, and Johnny Mathis's vocal is just right."
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Johnny Mathis
Bacharach's own version, which was sung by a female chorus, was recorded for his 1969 album Make It Easy on Yourself. He produced the recording with Phil Ramone and acted as arranger and conductor.
Chart performance
On Billboard's Easy Listening chart, the Bacharach recording overtook the Mathis release after a May 31 debut and got as high as number 18 during its nine-week stay. It also peaked at number 93 on the Hot 100 during the two weeks it spent there in July. It reached number 17 on the Easy Listening chart in Record World magazine.
Critical reception
The editors of Billboard called the recording "unique". The editors of Cash Box described it as a "splendid reading". The editors of Record World listed the recording as one of their Four Star Picks.
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Burt Bacharach
Bobbie Gentry recorded "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" for her 1969 album Touch 'Em with Love, which was produced by Kelso Herston.
Chart performance
The Gentry recording entered the UK singles chart on August 30, 1969, and spent one of its 19 weeks there at number one. It also peaked at number one in Ireland, number three in South Africa, and number five in Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
Critical reception
In a review of Touch 'Em with Love, the editors of Cash Box described Gentry's recording as a "standout". In reviewing Gentry's version alongside that of Anita Harris, Derek Johnson of New Musical Express wrote of the song,
Certainly it has a pleasantly lifting rhythm and a hummable tune, and it enables the singer to project her personality and song-singing ability to the utmost advantage. Surprisingly, Bobbie Gentry's version has a heavy thump beat and a brash attacking scoring—and this, coupled with her delicious husky tones and cute Chickasaw accent, could possibly give her the commercial edge.
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Bobbie Gentry
Dionne Warwick recorded the song for her album of the same name, which was produced by Bacharach and David. Bacharach arranged the music with Larry Wilcox.
Chart performance
The Warwick recording made its first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated December 27, 1969, to start an 11-week run that took it to number 6. It reached number 6 on the Cash Box Top 100 and number 7 on the 100 Top Pops chart in Record World magazine, where it went to number 1 on the Easy Listening chart. The January 3, 1970, issue of Billboard marked its first of 11 weeks on that magazine's Easy Listening chart, where it spent three weeks at number 1, and a seven-week stay on their list of the 50 Best Selling Soul Singles in the US began in the next issue and included a peak position at number 17. Her version also spent four weeks at number 1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart and reached number 3 on the Canadian pop chart.
Critical reception
The editors of Billboard wrote that Warwick gave the song "just the right treatment". The editors of Cash Box magazine described it as a "scintillating reading". The editors of Record World magazine wrote that the song received "the definitive treatment from Dionne Warwick, who always sounds good".
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Dionne Warwick
Anderson's recording debuted on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart in the April 8, 1972, issue and peaked at number 56 over the course of seven weeks. It reached number 54 on the Cash Box Country Top 75 and number 61 on the Country Singles Chart in Record World.
Critical reception
The editors of Cash Box magazine wrote, "Liz Anderson could come back strong with her version of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David pop tune popularized by Dionne Warwick. Lynn Anderson's mom could give her daughter a run for her money in the hits department."
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Liz Anderson
The song was the main radio choice for the EP, which reached number two in the UK and became Deacon Blue's biggest hit in the UK. (The EP was listed as the single rather than the song on the UK chart). The song also reached number 2 in Ireland, and number 72 in the Netherlands.
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Deacon Blue
Various versions of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" have been praised by the editors of Billboard in reviews of the albums or singles on which they appear. Ella Fitzgerald gave the song "a strong going-over" for her rendition, which was released as a single in 1969. Four releases from 1970 included noteworthy recordings. The editors described the one on Mark Lindsay's album Arizona as "a sensitive reading". On Patti Page's Honey Come Back, they wrote, "She floats with ease through" the song. Regarding Green Is Beautiful, they wrote, "Blue Note veteran Grant Green moves back among the leaders in jazz guitar with this bluesy, swinging workout that finds Green up front and in control of 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again'." In their review of the single by Joe Tex, they wrote that he gave "his own special touch" to the song "with his clever new lyric interpretation".
Cash Box reviews
Cash Box magazine editors highlighted two 1969 singles, one a "lighthearted Marilyn Maye reading" that "has enough swing to fit the most progressive MOR formats" and the other by Tony Mottola that was "stunning in instrumental array". Three albums from 1970 also had notable covers. In their review of Ray Conniff's Bridge over Troubled Water, they included the song on a list of the tracks that "are all given that unmistakable Conniff sound". Bobby Vinton's Instrumental Sounds of Love showcased the singer's talents playing the electric saxophone. The editors wrote, "The artist comes through with a smooth and listenable sound on items such as 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again'." On Stan Getz's Marrakesh Express, it was one of the songs that was "neatly arranged and rendered".
The radical interpretations of these tunes, from the deep, smooth soul of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" with its lithe, sprightly, jazz-funk backdrop to the dynamic "Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head", with its staggered strings and counterpoint horn fills are outrageous but in the pocket.
12"CashBox Top 100"(PDF). Cash Box. New York: Cash Box Publishing Co., Inc. February 7, 1970. p.4. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
12"100 Top Pops"(PDF). Record World. New York: Intro Publishing Co., Inc. February 14, 1970. p.29. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
12"Top Non-Rock"(PDF). Record World. New York: Intro Publishing Co., Inc. February 14, 1970. p.10. Retrieved June 15, 2026. Note that the song is mistakenly credited to The Lettermen with a catalog number that matches their number 8 entry on the list, "Traces/Memories Medley".
