Sadness lies in the shadow of laughter. Burt Bacharach's melody trick for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

The third leading figure, music Burt Bacharach

Goldman never expected that music with lyrics would be played during the bicycle sequence, but Roy Hill, who was trying to move away from the Western genre, decided without hesitation to include a theme song. This is where the third key player, Burt Bacharach, comes in. When Roy Hill explained the film to Bacharach, he had no idea what the song would be like, but when his longtime partner and lyricist Hal David gave him the lyrics, the melody line began to take shape little by little.

Contrary to the lament of a man with really bad luck, "For some reason, raindrops keep falling on my head," it was clear from reading the script that Butch Cassidy was a person who couldn't care less about such things. So Bacharach figured that a light-hearted, slightly bitter melody would fit the bill, and he would go on to create a masterpiece that would later dominate the global hit charts and win an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

On the day of recording, singer BJ Thomas was still suffering from pharyngitis, and his raspy voice actually added depth to the song, making it a literal blessing in disguise.

Bacharach also wrote the music for the entire movie, and won both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Score. There is no room for doubt about this result. Bacharach covers three main parts of the movie, including " Rain and Rain, " for about 13 minutes. There will be some viewers who are surprised by this. They think there should have been more music.

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (c)Photofest / Getty Images

However, in reality, there are only three songs in the film: "Rain or Shine," "The Old Fun City," which plays before Butch, Sundance, and Etta arrive in South America, and "South American Getaway," which plays in the scene where the three of them conspire to rob a bank in Bolivia. This is the result of Bacharach agreeing with Roy Hill's theory that there is nothing more lame than a movie that plays music all the time. In this way, the audience is reminded of the preciousness of the music scene, which is only 13 minutes long. This is why many fans of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid say "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

However, I would assert that the perfect synchronization of sound and images in "The Old Fun City," which plays in tandem with a sepia-toned montage, and the sophistication of "South American Getaway," which features a robbery action scene with a man and woman scatting, are the true essence of Burt Bacharach, a living legend of American music.

What is the true nature of the sad waltz that permeates the entire film?