Background
The song was Dionne Warwick's second single from her Scepter Records album The Windows Of The World, following the LP's title track. The tune reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Billboard R & B Chart in December 1967, and #4 on the Canadian Charts and was a certified US million seller by the RIAA. The single later appeared on the LP Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits, Part Two and is considered one of Warwick's signature songs. The flip or "B-side" of the single (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls was also a million seller and rode the #2 position for 4 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and CashBox singles chart and the # 1 position on the Record World Top 40 Chart in February 1968.
"I Say a Little Prayer" b/w "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls", became one of the most successful double-sided hits of the Rock era. Like several Bacharach compositions, both sides contains passages written in unusual time signatures. The verses of "Prayer" are constructed of 2 successive measures of 4/4, a measure of 10/4 (using 4/4 + 2/4 + 4/4), and 2 final measures of 4/4. The chorus is in 11/4 (using 4/4 + 3/4 + 4/4).
Read more about this topic: I Say A Little Prayer
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