"Love Makes the World Go 'Round" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill for the 1961 Broadway musical Carnival!.
's equivalent of "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo", the signature song from the musical's parent film Lili, "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" is played on a concertina at the play's opening and is later sung by the characters Lili and Paul Berthalet, with the latter being concealed while his puppets apparently sing.
In scoring Carnival!, Bob Merrill had hoped to utilize French folk music as his touchstone, eschewing the conventional Tin Pan Alley style of song predominant in Broadway shows.
During the development phase of Carnival!, Gower Champion and Michael Stewart – respectively set to direct the musical and write its book – would visit Merrill's apartment every morning and leave each afternoon disappointed by the lack of any evident hit song in the proposed score Merrill had played for them.
When seeing out Champion and Stewart one afternoon, Merrill became irate at his visitors' attitude, telling them: "While you're waiting for this f**king elevator I can write the song I know you want" and improvising a tune reminiscent of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel Waltz".