Post by YesterdayOnceMore on Mar 20, 2005 16:07:41 GMT -5
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I tried to see if we'd had a previous posting about this song, and didn't come up with one, so here we are with this new thread.
What an amazingly powerful song this one is to me. And how true it is. I was on the road, actually, when this song came out - and had been on the road for some time. I came to some conclusions as I was listening to this extraordinarily beautiful ballad by Karen today. The words are so true - so right on - if you're out there on the road, the one thing you long for is "home." At least - one longs for a time they might be able to know that getting back home is possible. I realize that my being on the road, vs. what the Carpenters was doing, was very different, yet, much the same. My being on the road was just a scaled-down version of a bigger, world renouned group. We lifted the "heavy load" when we sat up and took down. The feelings DIDN'T change - you're in the spotlight - people "love" you (not!) = they love who you are when you're entertaining them - they have no idea who YOU really are. But, I remember meeting a lot of wonderful people throughout the time I was on the road. Yet, they were people that would be passing ships in my many long nights of playing club venues. Some asked us to come with them on the weekends to their country clubs and treated us like Kings - I remember one inkeeper who made steaks for us at her home one Sunday evening, and gave me the keys to her BRAND NEW MG to drive for the weekend. Karen and Richard must have been exhausted by the millions of people they passed like that - well wishers - true fans - people who DID love them (as much was revealed about this duo's personal life to some extent) yet much of it was so kept in the dark, and for good reason. (Karen's anorexia and Richard's quaalude problems).
"..the endless crowds of faces just keep on wearing a smile.." - what a true statement this one is. People came to hear the music - and to watch the entertainers - the performers - and they dug it - and when they dug it, they smiled. Night after night. That was a good thing - but, it was an endless string of faces. And, there were countless places that Carpenters played, and that I played. I remember various parts of the US where I played. Interesting. Try playing jazz and singing Carpenters music in a redneck dive in Billings Montana. That was something. We saw cowboys there go at it and there was actual fisticuffs - then on break, we met them cleaning each other up in the bathroom, and shaking hands.
The road is an unbelievable life. The point I'm trying to make here is this - nothing stayed the same, and everything WAS the same. And, although it was FUN - it was a gas - it was what I wanted to be doing, and I know that with Karen and Rich, it was certainly what they wanted, it got old, and home - the comforts of being "home" was longed for.
No one sang of longing like Karen Carpenter. The aching in her voice as she sings is apparent. Richard's arrangement of this incredible tune is phenomenal, as always - he builds and builds it - the drum runs are awesome - and drums and piano in perfect sinc with each other on the run down from the end of the bridge..it's just so well crafted. And of course, the story itself is told so well, because Karen felt every lyric of that song right down to her soul.
I listened with new ears to this tune today. Whew!
Thoughts?
All my best to you~~
Tim
I tried to see if we'd had a previous posting about this song, and didn't come up with one, so here we are with this new thread.
What an amazingly powerful song this one is to me. And how true it is. I was on the road, actually, when this song came out - and had been on the road for some time. I came to some conclusions as I was listening to this extraordinarily beautiful ballad by Karen today. The words are so true - so right on - if you're out there on the road, the one thing you long for is "home." At least - one longs for a time they might be able to know that getting back home is possible. I realize that my being on the road, vs. what the Carpenters was doing, was very different, yet, much the same. My being on the road was just a scaled-down version of a bigger, world renouned group. We lifted the "heavy load" when we sat up and took down. The feelings DIDN'T change - you're in the spotlight - people "love" you (not!) = they love who you are when you're entertaining them - they have no idea who YOU really are. But, I remember meeting a lot of wonderful people throughout the time I was on the road. Yet, they were people that would be passing ships in my many long nights of playing club venues. Some asked us to come with them on the weekends to their country clubs and treated us like Kings - I remember one inkeeper who made steaks for us at her home one Sunday evening, and gave me the keys to her BRAND NEW MG to drive for the weekend. Karen and Richard must have been exhausted by the millions of people they passed like that - well wishers - true fans - people who DID love them (as much was revealed about this duo's personal life to some extent) yet much of it was so kept in the dark, and for good reason. (Karen's anorexia and Richard's quaalude problems).
"..the endless crowds of faces just keep on wearing a smile.." - what a true statement this one is. People came to hear the music - and to watch the entertainers - the performers - and they dug it - and when they dug it, they smiled. Night after night. That was a good thing - but, it was an endless string of faces. And, there were countless places that Carpenters played, and that I played. I remember various parts of the US where I played. Interesting. Try playing jazz and singing Carpenters music in a redneck dive in Billings Montana. That was something. We saw cowboys there go at it and there was actual fisticuffs - then on break, we met them cleaning each other up in the bathroom, and shaking hands.
The road is an unbelievable life. The point I'm trying to make here is this - nothing stayed the same, and everything WAS the same. And, although it was FUN - it was a gas - it was what I wanted to be doing, and I know that with Karen and Rich, it was certainly what they wanted, it got old, and home - the comforts of being "home" was longed for.
No one sang of longing like Karen Carpenter. The aching in her voice as she sings is apparent. Richard's arrangement of this incredible tune is phenomenal, as always - he builds and builds it - the drum runs are awesome - and drums and piano in perfect sinc with each other on the run down from the end of the bridge..it's just so well crafted. And of course, the story itself is told so well, because Karen felt every lyric of that song right down to her soul.
I listened with new ears to this tune today. Whew!
Thoughts?
All my best to you~~
Tim
&^ *% 
Great review Tim. Like Moe I
Hi Jim. I also wastched the E!TV documentary on Karen. That is the one where Karen made the comment about not knowing what town she'd be in.