This Masquerade: Love It or Leave It

[Rick Henry]

In the intial round of "Love It or Leave It" I tried to choose songs which were genrally least favorites songs from each of the studio albums released during Karen's life. Some of the songs like "I Can Dream Can't I" and "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" ended up being "Love it's" all the way.

Now in the second round of "Love It or leave It", I've decided to chose songs which are generally considered "favorites", let's see what happens here.

On this first thread of the second round I've chosen fan favorite "This Masquerade". Let us know what you think of this song. Do you love it or is this a leave it?

[karen69roland]

' love it..., no question.

Everything is great on that song..., Karen on vocals, Karen on the drums..., Richard on piano..., Bob Messenger on flute..., the strings arrangements(keys)..., the other little arrangements like harp and bar chimes, etc..., and of course, the classic Carpenters background vocals...., smooooth.



[glow=red,2,300]I Love You Karen

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[shadow=red,left,300]Roland Chayer[/shadow]
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[enigma]

I also love it for much the same reasons Roland does it just shows Karens versitility as a vocalist and was one of Karens most mature vocals at the time it also shows Richard versitlity as an arranger. The song really is brilliant all the way.

[Ming]

Love it. The same reasons as Roland.

Ming

[heartwaves]

Hi there! The first time I heard "This Masquerade," I immediately fell in love with the song!!! I just love Karen's smooth sultery vocals! This song has a sort of jazzy softness to it that melts me every time I listen to it......and there's a haunting kind of sadness to it that almost puts you into a mellow kinda trance 8).

Yet, I find the song has a romantically mysterious way about it, too.....that makes you long to be staring deeply into your lovers eyes, in a dreamy-like way!

Karen soothes my soul when she sings in her lower register like in this song.... which carries the feel of the whole instrumental side of this song, gently to your heart! It's a song that's right up there at the top of my "favourite Karen Carpenter" song-list!!! Just LOVE IT!!!

[GoodOldDreams]

Simply love it ... five stars!

When I first heard "This Masquerade" on the "Now and Then" album, I thought "WOW," and wondered why it wasn't made into a single. Years later, I learned that it was put on the "B" side of the single "Please Mr. Postman," which I thought was conceptually all backwards and upside-down!

A paragon of the Carpenters' sound, the intimate vocals and lush, jazzy arrangement of "This Masquerade" create a sense of mystery, sophistication and wonder. I like the well-placed, subtle touch of Richard's voice hauntingly echoing that of Karen's at the end "...(and) we're lost in a masquerade..." I have great visions of this song being used in a soundtrack for a modern film noir style feature movie.

This song was made into a duet with Karen and Ella Fitzgerald in the the Carpenters' final television special "Music, Music, Music." Elegantly attired, Karen walks in gracefully and sinuously, singing the first verse and then Ella continuing on, leading to a medley of old standards.

"This Masquerade" was also featured in the 1989 made-for-TV movie "The Karen Carpenter Story" and Todd Haynes' 1987 underground short "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story." In both films, the song was used in the context of the conflicted and perplexing side of Karen's relationship with Tom Burris.

This song has been performed by many others, including George Benson and Leon Russell, the songwriter himself, but the Carpenters' version is by far the best.

[Carps1000]

A perfect Carps song in all ways. Listen to the words & it seems to mirror their lives every now & then. Ken.

[smoothie2]

;)Welcome to the site heartwaves!...
Masquerade is wonderful...i love it all the way! One of their finest! I recall hearing just the instrumental long ago by guitarist and singer George Benson. Very talented guy on that but i did not care for his version at all.
It wasn't until some yrs. back when I bought i think Now and Then cd that i first heard the C's version.
Once again, it's just perfect in all ways. To hear the words especially sung by Karen in the special way only she can do....is exceptional.

[Rick Henry]

LOVE IT!

This is one of my alltime favorite Carpenters songs. Everything about it is outstanding.

As GoodOldDreams mentioned Richard's vocal at the end echoing Karen's "we're lost in this masquerade" adds a certain mystique to the song.

Richard's arrangement, in my opinion, is one of the very best in the history is popular music.

What I love most about this song is the fact that Karen is playing drums. She does a fantastic job displaying her expertise with her jazz influenced drum patterns.

[heartwaves]

Thanks for the greeting, Smoothie2....love being here!!!

I never knew there would be so many others who would love this song as much as I always have.....thought maybe it was somehow overlooked, which I to me was a real shame, because it's an absolutely gorgeous song that should have had air play all over the world!!!

I am VERY pleased in knowing that it was Karen playing the drums in this amazing jazzy song..... I'm listening to it right now!!!

I knew Karen played the drums on some of their recordings, but I was never sure on which songs she was the drummer. What an awesomely talented & gifted lady she was.....and I am now wondering what other gifts & talents this woman might have had..... besides her needle pointing? 8)

And yes, I agree with you Rick.....Richard's arrangement of this song just blows me away -- the man has got an ear unlike any other.....he's a natural-born genius at composing & arranging songs!!!!

I have the version of "This Masquerade" from George Benson also, and although I appreciate his style, it just doesn't do it for me like Richard & Karen's version (with the flute sound carried thru it).....it's like a whole new song because they've given it a whole new 'beautiful' face lift!!!!

I just love the "Carpenter's " touch on any song..... they magically bring music alive in my soul with their uniquely beautiful angelic sound!!!!!

[Rick Henry]

Hi Heartwaves - yes, "This Masquerade" is certainly very well loved by Carpenters fans the world over. It's an outstnading beautiful dark mysterious song. I just love it.

I remember when I first heard George Benson's recording in 1976. I thought wow how neat someone is covering a Carpenters song. The Carpenters version had been a favorite of mine since they released it back in 1973 - three years before George Benson. I really like Benson's recording - but in my mind "This Masquerade" was first brought to fame by Carpenters and it will always remain a Carpenters song.

[YesterdayOnceMore]

This Masquerade IS MY FAVORITE Carpenters tune. I was in the hospital having surgery when the album came out, and a good friend of mine brought me the album on tape. I played it non-stop. Masquerade, for all the reasons mentioned above, is by far one of the most beautiful songs Karen sang, in my opinion. I have always "dug" the latin beat, the smooth, silky voice KC uses, and Richard's piano solo, which I find just so tastefully done.

This Masquerade is definitely a LOVE IT ALL THE WAY for this old boy.

[smoothie2]

Glad for the info Rick about how the C's came out with it before Benson's. I didn't know Karen played drums on it either.
I also think of the scene in the K. Carp. story movie, when Masquerade is played....it is played when Karen (played by Gibb) comes home to her apt. after being on tour, and she meets up with her husband as he comes through the door not long after her.
There seems to be nothing to say to each other by then in their marriage, and they both look at each other knowing it's not working for them. And that is sad.

[Rob813]

I agree with everyone on this song. This Masquerade is the top song from the Carpenters. It's unlike anything else they ever recorded. Too bad Richard never pursued a jaza album with Karen covering some of the all-time best jazz music. I think it would have been a huge best selling album and brought them critical acclaim and accolades from all corners of the music industry. This song is a five star flawless masterpiece!

[Rick Henry]

rob813 said:

Too bad Richard never pursued a jaza album with Karen covering some of the all-time best jazz music. I think it would have been a huge best selling album and brought them critical acclaim and accolades from all corners of the music industry.

Good point Rob. I agree with a smooth jazz album by the Carpenters would have been a real treat. Something similar to what we've heard from Diana Krall. This most likely would have received positive reviews from the ever so hard to please critics.

[cam83]

I always thought it was a good song...but not one of my all time faves. Beautiful lyric by Karen...and one that I would classify a Classic...along with WHEN I FALL IN LOVE, and LITTLE GIRL BLUE...

Cameron

[JIM]

I feel GoodOldDreams hit the nail on the head in commenting that Masquerade is sophisticated. The arranging, Karen's vocal and that sax break just screams sophisticated. Like so many Carpenters songs it is truely timeless and I never tire of hearing it. I also agree that Karen looked like a million bucks performing this song in MMM. She appears as sophisticated in her attire as is the song.

Jim

[Moe]

an absolute classic! A great haunting arrangement by Richard and a perfect vocal performance by Karen. It should have been released as a single.