And All The Images Dance By ...

[wisejester7]

Carpenters songs are filled with thought provoking images. Some of the images are powerful, some more subtle.

Whether you find Karen's vocals soul stirring, the lyrics inspiring, the music captivating or a combination of these components which songs leave you with their indelible impression?

I'll start with a couple of songs that popped into my mind first thing this morning:

From One More Time - "and all the images dance by ... " . Clearly someone is reminiscing about their past. The music and vocals cast us into a somber/reflective mood. The singer wishes for just 'one more time' for the 'good' times, whatever they may have been.

Only Yesterday - "you were the dawn breaking the night, the promise of morning light".
Wow, what a dark place to be in in life. Later in the song the singer has hope and perhaps even a new lease on their life, because someone is there to share life with them.

[enigma]

I will have to go with Crescent Noon the whole song has though provoking imagry from the color imagry to the bird image to the forest image it is easily the most image laden song the carpenters have ever done and Karens chilling vocal just sets the mood for this great from the first time I heard this song it definately left and impresion on me and still does to this day.

[Rick Henry]

"Only Yesterday" is somewhat a celebration of life. It's downbeat and upbeat. It captures a full cycle of emotions.

"Crescent Noon" is another song with a full array of emotions. The song contains frozen emotions, life, death, sadness and new beginnings. To me this song is saying that before we "fade away" there's a light at the end of the tunnel...

"B'wana She No Home" is such an unusual song and one that I am fascinated with. The lyric really paints any interesting picture. It's a master and servant role in the lyric. The master (who in my mind is a famous star... maybe a silent pictures star) is very demanding on her servant. Her servant must speak English perfectly and must smile and be polite. The servant can not have her boyfriend over to the master's house. The servant must tell anybody who knocks on the door or calls that "B'wana She No Home" and must learn to say the words perfectly or the master will send the servant back to Guayaquil ( a city in Ecuador). The main purpose of this servant is to make sure that "B'wana" is left alone.

B'wana is a recluse and may be bitter about a lost love (send away the mad puppeteer who seems to think this is home). B'wana is obviously wealthy (I don't care if you drive my 350 honey, don't let 'em steal my chrome. I don't care if you spend all my money honey, long as you leave me alone). B'wana's expectations of the servant are high.

I think B'wana may quite possibly be Greta Garbo.

[beaner]

The song "Happy" talks of the emotions one feels about being with that someone special. One takes chances which we all have to do in life and can feel her life changing cause it feels right with this special someone.

[ps11932]

From the first time I heard it, "Crystal Lullaby" impressed me as a song of inspiration from the past, with some vivid descriptions, sometimes being the very thing to give strength for the pressures of the present.

[Rick Henry]

admin said:

"Only Yesterday" is somewhat a celebration of life. It's downbeat and upbeat. It captures a full cycle of emotions.

"Crescent Noon" is another song with a full array of emotions. The song contains frozen emotions, life, death, sadness and new beginnings. To me this song is saying that before we "fade away" there's a light at the end of the tunnel...

"B'wana She No Home" is such an unusual song and one that I am fascinated with. The lyric really paints any interesting picture. It's a master and servant role in the lyric. The master (who in my mind is a famous star... maybe a silent pictures star) is very demanding on her servant. Her servant must speak English perfectly and must smile and be polite. The servant can not have her boyfriend over to the master's house. The servant must tell anybody who knocks on the door or calls that "B'wana She No Home" and must learn to say the words perfectly or the master will send the servant back to Guayaquil ( a city in Ecuador). The main purpose of this servant is to make sure that "B'wana" is left alone.

B'wana is a recluse and may be bitter about a lost love (send away the mad puppeteer who seems to think this is home). B'wana is obviously wealthy (I don't care if you drive my 350 honey, don't let 'em steal my chrome. I don't care if you spend all my money honey, long as you leave me alone). B'wana's expectations of the servant are high.

I think B'wana may quite possibly be Greta Garbo.

Another tidbit on "B'wana She No Home"... the term "B'wana" is a form of respectful address in Africa... very much like "Sir" or "Ma'am".

What I like about "B'wana She No Home" is that it gets me out of myself... away from being too introspective and gets me to think about cultures and lifestyles... this song really paints an interesting picture for me.

[Rick Henry]

"Jambalaya" is another one which I feel has some interesting imagery...

This is a celebratory song... I love anything that celebrates life and happy times. "Jambalaya" is the epitome of this.

To me "Jambalaya" paints a picture of a family reunion of sorts... the "kin folk" have gathered round for some good food and to see Yvonne... maybe she's newly pregnant. Evenbody's getting dressed up for this get together and they're singin' and pickin' on their guitars... near the water (the bayou... in my case it would be the ocean)... and a big big barbecue with crawfish pie and filet gumbo (sounds good) ... gee almost sounds like one of my family get-togethers...

FYI... a "pirogue" is a canoe hollowed out from a tree trunk.

[beaner]

To me "Another Song" has got to be one of the saddest songs sung by the Carpenters.

Very very interesting to me however because each lyric has a touch of a hopeful positive feeling, then touches down immediately with sadness. For example the contrasts are: "Love" (good)..."ended" (sad), "another day for me to sing" (good)....."light that fell at dawn was cold" (sad), "favorite dreams" (good) and "were dead" (sad) not to mention each refrain that mentions warmth (good).....gone (sad) all immediately after the next.

The music fits the song really well too. A dark song with dark music, especially at the end when it goes a bit wild.

[wisejester7]

The bookend songs Aurora and Eventide are chock full of imagery. One ... a beginning, the other ... an ending.

AURORA

Morning opens quietly
A shadow vision (a dream, perhaps?)
Over me
I know you well
Hidden by the window pane (interesting phrasing here)
And all my sadness
Gone charade
Begins to fade
How long it stayed

Patterns of another day
Awaken slowly
Out of gray
A tolling bell
Rolling down the alleyway
It's calling all
My dreams away
My dreams are songs I play



EVENTIDE

Lying under barren skies
The light escaping
From my eyes
Below the moon
Walking down the avenue
I'm followed by
The afterglow
The velvet rose
Of evening grows

Weary to be home again
Among the faces
Of my friends
The day is done
Candles burning by the sea
Are waiting for me
Patiently
I wish the same
For you

[Rick Henry]

beaner said:

To me "Another Song" has got to be one of the saddest songs sung by the Carpenters.

Very very interesting to me however because each lyric has a touch of a hopeful positive feeling, then touches down immediately with sadness. For example the contrasts are: "Love" (good)..."ended" (sad), "another day for me to sing" (good)....."light that fell at dawn was cold" (sad), "favorite dreams" (good) and "were dead" (sad) not to mention each refrain that mentions warmth (good).....gone (sad) all immediately after the next.

The music fits the song really well too. A dark song with dark music, especially at the end when it goes a bit wild.

I was thinking about the contrasts in this song... It's as if you dug right into my thoughts... Seems like Carpenters were good at recording songs that had contrasts. "Only Yesterday" was one of those songs with contrasting emotions. It starts off with "after long enough of being alone" and ends up with "since I threw my sadness away"... "Only Yesterday" is another one of those celebratory songs in that the subject is celebrating that he (she) has thrown away that sadness and is moving forward... wonderful song and wonderful sentiment.

[smoothie2]

Excellent choices for image-ry songs and their descriptions....
There seem to be a lot of songs when you stop and think about it.
I think of +++ROAD ODE++
as yet another one.
I do love this one. Even though I've not experienced too much of life on the road, I surely do think of folks especially R. and K., who live this way.
Of course the lyrics are put to music and delivered in Karen's unique way. (Oh my, God bless her, I sure miss her!)
ROAD ODE tells mostly about how lonely and tiresome life is traveling and constantly performing.
++++ The performers desperately hope to get home. Roads and the riding are endless. The people often forget where they are each day.
Motels offer basic needs perhaps extravagant at times. They're still not like home.
"Rented cars and empty motel rooms lead you every where but home. Crowds of people shouting how they loved the show, but they don't know. ++++ The endless crowds of people always wearing a smile
The countless names and places.....take me back please take me back home." (forgive me if these aren't the exact lyrics)
" I wonder if these feelings ever change (loneliness, isolation, longing,
boredom, fatigue) how long I'll lift this load"
Come tomorrow I'll be gone again .....rows of sorrow coming to an end for me."
It's very easy to have these pictures in our minds and to share these types of feelings with the singer.

[wisejester7]

smoothie2 said:

Excellent choices for image-ry songs and their descriptions....
There seem to be a lot of songs when you stop and think about it.
I think of +++ROAD ODE++
as yet another one.
I do love this one. Even though I've not experienced too much of life on the road, I surely do think of folks especially R. and K., who live this way.
Of course the lyrics are put to music and delivered in Karen's unique way. (Oh my, God bless her, I sure miss her!)
ROAD ODE tells mostly about how lonely and tiresome life is traveling and constantly performing.
++++ The performers desperately hope to get home. Roads and the riding are endless. The people often forget where they are each day.
Motels offer basic needs perhaps extravagant at times. They're still not like home.
"Rented cars and empty motel rooms lead you every where but home. Crowds of people shouting how they loved the show, but they don't know. ++++ The endless crowds of people always wearing a smile
The countless names and places.....take me back please take me back home." (forgive me if these aren't the exact lyrics)
" I wonder if these feelings ever change (loneliness, isolation, longing,
boredom, fatigue) how long I'll lift this load"
Come tomorrow I'll be gone again .....rows of sorrow coming to an end for me."
It's very easy to have these pictures in our minds and to share these types of feelings with the singer.

Good pick.
Before I heard Road Ode, I never even thought about how a life on the road must feel to those living it. When I thought about bands and traveling performers I always thought they were more in control of their lives and their time. In the 1970's this song was an eye-opener for me.
Road Ode is like looking into the private thoughts of traveling entertainers.

[Rick Henry]

wisejester7 said:

smoothie2 said:

Excellent choices for image-ry songs and their descriptions....
There seem to be a lot of songs when you stop and think about it.
I think of +++ROAD ODE++
as yet another one.
I do love this one. Even though I've not experienced too much of life on the road, I surely do think of folks especially R. and K., who live this way.
Of course the lyrics are put to music and delivered in Karen's unique way. (Oh my, God bless her, I sure miss her!)
ROAD ODE tells mostly about how lonely and tiresome life is traveling and constantly performing.
++++ The performers desperately hope to get home. Roads and the riding are endless. The people often forget where they are each day.
Motels offer basic needs perhaps extravagant at times. They're still not like home.
"Rented cars and empty motel rooms lead you every where but home. Crowds of people shouting how they loved the show, but they don't know. ++++ The endless crowds of people always wearing a smile
The countless names and places.....take me back please take me back home." (forgive me if these aren't the exact lyrics)
" I wonder if these feelings ever change (loneliness, isolation, longing,
boredom, fatigue) how long I'll lift this load"
Come tomorrow I'll be gone again .....rows of sorrow coming to an end for me."
It's very easy to have these pictures in our minds and to share these types of feelings with the singer.

Good pick.
Before I heard Road Ode, I never even thought about how a life on the road must feel to those living it. When I thought about bands and traveling performers I always thought they were more in control of their lives and their time. In the 1970's this song was an eye-opener for me.
Road Ode is like looking into the private thoughts of traveling entertainers.

In so many interviews with musicians they always seem to say that life on the road is a lonely experience. You can never develop any real relationships because you're never in one place long enough. You relationship is with the audience which changes every night.

In the case of Karen Carpenter the "road" was especially grueling due to the excessive amount of touring Carpenters did. Many sources have said it was unreasonable. I remember somewhere Karen said she'd wake up in a hotel room and not know where she was.

Yes, "Road Ode" does provide quite a visual and the song really rocks...

[wisejester7]

I love songs about sailing and the tropical life. Sailing songs usually stick in my mind.


"Honolulu City Lights" gives me the impression of quiet sadness and longing. The singer is leaving a beautiful spot and it seems as if they don't really want to go, yet.
There is the hook, though, ... of "bring me back again".


Compare the sombre "Honolulu City Lights" with "Sailing On The Tide".
In "Sailing On The Tide" the mood is upbeat. Although the lyrics start out a little negative ... "Here I am feeling confined, Neon lights are making me blind, I need time out in the sunshine" ... the song soon moves into a joyful tranquility of being out of the daily grind.
"Sailing on the tide in the morning, How I love that salty air, Sailing to the wide horizon, Let the fresh winds, Guide us there" and "Make no plans play it by ear, Could be days maybe a year, I'm gonna be free in the sunshine, Takin' my time tryin' to find, Some peace of mind, Nothin's gonna hurry me, Nothin's gonna worry me ". Here we can see there is no haste to leave as there is in "Honolulu City Lights". Maybe Honolulu is that 'beautiful island in the sun'.In fact, we are encouraged to take life at a much s-l-o-w-e-r pace.


In "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song" we find "Like sailin' on a sailin' ship to nowhere, Love took over my heart like an ocean breeze, As seagulls fly I knew that I was losin', Love was washed away with the driftin' tide". The mood is relaxed, but there is the sense of loss. Love has been washed away. The singer is resigned to that fact.



"Boat To Sail" speaks of a freedom of another kind. This song is more of an 'outlook on life' type of song for me. It speaks of open skies at night ( maybe dreamers and star gazing wishers) and a hot lot of lovin' ... "Don't you worry baby, you're a friend of mine".


Sailing is a great pleasure and a fun sport. The ocean (in song and other art forms) is often used to represent different emotions and the differing and sometimes mysterious conditions of life itself. Perhaps that is why sailing songs leave a deep impression on me.

[Rick Henry]

wisejester7 said:

I love songs about sailing and the tropical life. Sailing songs usually stick in my mind.


"Honolulu City Lights" gives me the impression of quiet sadness and longing. The singer is leaving a beautiful spot and it seems as if they don't really want to go, yet.
There is the hook, though, ... of "bring me back again".


Compare the sombre "Honolulu City Lights" with "Sailing On The Tide".
In "Sailing On The Tide" the mood is upbeat. Although the lyrics start out a little negative ... "Here I am feeling confined, Neon lights are making me blind, I need time out in the sunshine" ... the song soon moves into a joyful tranquility of being out of the daily grind.
"Sailing on the tide in the morning, How I love that salty air, Sailing to the wide horizon, Let the fresh winds, Guide us there" and "Make no plans play it by ear, Could be days maybe a year, I'm gonna be free in the sunshine, Takin' my time tryin' to find, Some peace of mind, Nothin's gonna hurry me, Nothin's gonna worry me ". Here we can see there is no haste to leave as there is in "Honolulu City Lights". Maybe Honolulu is that 'beautiful island in the sun'.In fact, we are encouraged to take life at a much s-l-o-w-e-r pace.


In "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song" we find "Like sailin' on a sailin' ship to nowhere, Love took over my heart like an ocean breeze, As seagulls fly I knew that I was losin', Love was washed away with the driftin' tide". The mood is relaxed, but there is the sense of loss. Love has been washed away. The singer is resigned to that fact.



"Boat To Sail" speaks of a freedom of another kind. This song is more of an 'outlook on life' type of song for me. It speaks of open skies at night ( maybe dreamers and star gazing wishers) and a hot lot of lovin' ... "Don't you worry baby, you're a friend of mine".


Sailing is a great pleasure and a fun sport. The ocean (in song and other art forms) is often used to represent different emotions and the differing and sometimes mysterious conditions of life itself. Perhaps that is why sailing songs leave a deep impression on me.

Excellent WJ7... I really like the way you grouped these songs which have to do with sunny shores.

I also love songs of this topic as I grew up with boats and sailing, yachting, the beach, the ocean, the river and plenty of sunshine. I am truly a California label... believe me.

"Boat To Sail" makes me think of going on a lazy vacation. The Californian takes a trip to Jamaica with his (her) loved one. The visual for me comes in the line "Barefoot, coconut and super mild". When I first heard this line I don't think I liked it much. It seemed somewhat out of place for a Carpenters song... but I have grown up since and I love this line. I see a few different people in the one word "barefoot"... First I see a Jamaican lady (named Jamaica) who is on the island, with her child and they're both barefoot. Than I see myself as being on one of my own beaches here in Southern California (mostly Newport Beach) and I'm barefoot, tanned and enjoying my day... I usually use a coconut scented sunblock.

[wisejester7]

admin said:

wisejester7 said:

I love songs about sailing and the tropical life. Sailing songs usually stick in my mind.


"Honolulu City Lights" gives me the impression of quiet sadness and longing. The singer is leaving a beautiful spot and it seems as if they don't really want to go, yet.
There is the hook, though, ... of "bring me back again".


Compare the sombre "Honolulu City Lights" with "Sailing On The Tide".
In "Sailing On The Tide" the mood is upbeat. Although the lyrics start out a little negative ... "Here I am feeling confined, Neon lights are making me blind, I need time out in the sunshine" ... the song soon moves into a joyful tranquility of being out of the daily grind.
"Sailing on the tide in the morning, How I love that salty air, Sailing to the wide horizon, Let the fresh winds, Guide us there" and "Make no plans play it by ear, Could be days maybe a year, I'm gonna be free in the sunshine, Takin' my time tryin' to find, Some peace of mind, Nothin's gonna hurry me, Nothin's gonna worry me ". Here we can see there is no haste to leave as there is in "Honolulu City Lights". Maybe Honolulu is that 'beautiful island in the sun'.In fact, we are encouraged to take life at a much s-l-o-w-e-r pace.


In "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song" we find "Like sailin' on a sailin' ship to nowhere, Love took over my heart like an ocean breeze, As seagulls fly I knew that I was losin', Love was washed away with the driftin' tide". The mood is relaxed, but there is the sense of loss. Love has been washed away. The singer is resigned to that fact.



"Boat To Sail" speaks of a freedom of another kind. This song is more of an 'outlook on life' type of song for me. It speaks of open skies at night ( maybe dreamers and star gazing wishers) and a hot lot of lovin' ... "Don't you worry baby, you're a friend of mine".


Sailing is a great pleasure and a fun sport. The ocean (in song and other art forms) is often used to represent different emotions and the differing and sometimes mysterious conditions of life itself. Perhaps that is why sailing songs leave a deep impression on me.

Excellent WJ7... I really like the way you grouped these songs which have to do with sunny shores.

I also love songs of this topic as I grew up with boats and sailing, yachting, the beach, the ocean, the river and plenty of sunshine. I am truly a California label... believe me.

"Boat To Sail" makes me think of going on a lazy vacation. The Californian takes a trip to Jamaica with his (her) loved one. The visual for me comes in the line "Barefoot, coconut and super mild". When I first heard this line I don't think I liked it much. It seemed somewhat out of place for a Carpenters song... but I have grown up since and I love this line. I see a few different people in the one word "barefoot"... First I see a Jamaican lady (named Jamaica) who is on the island, with her child and they're both barefoot. Than I see myself as being on one of my own beaches here in Southern California (mostly Newport Beach) and I'm barefoot, tanned and enjoying my day... I usually use a coconut scented sunblock.

I had 'barefoot, coconut and super mild' in my original post, but I guess I lost in somewhere in one of my re-writes. I love the line, too!