my favorite carpenters songs

couple of reasons to write about the carpenters :

• many of their songs etched into my 1970s childhood memories
• they are still huge in thailand, you hear them everywhere
• recency effect: heard richard on fresh air (link) (recorded in 2009)
• paul williams! 
• Superstar, which i saw at the biograph in dc in 1988, is a very special piece of work and unforgettable

in the interest of staying positive - because this music is beautiful and because Karen's life came to a tragically early end - just a brief note that the arrangements and production are very much of their era and may not be to everyone's taste.

intro done. now for a list of songs.


Rainy Days And Mondays - I'll assume you know this one.

For All We Know - her phrasing on "... strangers, in many ways" is haunting

We've Only Just Begun - great, great song. originally composed as a tv jingle!

Yesterday Once More - very popular in thailand, i have never heard it in the usa

I Won't Last A Day Without You - pop perfection

Superstar - verses are only ok, but chorus goes to a whole other plane. (don't you remember you told me you loved me, baby?) richard carpenter's reaction to the sonic youth cover, in the interview above, is priceless.

Sweet Sweet Smile - mostly I prefer the ballads, but this and Goofus are two of the perky ones I like. I guess also Love Is Surrender goes here.

There's A Kind of Hush - nice song, always makes me smile

Goodbye to Love - complex melody. sometimese I  confuse this with "I'm through with love" which is also great but is a totally different song

Solitaire - "A hear that cared; that WENT unshared" ... this one would have made a great ABBA ballad (which is a compliment!)

Only Yesterday -  a nice closing song for this list.


special category for ones I particularly associate with my childhood:

Sing - special resonance - this song meant a lot to me

Top of the World - I had to sing this in elementary school

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day) - easy listening and science fiction? sign the elementary school edition of me up for sure!

** special mention **
Close to You - is in its own category due to the W.S. Zaza "Danger Jenn" factor. Sarah Arnett - where are you????