BGW
Member
I think I'm losing it. I just finished watching V for Vendetta. The song Cry Me a River is featured in the movie, and it crept into my head after it (the movie) was over. I heard Karen's wonderful rich, smooth voice flowing over the lyrics and I was entirely sure that the Carpenters had covered the song and that I just didn't have it. I'm still not convinced they didn't record it, even after double checking all over the internet. It's scary. It's not like I'm imagining her singing it instead of the other singers, I can hear an entirely new arrangement crafted around her voice.
Even when it's just a figment of our imaginations, music is still music, even if it hasn't been written down or recorded. I'd argue that this quasi-Carpenters music that exists solely in that realm is real, at least in its own way. It certainly is to whoever imagines it.
It reminds me of a passage from Lee Child's first Jack Reacher novel: "People spend thousands of dollars on stereos. Sometimes tens of thousands. There is a specialist industry right here in the States which builds stereo gear to a standard you wouldn't believe. Tubed amplifiers which cost more than a house. Speakers taller than me. Cables thicker than a garden hose. Some army guys had that stuff. I'd heard it on bases around the world. Wonderful. But they were wasting their money. Because the best stereo in the world is free. Inside your head. It sounds as good as you want it to. As loud as you want it to be."
Karen may be gone but her voice still lives within us. The music lives on, both through us listening to what was recorded in that short span of time but also through us imagining Carpenters songs that never were.
Anyway, I guess I'm now the resident loony here. But I do have a question. What nonexistent Carpenters songs exist to you?
*After proofreading this, I think I should clarify. Despite what this post reads like, I am not, in fact, baked. Also, while Karen isn't with us, I've no doubt she's in a better place now, looking down and chuckling at this odd rambling post.
Even when it's just a figment of our imaginations, music is still music, even if it hasn't been written down or recorded. I'd argue that this quasi-Carpenters music that exists solely in that realm is real, at least in its own way. It certainly is to whoever imagines it.
It reminds me of a passage from Lee Child's first Jack Reacher novel: "People spend thousands of dollars on stereos. Sometimes tens of thousands. There is a specialist industry right here in the States which builds stereo gear to a standard you wouldn't believe. Tubed amplifiers which cost more than a house. Speakers taller than me. Cables thicker than a garden hose. Some army guys had that stuff. I'd heard it on bases around the world. Wonderful. But they were wasting their money. Because the best stereo in the world is free. Inside your head. It sounds as good as you want it to. As loud as you want it to be."
Karen may be gone but her voice still lives within us. The music lives on, both through us listening to what was recorded in that short span of time but also through us imagining Carpenters songs that never were.
Anyway, I guess I'm now the resident loony here. But I do have a question. What nonexistent Carpenters songs exist to you?
*After proofreading this, I think I should clarify. Despite what this post reads like, I am not, in fact, baked. Also, while Karen isn't with us, I've no doubt she's in a better place now, looking down and chuckling at this odd rambling post.