🎶 Album Sides THE ALBUM SIDES [Poll]: "A SONG FOR YOU" (SP-3511)

[Chris May]

“A SONG FOR YOU”

Catalogue Number: A&M SP-3511
Date of Release: 06/13/72
Chart Position- U.S.: #4; U.K.: #13; JAPAN: #5
Album Singles: "Hurting Each Other"/"Maybe It's You"
"It's Going To Take Some Time"/"Flat Baroque"
"Goodbye To Love"/"Crystal Lullaby"
"Top Of The World"/"Heather"
"I Won't Last A Day Without You"/"One Love"
Medium: Reel/Vinyl/8-track/Cassette/CD​

Side 1:
1.) A Song For You 4:42 (Russell)
2.) Top Of The World 2:56 (Carpenter/Bettis)
3.) Hurting Each Other 2:46 (Udell/Geld)
4.) It's Going To Take Some Time 2:54 (King/Stern)
5.) Goodbye To Love 3:50 (Carpenter/Bettis)
6.) Intermission 0:22 (Carpenter)

Side 2:
7.) Bless The Beasts And The Children 3:07 (De Vorzon/Botkin, Jr.)
8.) Flat Baroque 1:45 (Carpenter)
9.) Piano Picker 1:59 (Edelman)
10.) I Won't Last A Day Without You 3:47 (Williams/Nichols)
11.) Crystal Lullaby 3:58 (Carpenter/Bettis)
12.) Road Ode 3:50 (Sims/Woodhams)
13.) A Song For You [Reprise] 0:53 (Russell)

 

[theninjarabbit]

Side 0ne, with its whole "stages of love" theme. However, there are songs on side two I cherish -- "Road Ode", "Bless the Beasts", and "Crystal Lullaby". Overall well-rounded album.

 

[Harry]

I'm gonna go with my first gut feeling and that's that Side One is the keeper here, despite the great conclusion to Side Two. "Hurting Each Other" is often one of my top two favorite Carpenters records.

 

[Guitarmutt]

Side 2 is great, and the album is great, but side 1 is just special I think.

 

[LeoT]

Side 1 just pipped it for me. I can take or leave TOTW, but the others I love. And IGTTST and GTL are extra special to me because they were the first Cs songs I heard -the ones that got me hooked.

 

[K.C. Jr]

Well, that was harder than expected. I finally went with side 1, mostly due to the timelessness of "A Song For You", the perfectly overdubbed "Hurting Each Other", and ground-breaking "Goodbye to Love". I love the way the songs flow so well with each other!

I mainly was tied to side 2 because "Bless the Beasts and Children" is one of my all-time favorite Carpenters songs! Karen sings so powerfully, and it's just a really beautiful tune. Aside from that, "Road Ode" is amazing! I even like Richard's vocal on "Piano Picker" and the trade-off with Karen in "Crystal Lullaby".

 

[Harry]

I mainly was tied to side 2 because "Bless the Beasts and Children" is one of my all-time favorite Carpenters songs! Karen sings so powerfully, and it's just a really beautiful tune.

It's OK - just pick Side One from the BLESS THE BEASTS AND CHILDREN soundtrack!

 

[CraigGA]

Honestly, I cannot choose, for even though I like more songs on Side 1, the ones on Side 2 that I treasure, I listen to more often. I can't imagine one side without the other. The flow is too perfect and it is a perfect album. I even remember listening to it on my cousins 8-Track tape player and liked the flow on each section of it too. I think I wore out 3 albums, 1 tape, plus I own 3 different CD packages of it. So, I love this album with such great depth that I can't imagine one side without the other without equal distinction.

Craig

 

[natureaker]

As much as I gosh darn love both sides, I'd have to say that side 1 is my favorite. I feel like that side flows greatly with A Song For You, Hurting Each Other, and Top Of The World. I still absolutely adore side 2 with Crystal Lullaby, Bless The Beasts And The Children, I Won't Last A Day Without You, and Road Ode. Such a fabulous album!

 

[Toolman]

Like being asked to choose your favorite child. Yeesh. Went with the flow and voted for side one, but I can listen to either side of this LP and hear favorite after favorite. One of the finest pop records ever made.

 

[ScottyB]

I didn't pick side 2 only because of Piano Picker & Flat Baroque. Otherwise, it would have been a tough choice.

 

[Must Hear This Album]

It’s hard to argue with those who voted for Side 1, as it’s chock-full of hits and is nearly perfect (“Intermission” is cute, but...). I selected Side 2, however, since it also includes two of my favorite hits, “Beasts” and “Won’t Last A Day,” but mostly because it includes the one-two punch of the enchanting, “Crystal Lullaby” (which took on new depth after my child was born), segueing into the haunting, heartbreaking, “Road Ode,” and then ending with the poignant “Song For You” reprise, foreshadowing the tragedy that lie ahead. With “Won’t Last A Day” leading the final half, the end of Side 2 remains, quite possibly, the most flawless, consecutive 12 minutes on any Carpenters album ever.

 

[GaryAlan]

Tough choice for me.
I am conflicted:
On this album there are three songs I do not much care for ! (Tracks 4,8,9).
A few in which I prefer alternate incarnations (Tracks 2,7,10).
Goodbye To Love....about as great a pop-song as ever there was !
So, a toss-up...be that as it may, I love Intermission,
which song tips the scales for me to Side One.

 

[Rumbahbah]

Side 2 is not without its merits ('Road Ode' and 'I Won't Last a Day Without You' especially), but the clunky pairing of 'Flat Baroque' and 'Piano Picker' means that it can't really hold a candle to the single-heavy run on Side 1, plus the exquisite title track.

I realise that 'Top of the World' wasn't originally planned as a single when the album was released, but I wonder why they decided on the running order having all the planned singles on Side 1. It makes it rather top-heavy and thus the flow of the album seems somewhat uneven, unlike the more balanced running order on the Tan Album where 'Superstar' was rightly separated from the other singles on to Side 2.

 

[GaryAlan]

I like that description of ^^ "....clunky pairing of Flat Baroque and Piano Picker...." !
The Side One song that seems "clunky" to my ears is
--of course--It's Going To Take Some Time.....(I almost always skip it !).
Well, who am I ?
After all , that song is one of 2016's "The Nation's Favorites" !
Someone must really like it !

 

[newvillefan]

A fairly easy one for me - side 1. Chock full of the hits and also opens with the majestic A Song For You.

 

[Rudy]

Side 1 barely squeaked it out for me. It'd have been a home run if Top Of The World hadn't tarnished the side for me... Side two loses due to the opening track unfortunately...they should have dropped another Nichols/Williams gem there instead.

 

[newvillefan]

Side two loses due to the opening track unfortunately...they should have dropped another Nichols/Williams gem there instead.

I've always thought that was such a weak track to open side two of what is a hugely strong album overall. If this album has one overall weakness it's that there's only the one Williams/Nichols song on it. Almost 50% of the album is in-house material.

 

[tomswift2002]

Here in Canada the album debuted during the week of July 15, 1972 at #51. Then the next week it had climbed to #13, followed by a week at #9 (July 29), and the on August 5, 1972 it had reached #6. August 12 saw "A Song For You" hit #5, a spot it would hold till September 16, 1972 when it dropped to #15. (Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada »)

So here in Canada, it was a Top 5 album for a month.

As to which side, that's hard to say. Unfortunately for me the weakest song on the album is "Bless The Beasts & The Children".

 

[GaryAlan]

Speaking for myself, the Soundtrack version is far superior to the one on the album:
Bless the Beasts and the Children.
It should not have been altered for the album.

 

[ScottyB]

I love "Bless The Beasts and Children", no matter which incarnation. I feel it was a pretty good Side 2 lead off. But I still must say that "Piano Picker" and "Flat Baroque" spoiled my enthusiasm for that side until the one-two punch of the elegant pairing (as Must Hear This Album so appropriately stated) of "Crystal Lullaby" and "Road Ode" (two of my all-time favorite Carpenters album tracks).

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I would have to say Side 2 by the razor-thinnest of margins. It has 3 of my favorite tunes ("Bless the Beasts," "Rode Ode," "Crystal Lullaby") and I really like both "Flat Baroque" and "Piano Picker" because they show the versatility of the group and add a variety to the sound which Side 1 does not have. Bottom line, there are only three songs on this album that I ever skip: "Top of the World," "It's Going to Take Some Time" and "I Won't Last a Day." But I would skip the two that are on Side 1 more often, hence my vote for Side 2.

But having said that -- there really isn't a bad track on this album, and there are only about maybe a dozen albums in my whole collection I would say that about. (I should make that list.)

 

[A&M Retro]

I don't think any Carpenters side measures up to Side One of 'A Song For You'. And that's saying a lot because there are many amazing sides to Carpenters albums. It's simply the best. Side One of 'Close To You' is a close second.

 

[tomswift2002]

I don't think any Carpenters side measures up to Side One of 'A Song For You'. And that's saying a lot because there are many amazing sides to Carpenters albums. It's simply the best. Side One of 'Close To You' is a close second.

I think both sides of Christmas Portrait are the hardest to measure up to, since each song just flows into one another and you think you're at symphony concert where the only pause is an intermission, and then you are right back at the music again. ASFY, while it does contain a lot of the Carpenters hits, just doesn't flow like CP does, until you get to side 2 where Flat Baroque sets up Piano Picker, which stops to allow Crystal Lullaby to start and then you have lullaby segueing into Road Ode and the a little reprise of ASFY.

 

[ScottyB]

I would have to say Side 2 by the razor-thinnest of margins. It has 3 of my favorite tunes ("Bless the Beasts," "Rode Ode," "Crystal Lullaby") and I really like both "Flat Baroque" and "Piano Picker" because they show the versatility of the group and add a variety to the sound which Side 1 does not have. Bottom line, there are only three songs on this album that I ever skip: "Top of the World," "It's Going to Take Some Time" and "I Won't Last a Day." But I would skip the two that are on Side 1 more often, hence my vote for Side 2.

But having said that -- there really isn't a bad track on this album, and there are only about maybe a dozen albums in my whole collection I would say that about. (I should make that list.)

I have to agree that, as a whole, this album stands out (for me, anyway) as their most enjoyable.