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One weirdness in this track is just as Karen's vocal starts - there's an audible popping or clicking sound that's on the exact moment of her vocal beginning. This must have been some kind of click-track or metronome that was not removable (at least not as of VOICE OF THE HEART).
It’s interesting that we all have differing opinions and tastes.
I love the way Karen sings the bridge - “No...I can’t believe it’s over.....it’s over....and I....”, (etc). She sounds sublime. I can’t believe anyone could sound that good on their first, rough take.
I like the long instrumental ending. It’s very Carpenters - lots of familiar instruments used in their other songs, and I like that.
I don’t mind the choir at all on this song. In fact, on most of the songs on ‘Voice of the Heart’, I don’t mind the choir. Generally, I like choir sounds. Carpenters’ background choirs generally don’t sound like a high-quality church choir, so sometimes, they don’t sound so good on Carpenters recordings, (think ‘Old Fashioned Christmas’ and ‘Silver Bells’), but sometimes they’re ok. I think, in the case of ‘Two Lives’, the choir is ok. (Karen and Richard themselves always sound superb on background vocals).
I think Karen sounds great in the verses of ‘Two Lives’. I think she starts sounding a bit harsh in the choruses right at the end. I think, had she lived, if they wanted to release the song, they could have kept most of that rough vocal just as we hear it but just re-recorded the repeats of the chorus at the end - except for the very last “..never had a bro-ken heart”, where Karen sounds GREAT.
‘Voice of the Heart’ is one of my favourite Carpenters albums.