February 4th is around the corner...

Ted, i’m so so sorry you’ve had that amount of loss in your life: if it were even possible because this forum was a local club instead of an international on line collection on fans, I would offer to sit down and have coffee with you just to listen as you spoke, offering open ears but a mostly closed mouth.
 
I don’t quite get the “controversy” over recognizing the day she left the earth. No one’s having a cake and throwing streamers. For me, it kind of makes me even more introspective about Karen’s passing with each passing year when the day comes. When I hear Karen I hear someone in a permanent state of incompleteness, a ghost before her time, caught between existing and not existing, a living abstraction. In her phrasing’s and tone she suggests much about the core of the lyric but there’s “something” missing. Her gift was making songs sound so emotionally and intellectually satisfying without complete specificity.

Long before she left forever, Karen, through her voice, threatened to drift away countless times before to a place where nobody could find her. The tragedy is not just that she exceeded everyone’s grasp to pull her back, but that she somehow exceeded her very own.
 
Personally, I would say a little prayer then move on, like for my mom for instant. It was the 10th anniversary of my mom's death this past November. I text my surviving siblings and love ones on that day for remembrance. I didn't get a text back. But it was my mom's birthday just a few days ago, so I sent another text, and I did get at least one reply.

We used to visit the cemetery for one of those days or another, but as time went on, it seems like I'm the only one who makes the time to drop by. I'm not offended by this, I just take it that everyone just keep mom's love in their hearts and just move on with their own lives.

As for my feeling for Karen, I never met her, but the music that she and Richard have created made left such an impression at my young life (I was a fan since I was in elementary school back in the early 1970s), I felt like they were close friends I haven't met yet. When she died, I felt a part of me died as well, like I felt when my grandmother died a few years earlier. My grandmother said one time, it's ok to morn, but don't let it over take me.
 
This open letter by Kim Gordon always gives me chills when I read it:

Dear Karen,

Thru the years of The Carpenters TV specials I saw you change from the Innocent Oreo-cookie-and-milk-eyed girl next door to hollowed eyes and a lank body adrift on a candy-colored stage set. You and Richard, by the end, looked drugged—there’s so little energy. The words come out of yr mouth but yr eyes say other things, “Help me, please, I’m lost in my own passive resistance, something went wrong. I wanted to make myself disappear from their control. My parents, Richard, the writers who call me ‘hippie, fat.’ Since I was, like most girls, brought up to be polite and considerate, I figured no one would notice anything wrong—as long as, outwardly, I continued to do what was expected of me. Maybe they could control all the outward aspects of my life, but my body is all in my control. I can make myself smaller. I can disappear. I can starve myself to death and they won’t know it. My voice will never give me away. They’re not my words. No one will guess my pain. But I will make the words my own because I have to express myself somehow. Pain is not perfect so there is no place in Richard’s life for it. I have to be perfect too. I must be thin so I’m perfect. Was I a teenager once?... I forget. Now I look middle-aged, with a bad perm and country-western clothes.”

I must ask you, Karen, who were your role models? Was it yr mother? What kind of books did you like to read? Did anyone ever ask you that question—what’s it like being a girl in music? What were yr dreams? Did you have any female friends or was it just you and Richard, mom and dad, A&M? Did you ever go running along the sand, feeling the ocean rush up between yr legs? Who is Karen Carpenter, really, besides the sad girl with the extraordinarily beautiful, soulful voice?

your fan – love,
kim
 
The recent untimely and tragic passing of Kobe Bryant will become one of these things - remembering how you heard it and the shock that someone so famous can be taken so unexpectedly and in such a way. It definitely awakens that sense of mortality - that every day is a gift.

That's what I think about on Karen's day of passing. Every day is a gift. Live it. With humility, I suggest that Karen would tell us the same.
 
The article I wrote is up.

Just got done reading your article Mark. Very nice tribute to Karen! I like your technique of sandwiching that beautiful photo of Karen multiple times; with her lovely features and sad eyes, in between your text. It brought emotional impact. Great Job!!:)

"Yes, she was that gifted. Karen had a voice only God Himself could have created." :righton:

Carpenters Fans; Here's Marks's blog site. It's well worth your time;

Insights and Sounds
 
Thank you all for the kind words! Perhaps new fans will come of this, appreciating the giftedness of Karen and Richard.

Rachel, please do share your own thoughts! I'd love read them.

"I like your technique of sandwiching that beautiful photo of Karen multiple times; with her lovely features and sad eyes, in between your text. It brought emotional impact. Great Job!!:)" Well, Carpe Diem, I thought about the photo choice for a very long time. Then, I had to go with my old standby, playing with the colors. There's something it in that for me perfectly captures Karen in her prime. In all her shades of personality. Funny how it's from the A Kind of Hush sessions- the very album Randy L Schmidt would later ask me to talk about for his book.

For this article, there was a lot I cut out as I decided to focus on pieces of their art that reinforced the Great American classic overarching theme. I'm sure they will make it into other articles over time.

Now, if I can only get a focused grip on how I want to approach Now & Then! It's harder than the first go around when I went through all the albums. And of course, I can't wait to get to Horizon and Hush. Everyone here knows I love Horizon! With Hush, I'll share some insights that didn't make it into Randy's book. :)
 
Thank you, Craig. Thanks so much. All these affirmations mean so much. Isn't it amazing how deeply their art and her voice touches us all?

May I make a request of you all? In addition to comments here, please insert a comment on the blog article itself. The more times this happens, the more times the article is read- and the more chances non-fans have to discover Karen and Richard. Just a thought.
 
I know they say February 3rd is the day the music died, but for most of us here it’s February 4th. The day it broke my heart, and deep sadness set in. I was in awe of all the phone calls, tv and radio stations that wanted a comment, or just a condolence at Karen’s untimely passing. The greatest was that even A&M called to let me know. I ran the local record store here at the time, before the chain stores took over. Guess my reputation as a super fan preceded me. I was honored and touched. I will never forget this day in history, until I die or my memory fails me. Thank you all for keeping Carpenters legacy alive in your hearts, and your varied opinions. This is such a great forum to be able to express and share with like mined people from all over the world. How grateful and lucky am I for all of you?
 
I was introduced to Karen through the following songs back in high school, I'll never forget her impression on me. I rediscovered the Carpenters last year and I'm so grateful for that. Listening to her singing has been a source of comfort during hard times, her rich and warm voice always making me feel safe. She is truly an inspiration and a remarkably talented person. There is no one else like her.



 
I don’t quite get the “controversy” over recognizing the day she left the earth. No one’s having a cake and throwing streamers. For me, it kind of makes me even more introspective about Karen’s passing with each passing year when the day comes. When I hear Karen I hear someone in a permanent state of incompleteness, a ghost before her time, caught between existing and not existing, a living abstraction. In her phrasing’s and tone she suggests much about the core of the lyric but there’s “something” missing. Her gift was making songs sound so emotionally and intellectually satisfying without complete specificity.

Long before she left forever, Karen, through her voice, threatened to drift away countless times before to a place where nobody could find her. The tragedy is not just that she exceeded everyone’s grasp to pull her back, but that she somehow exceeded her very own.

First thing this morning I heard Karen's name mentioned during the 'headlines from years gone by' feature on BBC Radio 4 and they normally only do a two or three items and the death of a singer from years ago might so easily have been dropped in favour of something else.

Everyone has a different view on days like today, but I agree that no one is celebrating anything at all.

For me, there is more chance of hearing a Carpenters' track on the radio today than any other and that can only be a good thing as it brings her name and memory to the fore again. Even if it is just for a day.
 
First thing this morning I heard Karen's name mentioned during the 'headlines from years gone by' feature on BBC Radio 4 and they normally only do a two or three items and the death of a singer from years ago might so easily have been dropped in favour of something else.

Everyone has a different view on days like today, but I agree that no one is celebrating anything at all.

For me, there is more chance of hearing a Carpenters' track on the radio today than any other and that can only be a good thing as it brings her name and memory to the fore again. Even if it is just for a day.
...until the Holiday Season, that is! 🎵🎶🎄
 
Thank you, Craig. Thanks so much. All these affirmations mean so much. Isn't it amazing how deeply their art and her voice touches us all?

May I make a request of you all? In addition to comments here, please insert a comment on the blog article itself. The more times this happens, the more times the article is read- and the more chances non-fans have to discover Karen and Richard. Just a thought.

FANTASTIC article, Mark! I enjoyed it very much. You captured Karen and her magic very well, as well as the 'Carpenters' magic. Excellent job!
 
Everything has a beginning and an end. I'm just grateful to have been lucky enough to experience that beginning back in 1970 hearing Close To You, and as painful as it was to witness the ending, that journey between those two points was one of the best. Thank you Carpenters for putting a bit of magic into my life.
 
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Everything has a beginning and an end. I'm just grateful to have been lucky enough to experience that beginning back in 1970 hearing Close To You, and as painful as it was to witness the ending, that journey between those two points was one of the best. Thank you Carpenters for putting a bit of magic into my life.

Well said, Chris--and likewise (as always) Mark--writing about the Carpenters (and Karen in particular) really does bring out the very best in you! As becomes clear to us at this time of the year, our grief at Karen's loss can never go away--because we are the ones who know how truly special she was. We will continue to cherish her until we, too, join her in a better place--because, surely, wherever she is most certainly is a better place for having her. Until then, we're blessed by being able to have her with us whenever we need her. Thank goodness for that!

And thank goodness fate decided to arrange it so that it's not so far from the day of her passing to the day she was born--which is a day of great joy--a harbinger of spring and the rebirth that's just around the corner--reminding us of just how fortunate it was that she was here with us, even for all too brief a time. Miracles do happen, and Karen is clearly the proof of that.
 
I was introduced to Karen through the following songs back in high school, I'll never forget her impression on me. I rediscovered the Carpenters last year and I'm so grateful for that. Listening to her singing has been a source of comfort during hard times, her rich and warm voice always making me feel safe. She is truly an inspiration and a remarkably talented person. There is no one else like her.





Hmmmm...not sure I can trust my memory on this after almost 50 years, but...I think that Close to You video may have been the first time I saw them on TV.

When/where was that appearance? 1970 I assume.

Karen was an amazing lip sync'r already.
 
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