Carpenters Songs That Stopped You in Your Tracks and Made You Listen

[Mark-T]

Of course, today, I'm doing a lot of writing for work. As is my practice, I eventually end up putting on some music from Karen and Richard. Often it's just background to me. But every once in awhile, a song comes on with that "something special" that makes me stop and really, really listen to it. Today, it was One More Time from the Hush album.

Does this happen to you? If so, what songs?

 

[crescentnoon]

This isn't really answering your question but I wanted to comment because One More Time is my favorite Carpenters song.

Anyway, if I am out and about and a Carpenters song comes on, no matter which one, it's hard to concentrate on anything else.

 

[adamj95]

Lately for me, it’s been “At the End of a Song”. I’ve paid close attention to the lyrics lately and it’s really a beautiful song.

 

[Portlander]

The first time I heard "Calling Occupants" on the car radio in North Carolina. It was one of those hold on, wait a second, is that the Carpenters moment!

 

[Mark-T]

This isn't really answering your question but I wanted to comment because One More Time is my favorite Carpenters song.

Anyway, if I am out and about and a Carpenters song comes on, no matter which one, it's hard to concentrate on anything else.

It really is an underrated cut- even by Richard himself.

 

[Martin Medrano]

For me there are several songs that made me do this. The first would be superstar. one day after school i was doing some homework that was due the next day i had been listening to some other music and the carpenters came up next having never heard of them i kept doing my homework and then karen came in with long ago and oh so far away that right there made me stop doing my homework and a all night carpenters binge started.

The other song that made me do this was i can't make music. Having been a fan for a month i made it to the now and then album after listening to the previous albums, i heard i can't make music for the first time and stopped whatever i was doing and listened to the entire song until i got to the end where the harmonica and the violin both come in that sent a chill down my spine.

 

[JohnFB]

Yes, ONE MORE TIME - every time (why would Richard underrate this?)

Also RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS, FOR ALL WE KNOW, A SONG FOR YOU, YOU'RE THE ONE & TICKET TO RIDE (re-record).

Finally, WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE? (it's Karen's string of awesome low notes in the verses).

 

[tomswift2002]

I still remember when I first heard All You Get From Love Is A Love Song as a kid on the CD of The Singles 1974-1978. That’s what hooked me.

Also California Dreaming & Dancing In The Street also stopped me. For me, the As Time Goes By CD really stood out for me in 2002, since it was the only studio album released when I was a high schooler. The other albums were released before I was born or I was too young.

 

[Jack A.]

When I heard “Rainy Days and Mondays” for the first time one night as I was working on homework, I was mesmerized by the whole thing. I heard a lot of Carpenters when I was little, but that wasn't one of the songs I remembered hearing. I must have listened to it 20 times that night; I couldn’t believe how beautiful what I was hearing was. I heralded it as my all-time favorite song for a while, but I'm not sure if I have a favorite song as of right now.

 

[Nemily]

Every Carpenters song has so much layering and so many things going on, It was probably the one I last listened to .

I will never forget the exact moment I first heard Close to You. It was the cusp of summer in 1970. It literally froze me.
Trust me on this, nothing that was out there sounded like CTY at that time. it blew me away.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

"Goodbye and I love You" to me is such a haunting song and Karen really makes you feel every word. Horizon really had some great songs for Karen's talent.

 

[cam89]

The summer of 1989, specifically August, I was in Winnipeg, Mb and gone there to get my braces off I was between Gr 10 and 11....visiting my sister who was in a Foster Home.....and I had bought the LP Carpenters (Tan album) and it was my first time hearing most of the songs except the big hits. I was taken with One Love, A Place to Hideway and I remember sitting in the porch upstairs with my sister as we were reminscing all that had happened in the past year when our family split up (we were 2 60's Scooped kids....The 60's Scoop, a tragedy in Canada's genoidal history to Indigenous peoples like myself fyi)....anyhow these songs were beautiful and spoke to my heart....I even enjoyed Druscilla Penny and Saturday too

 

[Matthew S]

That first video of the overture from the RPO album being recorded with Richard conducting. I immediately got choked up after the first few notes.

 

[JohnFB]

... I was taken with One Love, A Place to Hideway ...

Two more mesmerizing track-stoppers!

 

[Joan Messenger]

I miss them all. Bob Messenger was my husband. He practiced every day of his life....beginning with flute, then various saxophones, bass and piano. When I made mistakes playing piano he would say "close enough for jazz". He kept us laughing all the time. The whole group was great fun. Love and Peace....Joan

 

[Joan Messenger]

A Song For You...Karen's voice was made for this. I am still tearing up a bit.

 

[JohnFB]

I miss them all. Bob Messenger was my husband. He practiced every day of his life....beginning with flute, then various saxophones, bass and piano. When I made mistakes playing piano he would say "close enough for jazz". He kept us laughing all the time. The whole group was great fun. Love and Peace....Joan

Bob was awesomely talented - the Carpenters were as lucky to have him as he them...

 

[Mark-T]

I miss them all. Bob Messenger was my husband. He practiced every day of his life....beginning with flute, then various saxophones, bass and piano. When I made mistakes playing piano he would say "close enough for jazz". He kept us laughing all the time. The whole group was great fun. Love and Peace....Joan

What an honor to have you here! Welcome to the Boards!

 

[JohnFB]

I wish the Carps had "unleashed" Bob more often with extended instrumental solos on some of their records, as they did on A SONG FOR YOU (at least on the album versions, where time wasn't such a critical factor) - and maybe included a few solely instrumental tracks featuring the whole band (Karen on drums, of course) scattered thru their catalog...

Joan's post is the 1st reference I can recall stating that Bob also played piano (in addition to all the other instruments)...is this widely known?

 

[Mike Smith]

I Won't Last a Day Without You and This Masquerade.Those are incredible songs and my favorite Carpenters' tunes.

We've Only Just Begun was amazing, too. Incredible this unknown duo could produce it and Close to You in such a short period of time.

 

[Florian]

Yesterday or very early this morning, just before I went to sleep, I heard "Sandy" for the first time. I was concentrating on it so much that I could feel my heartbeat in my whole body. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "Man, how beautiful and at the same time so soft Karen sounds in this song!"

 

[Don Malcolm]

As Mark noted, it's a great honor to have Joan Messenger here with us--there aren't enough words for the many superb contributions to the Carpenters' sound Bob provided. Multi-instrumentalists almost never get the amount of credit they truly deserve, and Bob was one of the best!

We seem to have two threads going on right now that are somewhat in competition with each other--and it's wonderful that they continue in parallel despite their similarity. For this one, I'd interpret the question as: what song still stops you in your tracks even after you've become intimately familiar with the Carpenters' music? And my answer would be "Superstar"...I always want to hear every aspect of Richard's arrangement as it perfectly surrounds Karen's most emotionally elastic performance, showcasing both nuance and power in a way that I think is unique. Obviously other songs reside in similar territory, but I'd argue that "Superstar" is the one that embodies virtually every component of Karen's physical gifts as a vocalist and her unique depth of interpretation. After what must be ten thousand listens, it still does that to me every time...

 

[Jack A.]

I miss them all. Bob Messenger was my husband. He practiced every day of his life....beginning with flute, then various saxophones, bass and piano. When I made mistakes playing piano he would say "close enough for jazz". He kept us laughing all the time. The whole group was great fun. Love and Peace....Joan

Wow…well, it really is amazing to meet you. Bob really was a great musician.

 

[PTW]

'Goodbye To Love' absolutely chokes me up. no matter how many times I've listened to the song - arguably, the saddest song ever written.

 

[JuanDela]

Happens all the time to me. I tuned the "This is Carpenters" playlist in Spotify and bumped into these bangers:

- Look To Your Dreams
- Beechwood 4-5789
- All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
- I Just Fall In Love Again
- I Need To Be In Love
- One More Time
- And about a week ago with I Want You Back In My Life Again.

I also listened to Karen's solo album. The ones I stopped to the most were:

- My Body Keeps Changing My Mind
- Last One Singin' The Blues
- I Guess I Just Lost My Head
- Making Love In The Afternoon