Songs that grew on you

That’s a track that didn’t need time to grow on me. I loved it from the first time I heard it. It’s very dramatic and moody, with all the minor chords and the lovely, dark arrangement, not to mention the impressive vocal overdubs. I think the only reason it doesn’t get more coverage on compilations is that it has that extended instrumental which is almost half the length of the entire song. But what a showcase for their musical talents.

This is how you do an extended instrumental, one that adds substance to a track and not just prolong the ending with a cacophony of noise to extend the length. Passage had this issue and its just not their MO.
 
"All Because Of You," from Karen's solo set.
I thought is was the worst song for many years. But I have to say that it has grown on me. I think it might of just been the placement on the album, after a fine song like Lovelines, it kind of spoiled the flow.
 
With Carpenters I've found that I tend to like most of the same songs today that I've always liked... and the ones I don't like are the same as they were back in the day. I think my musical tastes must have been maturing by the time I got to liking their music...prior to that, if a song was "slow" I automatically didn't like it. I had a problem with ballads, it seems....until Karen came along and changed that!
 
Although, I am not a huge fan of Jambalaya,
I was recently listening to the Now & Then album and it occurred to me that I was enjoying the song quite a bit....
in a strange way, it is a brilliant pop-cover of a country music song. The background harmony is particularly great.
It took guts to record and release this song and it is a fun concert song.
 
Although, I am not a huge fan of Jambalaya,
I was recently listening to the Now & Then album and it occurred to me that I was enjoying the song quite a bit....
in a strange way, it is a brilliant pop-cover of a country music song. The background harmony is particularly great.

I’m not a fan of the track either but the one thing I’ve always liked is the way they build the harmony sound as the song progresses. In the first chorus, it’s Karen’s lead vocal only; in the second they add a harmony, then from the third chorus there’s a third and fourth to complete the signature overdubbed sound.
 
Last edited:
I never wanted anyone to hear Sing playing on my car stereo, but now I think it's great. And believe it or not, I have come to love Goofus: a very impressive bass line by Joe Osborne, a great drum beat, love the background vocals and a very difficult lead by Karen. Some very lengthy phrasing: try singing some of those lines without taking a breath and you will find out.
 
I may get slammed for this, but "Happy" has grown on me over the years. I loved Horizon, but I found Happy lacking. Times changes things...
 
I’m not a fan of the track either but the one thing I’ve always liked is the way they build the harmony sound as the song progresses. In the first chorus, it’s Karen’s lead vocal only; in the second they add a harmony, then from the third chorus there’s a third and fourth to complete the signature overdubbed sound.

That structuring of sorts makes the song exciting and more compelling than how it would be done, say on, AKOH.
 
I may get slammed for this, but "Happy" has grown on me over the years. I loved Horizon, but I found Happy lacking. Times changes things...

I wasn’t crazy about it at first too for some reason. OY is still a good deal better but Happy still sounds as fresh as ever.
 
This may come as a shock to many, but "For All We Know" took a bit of time to really click with me. It wasn't that I didn't like it per se', just didn't really "grab" me as most of their other hits in the early years did.

Now it's on every playlist I have.
 
This may come as a shock to many, but "For All We Know" took a bit of time to really click with me. It wasn't that I didn't like it per se', just didn't really "grab" me as most of their other hits in the early years did.

Now it's on every playlist I have.

I agree totally. Not my favorite of their "hits" at all...and it still isn't. I find it quite boring and repetitious compared to the "hits" that came before an after. And it still hasn't "clicked" for me. Like you said; it's not that I don't like it per se, it just doesn't do anything for me.
 
I agree totally. Not my favorite of their "hits" at all...and it still isn't. I find it quite boring and repetitious compared to the "hits" that came before an after. And it still hasn't "clicked" for me. Like you said; it's not that I don't like it per se, it just doesn't do anything for me.

I think it’s the cyclical structure that helps elevate it. The arrangement to me is as fresh as ever, the harmonies are heaven and Karen’s impassioned lead really kicks it to classic status for me. Someone a while back mentioned that they they thought the arrangement was adequate and that Karen’s vocal is more powerful than the song deserved/required.
 
I've always thought that "For All We Know" was a hit more because of WHEN it was released. It followed their monumental early hits and I think it took off more because of who they were and what they had already done.

It was certainly a welcome song after the holidays of 1970 were over, and began 1971 with another chart success. I remember not being bowled over by it, but was happy it was there. To me it seemed too simplistic. Not enough stacked harmonies. And rather short.

I wonder how the song would have been received had it been first released later in their career, when their popularity was starting to sag.
 
I've always thought that "For All We Know" was a hit more because of WHEN it was released. It followed their monumental early hits and I think it took off more because of who they were and what they had already done.

It was certainly a welcome song after the holidays of 1970 were over, and began 1971 with another chart success. I remember not being bowled over by it, but was happy it was there. To me it seemed too simplistic. Not enough stacked harmonies. And rather short.

I wonder how the song would have been received had it been first released later in their career, when their popularity was starting to sag.

I don’t think we would have gotten it as is in 1981. It’s very 1971 but like I said it feels fresh still (why does the majority of music from the 70s hold up much better than the majority of the 80s?). The arrangement would have been overdone and Karen likely sounding much weaker. The contradictory emotional qualifies of Karen’s tone and phrasing’s suit the ambivalence of this wistful lyric like a silk glove. Is it as directly hard hitting as Rainy Days or Superstar? No, but it’s still just as great a classic. I even love Leave Yesterday Behind, this song’s sister.
 
It didn’t hurt that it won the Academy Award for best song and it also became another wedding song choice. Our high school chamber choir sang it in 4 part, SATB harmony at 3 weddings in 1972 instead of WOJB, by request that year. I got a little burned out, but was still pretty happy to be performing a Carpenters song, for various events around town, almost weekly.
 
More and more I’m taken with Calling Occupants. A few years back I thought it was too jarring next to the ballads that I loved so much, but I hear and love the complexity and innovation that was all but missing on AKOH. How the two made such a bizarre song feel emotional and focused is brilliant. Karen’s vocal grounds the fantasy lyrics with sincerity in a way that nearly any other vocalist would have used to showcase how cutesy, campy and showboating she can get.

Still don’t like the opening much with Peluso, though.
 
It didn’t hurt that it won the Academy Award for best song and it also became another wedding song choice. Our high school chamber choir sang it in 4 part, SATB harmony at 3 weddings in 1972 instead of WOJB, by request that year. I got a little burned out, but was still pretty happy to be performing a Carpenters song, for various events around town, almost weekly.

What a great memory to have! I'm envious. I had forgotten that the song won an AA.
 
Our teacher/director was a pretty religious man, and we did many classic choral, Madrigal songs. He was also a Carpenters fan. Had several pieces of sheet music or Carpenters music books on his piano in view when we visited his home. His wife was a very accomplished pianist too. He built her a harpsichord that we used often while performing.
Lucky to be in high school/college during the Carpenters golden era of hits.
 
'For All We Know' is the first Carpenters track that REALLY hit me. I'm sure I've shared this before, but I was in the car with my parents (I was 8 years old) and it came on the radio. I had an AM radio that looked just like a Coke can. I remember tuning it to the same station that was playing on my Dad's car radio, and being in total heaven. I also remember playing the piano (along with the record) by 'ear' during our elementary school talent assemblies. : ) Even though I'd bought the 'Close To You' 45 earlier, 'For All We Know' sealed the deal for me. I bought every single after that without fail.
 
'For All We Know' suffers a bit by comparison with the singles it followed and preceded. 'We've Only Just Begun', 'Superstar' and 'Rainy Days and Mondays' are amongst their absolute best-ever performances (I'd put all three in my Top 5 favourite Carpenters songs), and 'For All We Know' just isn't quite up to that standard.

That said, it's still an excellent song, with a lovely bittersweet edge to it and can hold its own next to their classic songs in a way that, say, 'It's Going to Take Some Time' or a number of their later singles can't really.
 
'For All We Know' suffers a bit by comparison with the singles it followed and preceded. 'We've Only Just Begun', 'Superstar' and 'Rainy Days and Mondays' are amongst their absolute best-ever performances (I'd put all three in my Top 5 favourite Carpenters songs), and 'For All We Know' just isn't quite up to that standard.

That said, it's still an excellent song, with a lovely bittersweet edge to it and can hold its own next to their classic songs in a way that, say, 'It's Going to Take Some Time' or a number of their later singles can't really.

I’d agree that it doesn’t quite reach the level of those singles but for me it’s still a class top-tier track (the others are just more immortal/ambitious). IGTTST doesn’t come close to their singles of that early era and they later recognized the mistake of putting it out as such. Pleasant but no real emotional depth/hook that has it stand on its own. Compare it to Hurting Each Other which is on the same album and one of their best singles.
 
To me it seemed too simplistic. Not enough stacked harmonies. And rather short.

The fundamental problem with the song is there’s no chorus. It’s just three verses repeated in a row. It sort of needs something else, like a bridge similar to that in Let Me Be The One.

ABBA tried a similarly structured song very late in their career with The Day Before You Came (which was in fact the last song they ever recorded as an active band). It reached only #32 on the UK charts, where they’d previously enjoyed nine #1 hits.
 
ABBA tried a similarly structured song very late in their career with The Day Before You Came (which was in fact the last song they ever recorded as an active band).

I really like "The Day Before You Came". It's one of my favorite AꞚBA songs, so I don't think it's the structure of the song in the case of "For All We Know". It's an OK song, but as Rumbahbah said, it doesn't rise to the level of those that surrounded it in the Carpenters canon. I know a lot of folks really love it, and that's great. It's not a song I'd choose to listen to by itself. But it's fine whenever it comes up in a playlist or compilation.
 
Back
Top Bottom