Sonic Youth's Tunic

[andywithaz]

I was browsing CDs at Best Buy and a CD was turned upside down in the rack. I picked it up to put it back straight and I saw it was a Sonic Youth CD Goo. I don't know why but I read the track listing and saw a song called Tunic and it was a song for Karen. Since Sonic Youth helped on the Carpenters tribute in 1994 I thought that maybe this was for Karen Carpenter. Is it

 

[Tony]

Andrew,

Yes, "Tunic" was written as paean to Karen Carpenter. You might be interested to know that "Rain" and "Angel", two songs by Madonna that I think were minor hits, were dedicated to Karen.

Tony

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I only have 1 Cd by Madonna, called "Something to Remember" I only got it cause it has most of her slower, love type songs. Not really a fan of her, just never got rid of the CD.

On this CD there is a song called, Rain. Is this the song? It is track #12. I'm relistening to this now. But don't really feel any connection to Karen, maybe this is not the right song. "Your love coming down like rain" The inside notes don't reference this song to Karen.

I have never heard of Angel so I don't know about that one.

 

[drmmergirl]

How do you know that the two Madonna songs were dedicated to Karen? I hope it's true, since I love both Madonna and Karen.

It wouldn't surprise me that Madonna would find Karen's life and death fascinating, since she seems to be obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.

What do you think about Madonna singing a tribute to Karen? What song should she sing? (Madonna does not have the best range, but she does sing on tune)

 

[Chris]

Madonna is a fan of Karen's. About two years ago when she was on Larry King Live, a caller asked Madonna who she liked musically and who were her influences. The first person she named was Karen Carpenter.

I'd also heard that both those songs were a tribute to Karen by Madonna. It was written in a book on Madonna.

As Chris said, the song "Rain" does not seem to have any obvious connection to Karen. Perhaps the title "rain" is a connection, and there are some eerie words spoken in the middle of the song by Madonna that say, "Waiting is the hardest thing. I tell myself that if I believed in you and dream of you with all my heart and all my soul, that by sheer force of will it would raise you from the ground, and without a sound you'd appear and surrender to me, to love."

The song "Angel" has some similarities in wording to "Close To You":
"Why I am standing on a cloud, every time you're around? and the sadness disappears every time you are near? You must be an angel... You're an angel in disguise".

 

[Tony]

There was a book that came out in 1995 called "Encyclopedia Madonnica" which was essentially a guide to all things Madonna (it's still listed on Amazon). When I saw it at Barnes & Noble years ago I checked to see if there was a Carpenters entry because I'd read that the Material Girl was supposedly a fan. And sure enough, somewhat to my surprise, there was an entry for Karen Carpenter. It said that both "Rain" (it's the one you have on your "Something to Remember" collection, Chris) and "Angel" were written for Karen, according to Madonna's press agent Liz Rosenberg.

Tony

 

[jfiedler17]

Interesting thread!
I, too, can find absolutely no Karen Carpenter influence in "Rain," whatsoever. (How Karen has anything to do with that song is beyond me). But, when I think about it, I agree that there ARE mild hints of "Close to You" in "Angel."
That Madonna would idolize Karen Carpenter so much seems really, really illogical at first (who, judging from Madonna's music, would ever have guessed that?), but the influence of Karen makes a little more sense if you remember that Madonna was ALSO a drummer herself (for '80s dance band Breakfast Club, years and years before they hit the Top 10 with "Right on Track"). I'm assuming that's where most of the Karen inspiration comes from.

 

[Tony]

I remember reading a quote from Madonna (on another Carpenters site, I believe) in which she said she was influenced by the "harmonic sensibilities" of Karen Carpenter. When you think about it, some of Madonna's songs do have attractive vocal harmonies that are somewhat reminiscent of the C's.

Tony

 

[jfiedler17]

In her older stuff or in her more recent stuff? Personally, I've had a real hard time listening to Madonna's records over the last ten years. I absolutely love everything she did up through "Cherish" (my favorite of her singles, with "Like a Virgin" still being my favorite of her albums) and haven't truly liked anything she's done ever since, except maybe the radio remix of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." The "American Life" CD was just flat-out TERRIBLE, I thought.