Today is the last day of BeckyB’s October squares challenge. In the spirit of the theme – all things kind – I wanted to end on a kind…soothing…musical…note. Songs like There’s A Kind of Hush, One Of A Kind (Love Affair), A Sunday Kind of Love went through my mind.
I started looking through our vast LP collection in search of just the right kind of song. As I got closer to the K section searching in vain for the apparently donated Herman’s Hermits album (they are alphabetized courtesy of my musician husband), I heard a familiar voice in my head…🎶…some kind of wonderful....🎶
That’s it! It was very surreal. But I suppose not too surprising…since I only listened to this album thousands of times “back in the day.”
If, in this stressful day and age I am now hearing voices, this is a most wonderful kind.
Some Kind Of Wonderful is on Carole King’s album Music, the LP that followed her signature release of Tapestry.
The booklet inside the album listed the lyrics to every song.
This lyric popped into my head the moment I saw V.J.’s challenge topic this week. And there it remained. No matter what I did.
The first line from a song almost 50 years old.
A song I discovered as a teenager.
But should I use it for this challenge? Surely there are other more relevant options…
I could write about the behind-my-back whispering I endured as an awkward too-tall glasses-wearing 12 year old trying to fit in with the cool kids. While pretending everything was fine. And holding back the tears.
Or, at home, how whispering meant something was off…not as it should be. Somehow…tilted. One more secret to swallow. Remember. Always on alert. My stomach in knots.
Don’t tell your sister. Don’t tell your grandparents. Don’t tell your father.
Just plain don’t tell. What will people say?
Or else.
There are no witnesses to a whisper.
So…whisper…not a comfortable topic to revisit. As it led to secrets and shaming and being left out. No need to relive that.
There it was again…whispering wind…
Here’s the thing…I’ve finally learned to honor the flashing signs that appear in my head.
So here goes…
The song in question was written by Carole King and is included on her 1971 album “Music” – the album that followed my all time favorite “Tapestry.”
Song of Long Ago
Words and Music by Carole King
Whispering wind came uninvited Looking for somewhere else to go Here is a lamp I’ve left unlighted Aren’t you someone I should know?
Memory’s flame is soon ignited Lighting my lamp with amber glow Quietly friends are reunited Singing a song of long ago, la la la
Cry, cry for someone Who just can’t be happy And be glad you can feel enough to cry
Younger than always, time descended Bringing me brand new seeds to sow Now that they’ve been a long time planted What must I do to help them grow?
If it had been as I intended I wouldn’t have the peace I know Loving the people I’ve befriended And singing the song of long ago, la la la
As it began, so I will end it Singing a song of long ago Loving the people I’ve befriended And singing the song of long, long, long ago.
I hadn’t listened carefully to Song of Long Ago in many years…until now.
What a difference – in perspective – a lifetime can make…in the listening.
Whispering wind…as relevant as ever.
By the way…Happy Birthday to Carole King.
She will be 78 years old this Sunday, February 9th.
This week share a favourite song or piece of music that helps you relax, or just share a favourite piece of music or song with us.
~~~
American singer/songwriter Carole King wrote Up On The Roof with Gerry Goffin in 1962. It was originally recorded by The Drifters.
Carole King (with James Taylor on acoustic guitar) included it on her first solo album Writer, released in 1970.
This song just holds me tight. Relaxing? Absolutely. It also makes me smile. And sing along.
I was lucky enough to attend two performances during Carole King and James Taylor’s “Troubadour Reunion” tour in 2010.
Up On The Roof was on the set list.
It was magical…
(this video was filmed during a May 30th, 2013 concert as part of the Justice Through Music Project. To raise funds for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing)
My contribution to this week’s Song Lyric Sunday (prompt: Minutes/Hours/Days/Weeks/Months)
At the age of 17, I discovered Carole King – a prolific American singer-songwriter – via her Tapestry album.
She was not, however, a one-hit wonder for me.
I collected her albums over the years, their dust jackets now worn and faded. I devoured each and every one…most likely wearing out the phonograph needle in the process.
Carole King’s 4th album Rhymes & Reasons was released in 1972. It climbed to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart.
One of the songs on this album –Â Gotta Get Through Another Day –Â still resonates all these years later…although from an entirely different perspective….
Gotta Get Through Another Day
by Carole King
It’s a gray, gray gloomy day A strange and moody blues day Gotta get through, gotta get through another day
Corn yellow silk and golden sunlight I remember As we walked together, you and I Love like a sweet flaming glow inside Now has been denied And I’ve cried till I can’t remember why
I gotta get through, gotta get through some way Gotta get through, gotta get through another day
Will Tuesday be “good news” day Or another “paying dues” day It’s a strange and moody blues day Anyway
Some say that time brings a better understanding Of the rhyme and reason to it all Still the flame keeps burning through the lonely night It’s just not all right And I wonder if I’ll make it till you call
I gotta get through, gotta get through some way It’s a gray, gray gloomy day A strange and moody blues day Gotta get through, gotta get through another day I gotta get through another day.
Say what? I’m picking out bananas at the grocery store. My ears pick up the overhead piped in music. I squint upwards into the fluorescent lights as if looking for the source.
Seriously?
And then again the next week…
…you just call out my name…
…while wheeling my cart to the checkout line. I freeze. Not knowing whether to laugh, cry, protest or just sing along. Hard to wrap my head around the fact that Carole King is now muzak. I sigh, feel my age and start tapping my foot. Damn.
Forty eight years ago today – February 10, 1971 – Carole King released Tapestry. The day after her 29th birthday.
The 61st Grammy awards air tonight. In 1972, during the 14th Grammy awards, Tapestry won 4 awards:
Record of the Year: “It’s Too Late”
Album of the Year: “Tapestry”
Song of the Year: “You’ve Got a Friend”
Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female: Carole King for “Tapestry”
I memorized Tapestry. Every word. Every note. I can even sing every song. My untrained voice somehow able to follow hers. Never mind that it is one of the best selling albums of all time. Never mind about that. She was there right beside me. And millions of young people like me. Â She knew us. Heard us. Understood us. Gave voice to what we perhaps were unable to articulate…yet.
12 songs. A young woman. A piano. Accompanists.
Simple songs of friendship, longing, loss, hope, love and joy.
I was 17. Seventeen is not easy. Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friend?
That summer, 3 special girlfriends  – Patty, Wendy and Eleanor – and I played that album hundreds of times. Sang. Danced. Laughed. It wove the confusing emotions of our lives into lyrics we could understand. And often be comforted by.
Alone in my room, I’d drop the needle belting out the lyrics one song after the other. Knowing beforehand what came next.
When the title song fades out….He’s come to take me back… I’m poised for…Looking out on the morning rain….
Flip back to side one. …That you’re beautiful as you feel…wait for it…Way over yonder…
Way Over Yonder (from Tapestry)
Words and music by: Carole King
Way over yonder is a place that I know Where I can find shelter from hunger and cold And the sweet tasting good life is easily found Way over yonder — that’s where I’m bound
I know when I get there, the first thing I’ll see Is the sun shining golden — shining right down on me Then trouble’s gonna lose me — worry leave me behind And I’ll stand up proudly in true peace of mind
Way over yonder is a place I have seen In a garden of wisdom from some long ago dream
Maybe tomorrow I’ll find my way To the land where the honey runs in rivers each day And the sweet tasting good life is so easily found Way over yonder — that’s where I’m bound Way over yonder — that’s where I’m bound
Almost 50 years later.
Still fresh.
Still relevant.
My car has 7 year old bluetooth capability.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But my 2 year old smartphone usually finds this connection and randomly starts playing my music. I don’t ask it to. It just does it. And always has. Right out of the box. When this first happened I nearly drove through the garage door. But now I am just curious. So I leave it be.
What will it decide I should listen to?
Apparently I have a few hundred songs on my phone. I find that hard to believe, but that’s what it says right there in settings → general → about → songs. (how is there room for so much music next to over 4000 photos?)
It remains set on “shuffle” – so I have no control over what comes next. I realize this is the deal with shuffle – and I could just choose an album or playlist…but there’s a part of me that wants to live on the musical edge. My own personal radio station.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Sometimes it’s Barbra, and then Barbra again, then Bonnie, back to Barbra. Maybe next it’s Bruce. Then Pink. Then Carole. And sometimes it’s a song I don’t recognize at all. What the heck?
I call out a song title. Siri ignores me. So I just wait and see listen.
Last week shuffle was into CSN&Y. And Mary Chapin Carpenter. And Barbra. All good. Setting the mood for my drive. However, other times I’ll be feeling perfectly upbeat and then the next thing I know it’s Cat Stevens. But before long Colbie Caillat or Sara B. bring me back up. Then I’m chilling to Mr. Withers. Then Barbra. (say what?) (again?) How does Ms. Shuffle know what to pick? It’s a rollercoaster ride.
Back to today…I am driving home.
Another Monday after grocery shopping — an activity that can be a real mood changer (I mean seriously, can’t they have someone at the fish counter?…do I always have to…well never mind)…
The shuffling starts up as I exit the parking lot —
U2 singing about grace…I lean back a bit in my seat at the stop light.
segues into Carole King…now I’m starting to relax…
which segues into Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels…
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 