Wanna know something really lame about me?
The Carpenters make me cry. A combination of the sound, memories of Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, of watching Love Story in the UB campus pizza place, of late nights in Media Studies classrooms, of the trials and tribulations of junior year, of a music box I had when I was little that played “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
Jessica Smith
My parents were new to the country and still relatively young and newly married when The Carpenters were huge. They love them.
Have you seen this?
I wonder what it’s like for him to keep living.
She has a beautiful voice, it reminds me of the best of the early female country stars. i’m not sure though, about the political implications. it seems kind of traitorous to like them. but for me their sound is very much entwined with other feelings– the sharp cold of buffalo, the utter darkness of late nights at UB, the smell of media studies classrooms, etc.
(thanks for the link; i’m now watching with rapt attention)
It’s interesting how the other “characters” respond differently to her anorexia (richard: “she did not look well. the eyes are the window to the soul, and i could see it in her eyes” – the producer “the was excellent at deception!” – her girl friends are like “i wish i’d known more about anorexia so i could help her.”)
but Jessica you’re talking about friends vs. her own brother. I think naturally Richard would be better able to understand his sister’s issues, regardless of others familiarity these topics.
Like, if my brother calls, he can usually tell within the first 30 seconds on the phone that something’s up.
“it seems kind of traitorous to like them.”
How so? They have a thing that’s all their own from the 70s. Kind of like Neil Diamond. So pop and uncool that they have carte blanche.
My wife often sings an altered version of “Close to You” to our son as a bedtime song. And Sonic Youth recorded “Tunic (Song for Karen)” on their album “Goo” in 1990. The music is one thing and then mix in the tragedy of Karen’s death and you’ve got maybe guilty pleasure. I’m not sure “traitorous” fits.
– stv ptrmir, minnapolis, mn, usa
There is nothing lame about the Carpenters…!
I like Please, Mr. Postman. I am a sucker for the 50′s sound. It turns my insides out like a magician’s paper flower.
Once, I knew a guy who was in love with a girl. He called me and said, “Can you sing ‘Close to You’ to my girl?” I said, “Sure.” Then he fidgeted a bit.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Um,” he said. “Can you do it mariachi style?”
“Of course,” I said.
Then I did. I sang with a group of mariachi players under the couple’s window. They looked pretty thrilled. I was loaned a costume from the players and everything. Then we sang, as they acted out the scene from “Lady and the Tramp” without the spaghetti:
The girl kissed him.
We played softer and softer.
Just whispers.
Then we played Lupita (Dearest Lupe) to an empty window.