Yesterday Once More - The Carpenters, 1973

 
 

When I was young
I'd listen to the radio
Waitin' for my favorite songs
When they played I'd sing along
It made me smile
Those were such happy times
And not so long ago
How I wondered where they'd gone
But they're back again
Just like a long lost friend
All the songs I loved so well

Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's so fine.
When they get to the part
Where he's breakin' her heart
It can really make me cry
Just like before
It's yesterday once more

Lookin' back on how it was
In years gone by
And the good times that I had
Makes today seem rather sad
So much has changed
It was songs of love that
I would sing to then
And I'd memorize each word
Those old melodies
Still sound so good to me
As they melt the years away

Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's so fine
All my best memories come back clearly to me
Some can even make me cry
Just like before
It's yesterday once more

Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's so fine
Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's so fine


 
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In the summer of 1973, I was an eager member of Ontario's Junior Ranger program, making $5 a day, plus room and board. I spent 2 months labouring at Windy Lake Provincial Park, an hour north of Sudbury. It was a wonderful summer, and the two local AM radio stations provided the soundtrack for this adventure. At least once a day, I listened to this song by the Carpenters. Perhaps not so ironically, a song about the "oldies but goodies" has long since become an oldie itself. And what does that say about me?

Although Karen Carpenter shared the main billing with her brother Richard, she was the star of the show; the heart and soul, providing one of the most recognizable female vocals of the decade. Hits like We've Only Just Begun, For All We Know, Top Of The World and I Won't Last A Day Without You, played at weddings, and on old 8-track players for years...

The Carpenters music was not rock, soul or protest, and there was rarely anything innovative about their sound - but it has stayed with us, all the same. In 1994, a tribute album was recorded by the artists of the day. If I Were A Carpenter featured covers by Sheryl Crow, Sonic Youth, The Cranberries, Matthew Sweet and Cracker.

Sadly, Karen Carpenter suffered from the eating disorder, anorexia nervosa. Little was known about this disease at the time, and even less was publicized. In 1983, Karen died from a related cardiac arrest. Her music inspired people, and as it turned out, her death helped others by shining a light on this often ignored killer.