“What’s The Use” is another lead vocal from Richard and “All I Can Do” with its jazz vibe and Karen’s excellent vocal is like nothing else Carpenters ever recorded. Richard’s “Don’t Be Afraid” is a slice of whimsy, but there’s no harm in whimsy when it is so well arranged and with a great chorus to boot. Side two opens with their hit single, a very singular cover of this Lennon and McCartney classic that Carpenters make their own. You would have been blown away.Ī cover of the Youngbloods hit “Get Together” is next and that’s followed by another Karen ballad, Richard’s solo composition “All of My Life.” Side one of the original album ends with Richard singing “Turn Away.” Imagine that you had bought this album in October 1969 and got to the third track and heard Karen’s lead vocals for the first time. It is another track that belies the youth and relative inexperience of the siblings. If you leave, you will get back some of the pieces you lost but you would lose others by virtue of leaving.Richard and John Bettis, who had originally been in a band called Spectrum that featured Carpenters, wrote “Your Wonderful Parade” and seven other tracks on the album, including the beautiful ballad, “Someday” which is up next. But leaving will also mean breaking more pieces. There’s only one way to get them back and that is to leave. After several years you are still seeking out the missing pieces from your heart knowing deep inside you will never find. All that remains of the relationship is held together by glue. When people say to you, you and your wife seem to get along very well. And like your relationship it has been moved to a different place. A few weeks later, you sadly change the location to the closet. After a few weeks you take the vase to your home office and place it on a shelf. Only because of its history you place the vase back on the self, but it seems out of place and detracts from the ambience around it. You can no longer showcase your marriage. As you held up the beautiful vase to show people it’s beauty, that now is simply a collection of glued pieces that resembles your relationship. And when you think about the broken pieces collected from your relationship, you know that will also never be the same. And like your relationship, it has become fragile as you watch a piece fall off the vase when you lifted off the table. The vase will never hold flowers again because it cannot hold water. Held together by history and commitment but still broken. Like the pieces missing from your relationship. There are holes in it created by pieces you did not find and never will. You slowly turn it around on the table and realize it is an archaic reproduction of its original form. Something so precious you often proudly displayed it to friends Over a period of three weeks, you managed to glue the vase back together. You find two small pieces, place them on the table and stare down at the broken pieces of something you cherished and was beautiful. When you believe all the pieces have been collected and placed on the table, you do one last search for the smallest pieces you may have missed. After all, you’ve had it for thirty years. You realize it may not be the same as it once was, but would vase be good enough to keep. You must be methodical and cautious because your path is covered with egg shells. Imagine trying to pick up the pieces of your life, left behind in the wake of betrayal. For a moment you’re not sure what to do but then you decide to try and repair it. It reminded me of something I wrote many years ago about a vase that was knocked off the shelf and broken into many pieces. Betrayal is the ultimate form of deceit and deception. Love and marriage are often broken by betrayal, lies and unkept promises. I refer to the story, as “The Broken Vase.” I answered, “when promises, borders and commitment are broken, and especially betrayal, the relationship may be repaired but never return to what it once was or could have been.”īefore she left, she thanked me for giving her a copy. She said, “everything is fine, but I cannot get your story or quote about the broken pieces out of my mind.” She took a deep breath raised her head and, in half whisper, said, “it really described the broken pieces in my marriage? I asked, “is everything all right,” knowing she did not ask me to meet to discuss a job offer. We sat in the restaurant for forty-five minutes discussing her new job opportunity when her face grew solemn. A few weeks back, a longtime friend asked if I would meet her for lunch to discuss a new job offer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |