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Favourite Carly Simon Song

I always felt like Carly got short shrift.

Joni wrote better lyrics.

Carole wrote better tunes.

But Carly was better than them at doing BOTH. She wrote better melodies than Joni and better lyrics than Carole.

This is a song that most people don't remember, but I think it's a great song:

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by Anonymousreply 124February 19, 2020 3:53 AM

Wrong!

by Anonymousreply 1February 14, 2020 2:55 AM

These lyrics are as good as anything Joni Mitchell ever wrote:

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by Anonymousreply 2February 14, 2020 2:57 AM

".She wrote better melodies than Joni and better lyrics than Carole."

No, she didn't. But I do like some of her songs. My favorite is probably "Anticipation." But I also really like a song of hers called "Three Days", which was on her second album. It's obscure, but I think it's one of her best.

by Anonymousreply 3February 14, 2020 2:58 AM

Charmingly terrible video.

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by Anonymousreply 4February 14, 2020 2:58 AM

These lyrics are like poetry:

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by Anonymousreply 5February 14, 2020 2:59 AM

I adore Let the River Run. I love it unabashedly!

It really captures the excitement of New York and it's one of my all-time favourite movie songs.

It fit Working Girl perfectly.

by Anonymousreply 6February 14, 2020 2:59 AM

R4 Even Carly says that was a horrible song. She just did what the producers told her to do.

by Anonymousreply 7February 14, 2020 2:59 AM

I know I'm going to get "Oh, Mary!" for this, but I used to listen to this song every morning driving into work.

The guy I loved more than anyone (and who loved me more than anyone) had just gotten married to woman, and this song made me cry.

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by Anonymousreply 8February 14, 2020 3:02 AM

Live version of "You Belong to Me"

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by Anonymousreply 9February 14, 2020 3:04 AM

This song has sentimental value to me.

I had brought the album home and my father, a big fan of Noel Coward and Cole Porter, said he was really impressed with the lyrical insights.

He said to me, "People will say it's always best to tell the person you are in a relationship with everything, but think twice before you share something that can't be taken back."

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by Anonymousreply 10February 14, 2020 3:06 AM

"You're the love of my life."

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by Anonymousreply 11February 14, 2020 3:06 AM

R9 The thing I like about "You Belong To Me" is how much more desperate Carly Simon gets as the song goes on.

by Anonymousreply 12February 14, 2020 3:07 AM

R11 The original song, written for a movie, had the lyric "Woody Allen" instead of "Mia Farrow."

by Anonymousreply 13February 14, 2020 3:08 AM

"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of"

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by Anonymousreply 14February 14, 2020 3:08 AM

I love many listed here, but Jesse, the hot guy she takes back no matter what her friends say, is mine.

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by Anonymousreply 15February 14, 2020 3:09 AM

I've always loved "Anticipation"

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by Anonymousreply 16February 14, 2020 3:09 AM

The Woody Allen version of "You're the Love of My Life."

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by Anonymousreply 17February 14, 2020 3:10 AM

"In the name of honesty,

In the name of what is fair.

You always answer my questions,

But they don't always answer my prayers."

by Anonymousreply 18February 14, 2020 3:12 AM

Also, I agree with you, OP. I find the cult of Joni Mitchell ridiculous—she was a fine writer, but, like Patti Smith, people have exaggerated her strengths to the point that she has been catapulted as a cult figure. Carly was just as good of a writer, but Joni got more attention because she was associated with the California counterculture scene.

by Anonymousreply 19February 14, 2020 3:13 AM

R17 It's weird to see Carly Simon sing "You're The Love of My Life" to her son Ben given Datalounge's Carly Simon folklore.

by Anonymousreply 20February 14, 2020 3:14 AM

"Make Me Feel Something," from Spoiled Girl.

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by Anonymousreply 21February 14, 2020 3:14 AM

Two of the greats: "Coming Around Again / Itsy Bitsy Spider." So '80s.

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by Anonymousreply 22February 14, 2020 3:15 AM

"That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be."

Gorgeous song in every way.

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by Anonymousreply 23February 14, 2020 3:16 AM

"That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be."

Gorgeous song in every way.

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by Anonymousreply 24February 14, 2020 3:16 AM

This song always got to me because I was trying to pretend I wasn't in love with a guy (because I was so uncomfortable with my own feelings), but he called me on it:

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by Anonymousreply 25February 14, 2020 3:16 AM

This one is another favorite—a deep cut, and a cover, but I've always adored it. Has a psychedelic vibe to it.

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by Anonymousreply 26February 14, 2020 3:20 AM

This one. Brilliant lyrics. It's about sociopathy.

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by Anonymousreply 27February 14, 2020 3:22 AM

Mother and Father

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by Anonymousreply 28February 14, 2020 3:23 AM

Another great song from Hello, Big Man.

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by Anonymousreply 29February 14, 2020 3:25 AM

Carly being a total, cunty bitch, which I love her for:

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by Anonymousreply 30February 14, 2020 3:34 AM

R28 The interesting thing about that song is that Carly later said it was total fantasy. Her parents had an AWFUL marriage. And her mother was fucking a guy 20 years younger than her in the house, right under her father's nose.

by Anonymousreply 31February 14, 2020 3:36 AM

Two Little Sisters

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by Anonymousreply 32February 14, 2020 3:37 AM

A legend in his own time.

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by Anonymousreply 33February 14, 2020 3:38 AM

The story goes that she got into singing because when she was a kid she had a stutter and someone told her to sing her words and when she sang them she did not stutter. She comes from the Simon and Shuster family.

by Anonymousreply 34February 14, 2020 3:43 AM

I used to listen to this song all the time my first year of college, even though it was old by then.

My best friend from high school, who was an amazingly intelligent and funny person - and also extremely handsome -- let me know he was sexually attracted to me the night before I left for college. I could not believe my luck.

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by Anonymousreply 35February 14, 2020 3:46 AM

The thing I always liked about Carly Simon is that she's pretty witty.

She did this song about fucking with a married man who is with a very controlling woman --- while I was doing the same thing.

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by Anonymousreply 36February 14, 2020 3:52 AM

Carole King came up with the melodies, OP.

Her late ex-husband / certifiable whackjob Gerry Goffin was the lyricist.

(And, later, Toni Stern.)

by Anonymousreply 37February 14, 2020 3:56 AM

This is a great song.

It's a pity it is an homage to Libby Titus, who Carly had a falling out with.

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by Anonymousreply 38February 14, 2020 3:57 AM
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by Anonymousreply 39February 14, 2020 3:58 AM

R37 You are an idiot.

Carole King wrote many of her own lyrics.

Including "You've Got a Friend."

by Anonymousreply 40February 14, 2020 4:01 AM

This is a GREAT song:

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by Anonymousreply 41February 14, 2020 4:04 AM

R40, you are a bigger idiot.

Her biggest hits are attributed to "Goffin-King." That's Goffin providing the lyrics, King providing the melodies.

by Anonymousreply 42February 14, 2020 4:08 AM

"That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be" is a pop masterpiece just as good as anything by Carole, Joni or Laura.

by Anonymousreply 43February 14, 2020 4:09 AM

Incredibly stupid R42: Carole Kind's biggest hit was Tapestry, for which she penned most of the lyrics.

So, kindly, fuck off.

by Anonymousreply 44February 14, 2020 4:10 AM

Carly has great songs. In addition to those already cited, I would add "Two Hot Girls on a Hot Summer Night " and "The Right Thing To Do."

by Anonymousreply 45February 14, 2020 4:11 AM

I love "The Right Thing to Do"

The single note intro is inspired.

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by Anonymousreply 46February 14, 2020 4:12 AM

"The Carter Family" had very wise and sophisticated lyrics.

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by Anonymousreply 47February 14, 2020 4:15 AM

Another for You Belong to Me, co-written with Michael McDonald

by Anonymousreply 48February 14, 2020 4:16 AM

I stand corrected, R44. No point arguing with the genius who knows all about "Carole KIND."

by Anonymousreply 49February 14, 2020 4:17 AM

Carly is something of a royal cunt, as is her talentless composer-sister Lucy.

by Anonymousreply 50February 14, 2020 4:22 AM

When did Carly fall out with Libby Titus? Libby had a cameo in 1987’s “Heartburn” for which Carly did the music.

by Anonymousreply 51February 14, 2020 4:24 AM

Is that you at R50, J.T.?

by Anonymousreply 52February 14, 2020 4:29 AM

Carly suffered from extreme stagefright during critical years when she could have cemented her professional reputation and financial future. I saw her perform on TV in recent years and the voice was underwhelming.

by Anonymousreply 53February 15, 2020 2:32 AM

This song is a pretty devastating takedown of James Taylor:

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by Anonymousreply 54February 15, 2020 2:36 AM

This is the first Carly Simon song I ever heard.

It will win no awards from feminists, but I thought it was very witty and melodic.

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by Anonymousreply 55February 15, 2020 2:37 AM

The entire Anticipation album is my favorite.

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by Anonymousreply 56February 15, 2020 3:00 AM

I really liked both the "Anticipation" album and the "No Secrets" one. They both had memorable albums covers, too.

by Anonymousreply 57February 15, 2020 8:58 PM

I remember one of my teachers at prep school comparing the album covers of Tapestry and No Secrets and saying, "Well, Carly seems to be offering something Carly isn't." He was referring to her hard nipples under a tight shirt with no bra.

Looking back, it wasn't exactly appropriate to make such a remark to a `14-year-old boy.

by Anonymousreply 58February 15, 2020 10:00 PM

Stardust

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by Anonymousreply 59February 15, 2020 10:47 PM

1. You're So Vain--Just a classic 2. Nobody Does It Better--My second favorite Bond theme, after A View to a Kill, and fun to sing along to, loudly and with vigor! 3. Jessie--My Jessie came and went when I was 17, and I won't tell a soul--not even myself

by Anonymousreply 60February 16, 2020 12:56 AM

Off-key voice, banal lyrics, unimaginative, if sometimes "pretty," melodies.

Of course, mediocrities would celebrate her and twats would fantasize and sing along.

That's what such people do.

by Anonymousreply 61February 16, 2020 12:59 AM

R61=Ed Schlossberg

by Anonymousreply 62February 16, 2020 1:02 AM

There's a reason you still hear this song on the radio every day.

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by Anonymousreply 63February 16, 2020 1:05 AM

Not a perfect rendition, but, charming.

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by Anonymousreply 64February 16, 2020 1:14 AM

PROGRAMMING NOTE: R61 will be back within the hour, once he's finished tearing the limbs of his cats.

by Anonymousreply 65February 16, 2020 1:18 AM

I love a lot of her stuff - too many to mention (and a number of them mentioned here).

Here's one I don't think has been mentioned yet:

"Back Down to Earth"

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by Anonymousreply 66February 16, 2020 1:46 AM

Just for the fun of it . . .

Tired of Being Blonde

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by Anonymousreply 67February 16, 2020 1:51 AM

I never knew Christopher Reeves played the piano!

(He seems very gay here)

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by Anonymousreply 68February 16, 2020 5:00 AM

I like Carly a lot, especially when she goes completely off the rails (I've posted her novelty 'Kissing with Confidence' with Will Powers elsewhere.)

Then there's this amusing, Devo-esque, kinda woke thing from Come Upstairs, ca. 1980.

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by Anonymousreply 69February 16, 2020 5:29 AM

This song is so beautiful and reminds me of my first boyfriend:

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by Anonymousreply 70February 16, 2020 5:45 AM

I haven't seen any love for 1990's Have You Seen Me Lately? album so I'll offer "Didn't I?" It's not my favorite but it's sweet and sad. That was probably the last Carly album I really loved.

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by Anonymousreply 71February 16, 2020 6:24 AM

She is the most equine of my sisters.

by Anonymousreply 72February 16, 2020 6:34 AM

Theme song from The Spy Who Loved Me

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by Anonymousreply 73February 16, 2020 7:30 AM

Touched By The Sun

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by Anonymousreply 74February 16, 2020 7:39 AM

You’re The One

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by Anonymousreply 75February 16, 2020 7:44 AM

Don’t Wrap It Up

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by Anonymousreply 76February 16, 2020 7:45 AM

She sounds pitchy. Of course, it was before auto tune and melodyne...

by Anonymousreply 77February 16, 2020 7:48 AM

I spent my 29th birthday drinking Bellinis and listening to her Clouds in My Coffee box set. Can't believe no one's chimed in with her take on Sondheim!

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by Anonymousreply 78February 16, 2020 7:51 AM

Night Owl, with JT and Paul McCartney singing backup

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by Anonymousreply 79February 16, 2020 7:58 AM

"Let the River Run" followed by "You're So Vain."

by Anonymousreply 80February 16, 2020 8:03 AM

Surprised more Dlers aren't talking about her horse face.

by Anonymousreply 81February 16, 2020 8:04 AM

What’s going on with her health? Is she ok?

by Anonymousreply 82February 16, 2020 8:29 AM

I never wore an apricot scarf. I'm not a fag.

by Anonymousreply 83February 16, 2020 9:31 AM

Bunny, she thought she was my best friend! Mwahahahahahahaha

by Anonymousreply 84February 16, 2020 9:32 AM

In one of the nastiest things I think I've ever read, rockcrit Robert Christgau once opined, "If a horse could sing in a monotone, the horse would sound like Carly Simon, except the horse wouldn't rhyme 'yacht,' 'apricot' and 'gavotte.'"

Talk about your "pointless bitchery!"

by Anonymousreply 85February 16, 2020 11:47 AM

Boys in the trees. Still a haunting song.

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by Anonymousreply 86February 16, 2020 11:57 AM

Her Greatest Hits Live is a masterpiece. It Happens Every Day, All I Want Is You, Do the Walls Come Down and Never Been Gone are amazing deep cuts that are better than some of her most popular radio hits. I return to this album time and time again.

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by Anonymousreply 87February 16, 2020 12:01 PM

I remember in that gossipy Sheila Weller book about the three of them, Joni said that Carole and Carly weren’t her peers, only Laura Nyro was (for bombastically hermetic lyrics, I would add).

by Anonymousreply 88February 16, 2020 12:14 PM

Not my favorite but certainly notable, a fabulous collaboration with Chic -- "Why?"

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by Anonymousreply 89February 16, 2020 4:48 PM

Not my favorite but certainly notable, a fabulous collaboration with Chic -- "Why?"

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by Anonymousreply 90February 16, 2020 4:48 PM

[quote]I haven't seen any love for 1990s Have You Seen Me Lately?

That song was written for the movie "Postcards From The Edge."

But Meryl couldn't sing it because of the range. So it was ditched at the last minute.

by Anonymousreply 91February 16, 2020 5:17 PM

Anyone read her latest? I don't understand how someone as attractive and smart as Carly let the men in her life walk all over her they way they did. Reading about her second marriage in particular was sad. It seemed doomed from the start.

Poor Jackie tried to knock some sense into her time and time again regarding the second husband, but Carly wasn't having it.

by Anonymousreply 92February 16, 2020 5:27 PM

Meryl had a bigger range than Carly Simon... Simon couldn't sing the latter part of "I'm Checking Out" in the same arrangement as Meryl.

by Anonymousreply 93February 16, 2020 5:36 PM

This one with James Taylor...it brings tears to my eyes

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by Anonymousreply 94February 16, 2020 5:40 PM

r81 that's because she wears her horse face quite well

by Anonymousreply 95February 16, 2020 5:42 PM

I’ll bet she gave excellent head to James’s humongous cock with that huge mouth of hers.

by Anonymousreply 96February 16, 2020 5:47 PM

[quote]I don't understand how someone as attractive and smart as Carly let the men in her life walk all over her they way they did.

She was sexually abused as a child. That fucks people up.

Plus, she had two emotionally distant parents. That does a number on people, too.

As a result, Carly is very insecure and doesn't think she genuinely deserves to be loved. Her children walk all over her, too. Especially Sally, who is awful.

by Anonymousreply 97February 16, 2020 5:51 PM

[quote] I’ll bet she gave excellent head to James’s humongous cock with that huge mouth of hers

Yeah right. You try getting off with those chompers coming at your sweet baby James

by Anonymousreply 98February 16, 2020 6:06 PM

I never experienced that problem, pops.

by Anonymousreply 99February 16, 2020 6:07 PM

Mockingbird.

by Anonymousreply 100February 16, 2020 6:16 PM

"Strip, Bitch" was the title of a chapter about James in her autobiography.

by Anonymousreply 101February 16, 2020 6:16 PM

There seems to be a DL consensus that "Boys In The Trees" is one of her best songs.

by Anonymousreply 102February 16, 2020 6:31 PM

"Boys In The Trees" has amazing lyrics.

I think Tori Amos covers it in concerts.

by Anonymousreply 103February 16, 2020 7:06 PM

Not her song but I love it.

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by Anonymousreply 104February 16, 2020 7:12 PM

R103: “Last night I slept in sheets the color of fire.”

by Anonymousreply 105February 16, 2020 7:14 PM

I like Carly but did not care for her catalogue of standards.

by Anonymousreply 106February 16, 2020 7:14 PM

I like this song. She wrote it, but it was done in the style of a standard and appeared on an album of them.

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by Anonymousreply 107February 16, 2020 7:27 PM

[quote]I think Tori Amos covers it in concerts.

You have become as annoying as the Gap Playlist Guy. Who gives a fuck what Tori Amos does?

by Anonymousreply 108February 16, 2020 7:55 PM

R108 Kindly close your rancid snatch. Seagulls are flocking.

by Anonymousreply 109February 16, 2020 8:20 PM

I really like this song. The lyrics are really good and the arrangement is very interesting.

It is off the album I think is Carly's best: Another Passenger.

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by Anonymousreply 110February 16, 2020 9:50 PM

"We Your Dearest Friends" could be DL's official song.

We, your dearest friends

Judge you "guilty"

Here and now

Of thinking you're a star

When it's all over

Nobody wants you

And we the least of all

It's been a long time since

You had those famous lovers

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by Anonymousreply 111February 16, 2020 10:22 PM

Agree re: "Another Passenger," R110. So, naturally, it's the lone album of hers that's been out of print for quite awhile. Last time I looked, used CD copies were fetching $30, $40, $50 and up on eBay.

by Anonymousreply 112February 17, 2020 1:02 PM

Agree with R23/4

by Anonymousreply 113February 17, 2020 1:28 PM

Her most gorgeous vocal

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by Anonymousreply 114February 17, 2020 2:32 PM

Jesse reminds me of the opposite from Cheap Trick.

I’ll shine up both my shoes

Put on a brand new shirt

Get home early from work, if you love me.

Both make me miss the sensation of being in love. Being young, and inexperienced. Ah, youth!

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by Anonymousreply 115February 17, 2020 3:40 PM

I like “ "That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be.", but it’s a superficial commentary on marriage. Even marriages that seem unhappy may not be.

by Anonymousreply 116February 17, 2020 3:46 PM

[quote]I like “ "That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be.", but it’s a superficial commentary on marriage. Even marriages that seem unhappy may not be.

It's a song, not a memoir or an essay.

And Carly's parents' marriage seemed happy (to people outside the house) but was not. They didn't get along. Her father suffered from depression. And the mother had a live-in lover half her age. The father had also had a relationship with a woman far older than him that he never got over.

by Anonymousreply 117February 17, 2020 4:09 PM

It's interesting to me how Carly's first hit was such an honest depiction of her parents' unhappy marriage. (The lyrics were written by a good friend of hers, based on what she had told him.)

Later, Carly wrote the song "Hello Big Man" which painted an entirely different picture of her parents' marriage. About the only thing that was true was how they met (when she worked the telephone at Simon & Schuster). But the "he did it all for her" was nonsense. He was successful when they met and could barely stand her when he died.

I wonder why Carly wrote such a dishonest song, as she is usually candid to a fault. Maybe to please/flatter her mother, with whom she had always had a fraught relationship. (For example, when Carly, as a teen, grew taller than her mother, her mother told her, "Men always like shorter women like me.")

After Hello Big Man, Carly revealed the secrets about her parents and her mother's live-in lover to Vanity Fair. Her sisters were furious with her.

So when her mother died, Carly went back to romanticizing her mother with the song "Like a River." (Although the song is honest enough to wonder if the mother will reconcile with her father in death.)

By the time her memoir came out, Carly was back to speaking the unvarnished truth. She even recounts a visiting friend calling Carly's mother "a whore!" for fucking her lover when her husband when he came to her room for help when he was having a heart attack. To me, Carly even putting that remark in the book -- without any qualification -- seemed to be Carly agreeing with the sentiment.

Our relationships with our parents are very complicated.

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by Anonymousreply 118February 17, 2020 4:57 PM

"Hello Big Man" is a great song, whether truth or fiction. The whole LP is good.

by Anonymousreply 119February 17, 2020 5:44 PM

This song is my favorite from "Hello Big Man."

It's about James Taylor and very sad.

The only song I don't like on that CD is "Menemsha." The relentless use of that word by the children doing backup is like being trapped on a plane.

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by Anonymousreply 120February 17, 2020 5:48 PM

I've always liked You're So Vain even though it was played to death on the radio back in the day.

by Anonymousreply 121February 17, 2020 5:57 PM

My absolute favorite CS song is You Belong to Me.

It makes the Doobie Brothers version sound so flat.

James Taylor sings during the chorus. Listen closely and you;ll hear.

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by Anonymousreply 122February 18, 2020 9:28 AM

Carly Simon - Jesse - Live At Grand Central

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by Anonymousreply 123February 18, 2020 11:03 AM

I suspect she has a very big pussy.

by Anonymousreply 124February 19, 2020 3:53 AM
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