Close to You (rec)
The Carpenters 1970
Getting close, Without Touching.
An album of two lovers—hopeless enmeshed, standing in a yellow wood with golden sunshine dappling their skin.
A hand in yours designed just for you.
The puzzle piece that slips in with friction to fill a void.
No braggadocio, just settling into the heart. Into your shoulders, spine... it settles into your soul.
Track List
We've Only Just Begun
Love Is Surrender
Maybe It's You
Reason To Believe
Help
(They Long To Be) Close To You
Baby It's You
I'll Never Fall In Love Again
Crescent Noon
Mr. Guder
I Kept On Loving You
Another Song
It assumes closeness not as an achievement, but as a given.
What strikes me first is how gently this record lands. Its not a nuclear bomb, more like a cure for never having felt before. Not in spectacle, not in urgency—but in the idea that something real can be built without a hurry. We’ve Only Just Begun doesn’t rush toward promise; it walks alongside it. Teasing that what's coming later will make this moment pale. Less a vow and more like a quiet agreement to keep showing up.
The center of gravity here is (They Long To Be) Close To You. A song so familiar it risks becoming invisible—until you let it breathe again. It isn’t about pursuit. It’s about orbit. About the way certain people rearrange the room simply by existing in it. Nothing is asked for. Nothing is taken. Nearness is enough.
The track that loosens me is Maybe It’s You. It lives in that tender space between knowing and wondering. It doesn’t demand clarity. It simply notices how the world feels more inhabitable when one particular presence is nearby. Happiness, caught mid-thought. Spoken softly so it doesn’t break.
As a whole, this album leaves me light. A little giddy. Not lifted off the ground so much as less bound to it. The melodies don’t push; they warm. They soften the edges until guarding feels unnecessary.
Listening feels like walking beside someone without needing to narrate the distance between steps. Like an understanding that doesn’t require articulation. Like knowing exactly where you are—and being content to stay there awhile.
Maybe that’s the gift of this record.
It doesn’t tell you what love should do.
It simply reminds you how it feels when it’s close enough to be real.
When it's written in your heart.
Lyrics
“We've Only Just Begun”
We've only just begun to live
White lace and promises
A kiss for luck and we're on our way
We've only begun
Before the rising sun we fly
So many roads to choose
We start out walking and learn to run
And yes, we've just begun
Sharing horizons that are new to us
Watching the signs along the way
Talking it over just the two of us
Working together day to day
Together
And when the evening comes we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes, we've just begun
“Love Is Surrender”
Talk about love
how it makes life complete
You can talk all you want
make it sound nice and sweet,
But the words have an empty ring,
and they don't really mean a thing,
[Chorus:]
Without Him love is not to be found;
not to be found.
For love is surrender,
Love is surrender to His will
Love is surrender to His will
Sing about love
and the strength it can give
You can sing how you're ready
to face life and live,
But you know as the days go by
that no matter how hard you try,
[Chorus]
Shout about love
and the wars will all end
You can shout we're all brothers
and even pretend
But you can't cover up the past
just pretending we'll never last,
[Chorus]
“Maybe It's You”
Maybe it's you, maybe it's me
Maybe it's just the constant rhythm of the sea
Maybe it's just that I've never been the kind
Who can pass a lucky penny by
Maybe it's wise, maybe it's not
Maybe it's you who brought me caring I forgot
Isn't it nice to talk about the special way
That you smile whenever I'm around
Rising on the shore the ocean came
Walks along the waves of velveteen
His only thought was love for me
Couldn't we stay, or must you go
Couldn't we stay and watch the splashing rocks we throw
Only a fool would want to leave the paradise
That I find whenever you're around
Only a fool
“Reason To Believe”
If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced, while I cried
Still I'd look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give, never think of myself
If I gave you time to change my mind
I'd find a way to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced, while I cried
Still I'd look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give, never think of myself
Someone like you makes it hard to think about somebody else
If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
I'd find a reason, a reason to believe (oh no)
And though I want you, you're just not what I need
Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give, never think of myself
Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else
Someone like you, like you
I'd find a reason to believe
I would find a reason to believe
[Fade]
“Help”
Help, I need somebody,
help, not just anybody,
help, you know I need someone, help.
When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
and I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
won't you please, please help me.
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
and I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
won't you please, please help me.
When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these daya are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
and I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.
”(They Long To Be) Close To You”
Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
On the day that you were born the angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true.
So, they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And star light in your eyes of blue.
That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around.
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
On the day that you were born the angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true.
So, they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And star light in your eyes of blue.
That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around.
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
Why? Close to you
Why? Close to you
Ha, close to you
Why? Close to you
“Baby It's You”
It's not the way you smile that touched my heart
It's not the way you kiss that tears my apart
But how many many many nights go by
I sit alone at home and cry over you
What can I do
Can't help myself
Cause baby it's you
Baby it's you
You should hear what they say about you (cheat, cheat)
They say, they say you never never ever been true (cheat, cheat)
Wo ho, it doesn't matter what they say
I know I'm gonna love you any old way
What can I do, then it's true
Don't want nobody, nobody
Cause baby it's you
Baby it's you
Wo ho, it doesn't matter what they say
I know I'm gonna love you any old way
What can I do, then it's true
Don't want nobody, nobody
Cause baby it's you
Baby it's you
Don't leave me all alone
“I'll Never Fall In Love Again”
Here to remind you, here to remind you
Here to remind you, here to remind you
What do you get when you fall in love
A girl with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble
I'll never fall in love again, I'll never fall in love again
What do you get when you kiss a guy
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia
After you do, he'll never phone you
I'll never fall in love again, I'll never fall in love again
Don't tell me what it's all about
'Cause I've been there and I'm glad, I'm out
Out of those chains, those chains that bind you
That is why I'm here to remind you
What do you get when you fall in love?
You only get lies and pain and sorrow
So far, at least until tomorrow
I'll never fall in love again, I'll never fall in love again
Don't tell me what it's all about
'Cause I've been there and I'm glad, I'm out
Out of those chains, those chains that bind you
That is why I'm have here to remind you
Here to remind you, here to remind you, oh, here to remind you
What do you get when you fall in love
You only get lies and pain and sorrow
So far, at least until tomorrow
I'll never fall in love again, I'll never fall in love again
“Crescent Noon”
Green September
Burned to October brown
Bare November
Led to December's frozen ground
The seasons stumbled round
Our drifting lives are bound
To a falling crescent noon
Feather clouds cry
A vale of tears to earth
Morning breaks and
No one sees the quiet mountain birth
Dressed in a brand new day
The sun is on its way
To a falling crescent noon
Somewhere in
A fairytale forest lies one
Answer that is waiting to be heard
You and I were
Born like the breaking day
All our seasons
All our green Septembers
Burn away
Slowly we'll fade into
A sea of midnight blue
And a falling crescent noon
“Mr. Guder”
Mister Guder, say Mister Guder,
May I have a moment with you,
For there is something I've got to say
and please don't let it scare you away.
Mister Guder, say Mister Guder,
I have seen you go through a day,
You're ev'ry-thing a robot lives for,
walk in at night and roll out the door at five.
You reflect the company image,
you maintain their rules to live by,
Shine your shoes, let's keep a neat haircut
now that you're wearing a coat and tie.
Mister Guder, say Mister Guder,
someday soon you may realize
you've blown your life just playing a game
where no one wins but ev'ry one stays the same.
“I Kept On Loving You”
I ran away from you
and left you crying,
And though I'm here to stay
you think I'm lying
But I've changed my ways
and my wandering days are through;
and through it all,
I've kept on loving you.
[Chorus:]
Don't worry baby please don't cry,
I'm home for good and I will never leave you
Don't worry baby please don't cry,
You must believe me and I will never leave you.
You've heard this all before
I don't deny it
The road was long and wide
I had to try it
Though I hurt you girl
These were things I had to do
But through it all
I kept on loving you.
[Chorus]
“Another Song”
The moon that rose now descended,
And the love one shared now had ended,
And soon the day would come.
And when the day had come, the light that fell at dawn was cold—
the warmth of you had gone,
A taste of loneliness cut through the earliness and oh,
the wind sang of you, softly they said,
All my fav'rite dreams were dead,
Leaving a cloud of sadness in my head
And though I'm buried in a sad song of the morning wind,
I know the day would bring another song for me to sing,
But when the day had come. the light that fell at dawn was cold—
the warmth of you was gone.
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