No modern singer can emulate this or would understand the understated gentleness of that tone. Pure. Ethereal. Not about power. Runs. Just pure unadulterated greatness. I miss her sooooo much. Even today.

The essence of tranquility and peace coming from a human voice. Heaven sent us to enjoy just for a little time.

This was absolute perfection done on first Take. She was an angel!

Excellent reaction Karen is simply in a class of her own

Once again the voice if an angel sent yo earth...timeless pure voice.

I remember hearing this on the radio as a young kid in the early 70s. Her voice was so stunning that people stopped what they were doing when this was first played on the radio, whether it was a grocery store or other location, just to listen to her sing.

This is one my most favorite songs of all time. ❤

Jesus i wanna cry 😪😪😪❤❤❤

Psyche- you were so objective. Ive listen to a number of persons reacting. You are the first person Ive heard with sold objective comments. Thanks. I just subscribed.

Another nice reaction. Your comment on the arrangements and composition is a testament to Richards extraordinary talents which were often overlooked because of Karens incredible voice and drum playing. Understandably so. Simply ANGELIC! Like you said, what she could have done had she lived.

Psyche, Karen would have loved to be your friend. She was a sweet soul and remained basic and genuine always. You are correct, Karen respected the words of the lyricists too much to make her voice the focal point of the song. She never would distract from the beautiful music that she was presented with... she just delivered it simple and heartfelt. Wow, so powerful.

You're always on point on the Carpenters the arrangements and the vocals are fantastic it always takes me back to the 70s plus it's a great love song rest in peace Karen Carpenter

Beautiful pure song

This song in so pure! My favorite Carpenter song

Behind the perfect pop veneer...... behind the wholesome, squeaky clean persona..... was a dark, tortured melancholy soul... an inner angst that created one of the greatest artists of all time. And, for a very limited time... the world was a short distance from heaven.

Voice of an angel rest in peace Karen Carpenter. You left us too soon. But your legacy will live forever.

Beautiful , just beautiful.🌷🌷🌷

La voz de Karen Carpenters fue y sigue siendo una caricia para el alma,hermosa reacción!!Gracias Psyche👏👏🌹♥️🙋

Haven’t heard this one in ages, but it’s as beautiful as I remember. Some songs and artists are timeless. Thank you again my dear and enjoy your Sunday evening. 🙏💖🙂

I was in junior high when they became famous, I had such a crush on her. To this day some of her songs have the ability to bring a tear to my eye. God lent us the voice of one of his angels for a short time.

Strange trivia on this one. Jose Feliciano bumped into karen and richard in a resturant and was a big fan. He offered to do some recording with them coming up with the introduction. His manager didnt want him playing on the record because of contract issues and Richard replaced Jose’s nylon guitar parts with that beautiful oboe part. Keep up the great work!

I don't know how many dozens of times I've heard this song, but I never get tired of it. It's just that good.

OMG her voice!!! one of the best female singer ever!!!

You’re so right! Karen never needed to use vocal acrobatics to covey their songs. Very simple and sublime

Hello my dear Psyche 🥰 aah The Carpenters vocal nirvana. I totally agree with your assessment on their music. Concerning Karen’s untimely demise well only the good die young.🙏🏽✌🏽❤️

You have such a classic look! Just elegant! Dreamy eyes! Lol sorry! This song is brilliant!!!❤️🌻❤️

Wonderful review and reaction- I just love them too. Her voice is always like a piece of heaven. I remember being in my car and hearing she had died and just had the tears rolling down my face. It was such a loss 😪 but thankfully the music will always live on

So many of my early memories in the early 70’s have her voice attached. Thank God for her. Never over sung. Perfect production.

Herb Alpert heard her voice on a demo in 1969 and signed them to A&M records. She received 4 Grammys in the very early and mid 1970s. She was 1975 rock drummer of the year according to Playboy. Perhaps THE best female vocalist-ever, because she commands you to listen, as she sings in perfect pitch, TO you, not AT you, with emotion and enunciation. No auto-tune or gimmicks. She was known by the studios as 'one take'. She rarely, if ever, did more than one take of any song. She was also the ONLY female harmony/background voice in ALL her songs as well.( Richard dubbed her harmony lines into her songs). She was truly born with an incredible singing talent. I believe you will be further amazed with 'Solitaire', 'This Masquerade', and lesser known songs such as; 'A Place To Hideaway', 'I Can Dream Cant I'. Documentaries point out the accolades to her voice, such as, Paul McCartney said she had the most angelic voice after hearing her sing 'Ticket To Ride', and John Lennon ran into her at an LA restaurant and told her she had a fabulous voice. Supposedly Frank Sinatra stated that Karen was the only singer he'd pay to hear. KC never knew true love. Her few friends included Petula Clark and Dionne Warwick. KC really lost weight, due to anorexia, in earnest beginning in 1975. She died in Feb 1983 at age 32 due to heart complications from anorexia.

Great reaction. No matter what she sang or how I'm feeling her song relaxes me and calms me.

Ah, memories of my junior year in high school, a dance with a partner. ( do the math P) Alot of us kids liked the Carpenters. Took me awhile to appreciate Karen's voice, it's beautiful. "Now", her last recording is my fav. Nice reaction & analysis. Awaiting more. Stay safe & have a happy week....a fan from Texas

I tear up whenever I hear Karen sing nowadays. So unique and beautiful. Richard does a stellar job as usual with arranging. The pen is migther than the sword? Is that what you're saying? Sometimes that's so. The good and the bad die. We all will, right. We notice more acutely when someone that we consider as good, dies. I can't imagine for example, Trump Jr giving a single..., er, fart if she died or not. Or Eric either. It is what it is. Peace.

You betta preach! 😅. Well said, & thanks for reacting to this one, which I call my fav, maybe because it recalls specific memories of my childhood. We’ve Only Just begun is right up there, & I’d say that one may have more rhythmic punch, with contrast where they sing softer on the verse & more powerful on the bridge wit my man wailin on that tambourine in the video. By the way, videos may have been something they were ahead of their time on. Even though some of what’s available on KZfaq could’ve been documented performance from t.v. shows, it seems they were into recording them to be viewed individually. A quality you mentioned about having different style songs, but always well arranged & harmonized, is in a way how I’d describe Silk Sonic so far. Even though their coming basically from a soul r&b style, every song does sound different, always thoroughly arranged & passionately delivered. There’s a funny little clip lasting maybe 15 seconds or so, where Anderson sings a super short song in a British accent (😂), something about the ‘working man’, accompanied by Bruno in the background, sprawled out on the couch with the guitar, looking like they maybe spent hours in the studio & are wiped out. Maybe it was a tic-tok thing. Anyway it’s cute. At any rate, hearing & watching Carpenters performance now is quite bittersweet, knowing what Karen went through, & Richard had a bit of inner torment as well. Serves as a reminder that sometimes the most gifted of souls can be vulnerable to the fragile dynamics we encounter in life’s journey. They left so much beauty, but had to suffer. Of course it’s not new, but is true for so many icons of music & public life as well. Anyway, all the more reason to cherish that beauty & inspiration. Great reaction, once again! 👍🏾

so many stunningly beautiful female singers but her voice was so uniquely beautiful

Great point and have always felt that with since then, all the top female singers cannot sing a complete song without belting it out and to me sounds like screaming half the time.

Your insights into this song and their music is spot on! The way you described the punch without the volume could be said about Sade too…!!!

Great reaction, 🤩 please react "Carpenters A song for you" full version or "Carpenters Rainbow Connection"

Good morning beautiful! Wow your videos often trigger something in me. When I see you react to artists who are no longer here, I always rhetorically ask “why them? Why did they have to leave us so soon?!” And then I’m grateful that I’m still here to enjoy the many gifts they left behind. Have a lovely evening since it is evening on your side of the world! ❤️😍💕😊

Hello Psyche from North Carolina, USA. Coincidentally, my birthday is in 2 days, 23rd of February. I've been a huge Carpenters fan since I was 9. Let me put it this way, my mom drove us to school playing their, "Top of the World" 8-TRACK in the car. Haha! Thank you for the beautiful reactions to their beautiful music. 👍❤

You have said this so well. Karen had a lot of problems unfortunately. Not just thinking she was fat all of the time. There are many accounts that their mother favoured Richard over her. Karen couldn't do a thing right in her mothers eyes. The Carpenters worked so so much in the 70's at one point, they didn't take a break for seven years running. That is just sad. A brilliant duo and her voice could stop an aggressive crowd in a peacefully.

Psyche!!! Good point about the variation in the songs. That had a lot to do with Richard's ongoing detective work, always trying to find something they could sing from sources other than Richard. I recently looked this up and found out this song was very appropriate for a sweet movie it was in. Of course, Richard always takes something and applies his brilliant arranging. They did this a lot, so it was always fun to hear Richard's arrangement of a song from a movie or another artist (as a cover). I've not heard once that Richard's version didn't surpass the source's arrangement. For All We Know: Fred Karlin, from "Lovers and Other Strangers" Ticket to Ride: Beatles (Richard changed an up-tempo to a ballad) We've Only Just Begun: Paul Williams, from a Crocker Bank TV commercial Desperado: Eagles Solitaire: Neil Sedaka Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft: Klaatu (No Barada Nikto...sorry!)

💕💕💕💕💕

For me what makes the Carpenters great is Karen's vocals and Richard's arrangements. It's really that simple.

The sadness of Karen passing at such a young age is that we were Robbed many more years Of her gift at singing But thanks to KZfaq we can listen to what she did while she was here

Hi Psyche! This is YOUR channel and you should do what you feel YOU want to do...but... I wanted to point out a very smart request by a very discerning Misa Castillo below. One of the most soulful, moving pieces ever done by the Carpenters, "A Song For You," is available via the usual AI-generated Topic channel from KZfaq. It contains the original version produced by the Carpenters, the one I have on my LP AND a MFSL (Original Master Recording) gold CD. It contains one of the most well-crafted saxophone interludes (Bob Messenger) right in the middle, so nice that I transcribed it for my jazz-improvisation class; and it's totally cut out from this awful video that a lot of reactors put up. Some reactors just HAVE to have a video and will not play an audio-only version; and that's their choice. Of course, others just put up the first thing they find after doing a keyword search. But I would just quietly request that, if you ever have the penchant to do that one, please search for the one that's from "The Carpenters - Topic." Knowing you, you'll LOVE the solo because I watch you just absorb music you listen to. I sometimes wish you lived next door so I could play this for you on my Stax electrostatic headphones. With those, its sounds like Karen is whispering right into my ear. Whatever the case, you're one of the best listeners online because you JUST listen and don't make a show of it. You're refreshing! Love you! :)

Karen was the ULTIMATE storyteller and the ULTIMATE "vocalist", not just a great once in a lifetime generation singer... COUNTLESS singers, some even great, but very very few actual VOCALISTS, much less like Karen, a once in 2 lifetimes vocalist...

Right you don't have to belt it out and especially you don't have to over embellish. Kids are ridiculous with over singing