King's major success began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits, many of which have become standards, for numerous artists. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.
King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her record sales were estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a performer and songwriter. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored. She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King
Studio albums
Writer (1970)
Tapestry (1971)
Music (1971)
Rhymes & Reasons (1972)
Fantasy (1973)
Wrap Around Joy (1974)
Thoroughbred (1976)
Simple Things (1977)
Welcome Home (1978)
Touch the Sky (1979)
Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King (1980)
One to One (1982)
Speeding Time (1983)
City Streets (1989)
Colour of Your Dreams (1993)
Love Makes the World (2001)
A Holiday Carole (2011)
Chalice Borealis
Carole King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No wonderland for Alice she don't have the right
Chalice Borealis how does your garden glow
Molly don't work in Dallas
But the river has to go
Oh, whatcha gonna do when time runs out on you
Run down, ghost town
How ya gonna explain it to your grand kids
Where did the mountain go
How ya gonna tell them you sold it
Where did the mountain go
Didn't turn out quite the way ya wanted
How were you to know
Boom town broke down what a let down
Where did the mountain go
Chalice Borealis will you ever learn
Your mother bears you no malice
But she will have her turn
Chalice Borealis lighting up the sky
No wonderland for Alice
She's just passin' by, passin' by
The song Chalice Borealis by Carole King is a commentary on the destructive impact of human activities on the environment. The chorus refers to the Northern Lights, also known as Aurora Borealis, as a symbol of the natural beauty that is being threatened by human intervention. Alice, a character from the famous novel Alice in Wonderland, is used as a metaphor for mankind's lack of dominance over nature as we cannot control the fate of the planet. The river in the second verse may represent the flow of time, which continues regardless of whether we preserve or destroy the land.
The song then questions what we will say to future generations when they ask us where the mountains have gone. The image of barren pastures and ghost towns is painted to show the consequences of over mining or deforestation in search of economic gain. It may also be a commentary on the tendency of boom towns to quickly decline once their resources have been exhausted. The chorus questioning whether Chalice Borealis will ever learn, suggests that we will eventually pay for our actions, and there will be a point of no return.
Line by Line Meaning
Chalice Borealis, lighting up the night
The Northern Lights are illuminating the dark sky
No wonderland for Alice she don't have the right
The spectacle of the Northern Lights, while beautiful, is not accessible to everyone
Chalice Borealis how does your garden glow
The Northern Lights can be compared to a garden filled with breathtaking colors
Molly don't work in Dallas but the river has to go
Even though Molly may not be employed in Dallas, she is still affected by decisions made in the region that impact the natural environment
Oh, whatcha gonna do when time runs out on you
What will happen when the consequences of our actions catch up with us?
Run down, ghost town, Barren pastures all around
Once thriving areas can become empty and desolate due to human activities resulting in environmental degradation
How ya gonna explain it to your grand kids, Where did the mountain go
How will we justify our actions to future generations when we've destroyed natural landscapes for our own benefit?
How ya gonna tell them you sold it, Where did the mountain go
How will we explain to our descendants that we traded away environmental assets for a profit?
Didn't turn out quite the way ya wanted, How were you to know
The results of our actions aren't always what we intend, and it's difficult to anticipate the long-term impacts of our choices
Boom town broke down what a let down, Where did the mountain go
When human greed leads to environmental destruction, it ultimately causes disappointment and sorrow
Chalice Borealis will you ever learn, Your mother bears you no malice but she will have her turn
The natural environment will eventually gain the upper hand, and it's important to recognize that we can't persist in exploiting it forever
Chalice Borealis lighting up the sky, No wonderland for Alice, She's just passin' by, passin' by
While the Northern Lights may provide a temporary sense of awe and wonder, many people will only ever experience them as an from afar and never get to fully appreciate their beauty.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CAROLE KING, RICK SORENSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@JilBrowne
I was in the front row's and I will never forget when they rolled her out in the pouring rain and she never missed a beat.PEACE!
@larryshackley8074
In her autobiography, she says this is probably the worst song she ever wrote. I could tell by her verbal intro that we were in for...well...
@richardwilliams5148
Booed off stage