Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American … Read Full Bio ↴Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of all time, King is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1962 and 2005.

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)

It's a War
Carole King Lyrics

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The moon is full and I'm awake
And I don't know how much
I can take
Before I get too angry to be sad
Too many people thinkin' mean
Good ones few and far between
Takin' out on you
What they never had

It's a war, war
War any more
It's a war, war
War every day
You've got to keep your guard up
If someone else is hard up
He'll try to steal your dreams away

Once I thought of compassion as
A feelin' everybody has
Do unto others
That's the golden rule
But I found to my regret
People I had never met
Were out to get me--I was just a fool

It's a war, war
War any more
It's a war, war
War every day
You've got to keep your guard up

If someone else is hard up
He'll try to steal your dreams away

Overall Meaning

Carole King’s song, “It’s a War,” explores the theme of navigating a world that is filled with hostility and aggression. The song begins with King admitting to being awake with a full moon overhead, admitting that she doesn't know how much she can take before the anger she feels becomes too much to bear. She describes the people in the world as mostly mean, with only a few good ones to be found. They take out their aggression on others, projecting their own insecurities onto their victims.

The chorus, “It's a war, war, war anymore, it's a war, war, war everyday” is a powerful metaphor for the constant battle that King faces in her everyday life. She acknowledges that the world is filled with aggression and violence, and that it takes a lot of effort to protect oneself from emotional harm. She talks about the importance of keeping one’s guard up, since there is always someone who is looking to bring another person down.

The second verse continues with this theme, with King expressing regret for believing in compassion and the golden rule. She realized that there are many people in this world who are out to get her, despite having never met them before. She describes herself as having been naive and foolish, once believing in the inherent good of all people.

Overall, “It’s a War” is a poignant statement of the struggle of navigating a world that is filled with hostility, aggression, and cruelty. It reflects on the loneliness and isolation that can result from such a world, and how important it is to constantly protect oneself from emotional harm.

Line by Line Meaning

The moon is full and I'm awake
I am fully alert and awake under the light of the full moon.

And I don't know how much
I do not know how much I can handle.

I can take
I am able to handle.

Before I get too angry to be sad
Before my anger takes over my sadness.

Too many people thinkin' mean
A lot of people have negative thoughts.

Good ones few and far between
Unfortunately, there are not many good people around.

Takin' out on you
They are venting their negativity towards you.

What they never had
Because they never had good things themselves.

It's a war, war
Life is a struggle,

War any more
It’s always been and always will be a battle.

War every day
It’s a daily fight against negativity.