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)
Just One Thing
Carole King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like so many motes of dust
My dreams keep stirring in me
But all I see are
Rivers of violence
Running red on the streets below me
While passionate strangers whisper desire
All I know is I'm on fire
I need just one thing I can believe in
Oh, just one thing
Just one thing I can believe in
Hiding in the shadows
I want to stand in the light
Trust is unknown to me
I've been betrayed by the night so long
I can never belong to anyone any more
Why does everybody think they know me
I go through the motions, playing my role
Nobody knows what's deep in my soul
I need just one thing I can believe in
Give me just one thing
Oh, just one thing I can believe in
Love let me down
I wanted to believe that love was the one thing
But every time I turned around, love let me down
In my imagination
I come out of the darkness
The moon in my fantasy smiles down on me
I am a child running wild and free
But then the fight for survival
Takes me out of my illusion
And I'm back in the emptiness, fear and defeat
Trapped in a rhythm I don't want to repeat
The taste of freedom is so close and sweet
I've just gotta find a way off this dead-end street
I need just one thing I can believe in
I gotta find one thing
Just one thing I can believe in
I need one thing I can believe in
Let me find one thing
Gotta find one thing
Just one thing I can believe in
In "Just One Thing," Carole King sings about her struggle to find something to believe in. She describes a sense of detachment from the world as she observes the violence on the streets below her. She is disillusioned by love and does not trust anyone. She feels as though she is trapped in a cycle of emptiness, fear, and defeat. The only thing that could potentially make a difference is finding something, just one thing, that she can believe in.
The lyrics describe a sense of isolation and loneliness, as well as a deep desire for something to hold onto. King touches on themes of survival and the human need for meaning and purpose. The images of violence and betrayal add to the feeling of hopelessness that characterizes the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Holding it together with barely any motion
She's barely holding onto her sanity and keeping it together
Like so many motes of dust
She feels small and insignificant, like a particle of dust
My dreams keep stirring in me
Despite her struggles, she still has hope because her dreams keep stirring within her
But all I see are
Her hope is overshadowed by the negative things she sees
Rivers of violence
She sees violence all around her
Running red on the streets below me
The violence is happening right beneath her
While passionate strangers whisper desire
Amidst all the chaos, there are still people expressing their desire and passion
All I know is I'm on fire
Despite everything, she's burning with a desire to find something to believe in
I need just one thing I can believe in
She's desperately searching for something to believe in
Hiding in the shadows
She's hiding from the world, and afraid to face it head on
I want to stand in the light
Despite her fear, she wants to face the world and be seen
Trust is unknown to me
She's lost her ability to trust others
I've been betrayed by the night so long
She's used to feeling betrayed and let down by the darkness and the world around her
I can never belong to anyone any more
She feels like she can't connect with or belong to anyone anymore
Why does everybody think they know me
She feels like people judge her and think they know her, even when they don't
I go through the motions, playing my role
She's just going through the motions and pretending to be someone she's not
Nobody knows what's deep in my soul
She feels like no one truly knows or understands her on a deeper level
Love let me down
She's lost faith in love because it's let her down in the past
I wanted to believe that love was the one thing
She used to believe in love, but has since lost faith
But every time I turned around, love let me down
She's been hurt by love so many times that she doesn't believe in it anymore
In my imagination
She escapes from reality through her imagination
I come out of the darkness
Through her imagination, she's able to break free from the darkness that surrounds her
The moon in my fantasy smiles down on me
Her imagination gives her a sense of comfort and hope, even if it's only temporary
I am a child running wild and free
Her imagination makes her feel free and uninhibited, like a child
But then the fight for survival
Reality always comes crashing back in, and she has to fight to survive
Takes me out of my illusion
Her illusion is shattered by the harshness of reality
And I'm back in the emptiness, fear and defeat
Reality brings her back to the emptiness and despair she feels
Trapped in a rhythm I don't want to repeat
She feels trapped in a cycle of pain and doesn't want to repeat it
The taste of freedom is so close and sweet
Despite everything, she can taste the freedom she longs for
I've just gotta find a way off this dead-end street
She knows she needs to find a way out of her despair
Let me find one thing
She repeats her desperation for something to believe in
Gotta find one thing
She feels like she has no other choice but to find something to believe in
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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