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)
No Easy Way Down
Carole King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the sky
But now it must fall
To the ground
Now your sad eyes reveal
Just how badly you feel
'Cause there
Is no easy way down
The view from the cliffs
Must have been exciting (exciting, exciting)
And up to the peaks
You were bound
Now you're stranded alone
And the path is unknown
And there is no easy way down
No, it isn't very easy
When you're left on your own
No, it isn't very easy
When each road you take
Is one more mistake
And there's no one to break your fall
And lead you back home
We all like to climb
To the heights, I know
Where our fantasy world
Can be found
But you must know in the end
When it's time to descend
There is no easy way down
You know you're gonna find
There is no easy way down
The lyrics to Carole King's song No Easy Way Down talk about the struggle of falling from great heights, whether it be in the literal sense or the metaphorical. A toy balloon starts off soaring high in the sky but eventually will come crashing down to the ground, leaving a sense of sadness and disappointment. The song alludes to the idea that life can be like this as well, where one may ascend to high points but inevitably must come back down, and coming down is no easy task.
King sings about the thrill of reaching the top of a cliff or peak, only to feel stranded and alone with an unknown path ahead when it comes to coming back down. The repetition in the song's chorus of "No, it isn't very easy" emphasizes the difficulty and importance of acknowledging the challenges of falling from great heights, whether in life or in climbing. The lyrics serve as a reminder that sometimes we may take the wrong path or make mistakes, but there is no one to break our fall or guide us back home, so we must learn to navigate the descent on our own.
Line by Line Meaning
Your toy balloon has sailed
In the sky
You were living in a world of possibilities, dreaming big as you let your balloon fly high.
But now it must fall
To the ground
However, the time has come for your balloon to pop and for you to come back to reality.
Now your sad eyes reveal
Just how badly you feel
'Cause there
Is no easy way down
Your eyes show your pain as you realize that coming back down to earth is not easy and the fall can be painful.
The view from the cliffs
Must have been exciting (exciting, exciting)
And up to the peaks
You were bound
You were excited to climb to the top, seeing the world from a different perspective, and now you were on a journey to reach the peak.
Now you're stranded alone
And the path is unknown
And there is no easy way down
But now that you're alone, without guidance, and don't know the way, you realize there's no simple way back down to your old life.
No, it isn't very easy
When you're left on your own
No, it isn't very easy
When each road you take
Is one more mistake
And there's no one to break your fall
And lead you back home
It's hard to get back on track and make good decisions when you have no one to support you, and each step you take seems to be the wrong one, without anyone there to guide you.
We all like to climb
To the heights, I know
Where our fantasy world
Can be found
We all have dreams, things we strive for and aspirations that take us to higher places where we can live in our fantasy world.
But you must know in the end
When it's time to descend
There is no easy way down
However, we must remember that someday we'll have to come back down to earth and face reality, and getting back to what we used to be is a tough journey.
You know you're gonna find
There is no easy way down
The realization that getting back down to earth is not easy dawns upon you after climbing to great heights and living in a fantasy world, and there's no amount of preparation that can make it easier.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Carole King, Gerry Goffin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind