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)

Raspberry Jam
Carole King Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Pieces of toast
Raspberry jam
Laid out on the breakfast table
It's time to begin again

Way down in the valley
Where the rivers flow
Lives a girl named Sally

Who loves to watch things grow

Pieces of toast
Raspberry jam
Laid out on the breakfast table
It's time to begin again

Now Sally has five children
And a good old man
And they all sit down together
For their toast and their raspberry jam

Oh, how they have
Pieces of toast, raspberry jam

Laid out on the breakfast table
It's time to begin again

Overall Meaning

Carole King's song "Raspberry Jam" is a simple yet thoughtful depiction of the cyclical nature of life, as well as the importance of appreciating the little things. The opening lines describe pieces of toast and raspberry jam on the breakfast table, serving as a metaphor for the new beginning of the day. The repetition of this image throughout the song emphasizes the idea of starting anew each day, with a sense of routine and familiarity in the little things.

The song shifts to a separate storyline of Sally, who lives in the valley and loves to watch things grow. This imagery serves as a symbol for the growth and progression of life, and how even the smallest actions can lead to something great. Sally's family then joins in the imagery of toast and raspberry jam, depicting the continuation of this cycle through generations.

Line by Line Meaning

Pieces of toast
There are slices of toasted bread

Raspberry jam
There is a sweet spread made with raspberries

Laid out on the breakfast table
The toast and jam are arranged on the table

It's time to begin again
It's a new day and time to start fresh

Way down in the valley
Deep in a low area surrounded by hills

Where the rivers flow
Where bodies of water run downhill

Lives a girl named Sally
A young woman named Sally resides there

Who loves to watch things grow
She takes pleasure in observing the growth of plants, perhaps in her garden

Pieces of toast
Another reference to the bread that has been toasted

Raspberry jam
The same spread made with raspberries as before

Laid out on the breakfast table
The toast and jam are arranged on the table once again