The Carpenters' melodic pop charted a record-breaking score of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, becoming leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary genres. The Carpenters had three #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen #1 hits on the Adult Contemporary Chart (see The Carpenters discography). In addition, they had twelve top 10 singles (including their #1 hits). To date, The Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million units.
During their fourteen-year career, The Carpenters recorded eleven albums, five of which contained top 10 singles (Close to You, Carpenters, A Song for You, Now & Then and Horizon), thirty-one singles, five television specials, and one short-lived television series. They toured in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium. Their recording career ended with Karen's death on February 4, 1983. Karen passed away after cardiac arrest due to complications of anorexia nervosa. Extensive news coverage of the circumstances surrounding her death increased public awareness of the consequences of eating disorders.
Their first recordings were not successful, and the recording studio that was recording them, dropped them. That's when their 'savior' came in. Herb Alpert of A&M records heard a couple of their songs and said that he felt that they had good potential. Thanks to him, and his ability to see/hear quality when it appears, we had the GREAT performers of The Carpenters.
Let Me Be The One
The Carpenters Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you should find yourself alone,
Let me be the one you run to,
Let me be the one you come to
When you need someone to turn to,
Let me be the one
To set things right
Let me be the one you run to,
Let me be the one you come to
When you need someone to turn to,
Let me be the one
For love and understanding,
To find a quiet place;
For silent understanding,
A loving touch.
Come to me when things go wrong
And there's no love to light the way
Let me be the one you run to,
Let me be the one you come to
When you need someone to turn to,
Let me be the one
The Carpenters' Let Me Be The One is a song about being there for someone in their time of need. The lyrics suggest that the singer is willing to be the rock and anchor that someone can lean on when things are tough. The song starts with the lines "Some sleepless night, If you should find yourself alone, Let me be the one you run to." The use of the word "sleepless" implies that the person the singer is addressing is going through a tough time, and is unable to sleep. The rest of the lyrics provide assurance that the singer is there to help.
The singer suggests that they can provide "love and understanding" which can help "set things right when this old world's turned upside down." The lyrics convey a sense of empathy and understanding, suggesting that the singer has also gone through difficult times themselves. The song then goes on to say that the singer can provide a "loving touch," and that the person should come to them when they need someone to turn to.
Overall, the song is an emotional plea to be there for someone who is going through a tough time. It is a heartwarming reminder that we all need someone to turn to in our time of need.
Line by Line Meaning
Some sleepless night,
During times of restlessness and loneliness,
If you should find yourself alone,
When solitude becomes too difficult to handle,
Let me be the one you run to,
I want to be the person you seek comfort from and confide in,
Let me be the one you come to
I am here for you and ready to listen,
When you need someone to turn to,
In times of desperation and vulnerability,
Let me be the one
I want to be the one you turn to for help and support,
To set things right
To make things better and fix any problems,
When this old world's turned upside down,
During times of chaos and turmoil,
For love and understanding,
To provide compassion and empathy,
To find a quiet place;
To seek solace and tranquility,
For silent understanding,
To have someone who truly understands and supports without judgment,
A loving touch.
Physical and emotional tenderness and care,
Come to me when things go wrong
I am here to help you when things don't go as planned,
And there's no love to light the way
During times of darkness and loneliness, when love is not present,
Let me be the one you run to,
I want to be your source of comfort and stability,
Let me be the one you come to
I am here to support you and be a shoulder to lean on,
When you need someone to turn to,
I am ready to help you through any difficult times,
Let me be the one
I want to be the one to make things better for you,
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROGER NICHOLS, PAUL WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Emily Tienne
I love this song. Karen’s incredible voice, the key changes, rich orchestration, drums, trumpets. That 1970s sound. Heaven.
Gloss Black
So glad you enjoy ❤
Michael Asay
@Gloss BlackDo much more of them!?
WARDMAN3
I say this on every Carpenter video I see... As a 50 year old guy who lives and breaths pop music and spent my life listening to most every song that has charted since 1960...... There is NO ONE who had a more beautiful voice than Karen Carpenter... Never will be... One of the few who can sing 2 notes and you know who it is.... One of the few who sounded the same live or recorded... We were blessed to have her and she is sorely missed
Rita6868 Sora
Yes! Very well said!Now in my 60's nothing has changed as far as my love for pop music.Pop is and always will be my favorite type of music.Karen will always be my favorite singer. She cared and it always shined through in her voice.I love that as soon as she sings a note the entire world knows it is Karen.Still miss her!
Chuck Fuller
Amen Buddy................As a Younger Brother with a KAREN sister, in the 70's...We did them ALL, me playing the piano like RIchard....UGH......Great times!!
shihlin1
Karen had a one in a mil voice and I've been a lifelong fan.
But if you're talking about unique distinctive voices of the 20th century, for sure Barbra Streisand deserves to be mentioned in the same breadth as Karen.
Forget about Streisand the person bc her personality can be divisive, just talking about her gift as a vocalist as Karen was.
Joseph Ballerini
There’s a warmth and humanity to Karen’s voice that is stunning.
shihlin1
Don't know if you've listened to her sing "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind", one of the singles recorded WITHOUT Richard (as he was recovering from addiction at the time).
Disco and Karen, who ever knew ?
She really should have recorded more songs like this outside the Carpenters realm.
shihlin1
Hard to believe this is just a "demo" version. It sounds better than most finished versions by other singers.
Karen just had that ability to get "inside" a song and bring out the song's meaning.
Supposedly "Superstar" was also recorded in just one take.
Absolutely Amazing.