We Really Did Try To Make It

Carole King “It’s Too Late” (Live in the mid-70s) – If you’re like me and you grew up listening to adult contemporary and lite FM radio, you know this song backwards and forwards, maybe without even realizing it. It’s an absolutely stunning composition, the sort of stealth pop song that is pretty much perfect on every conceivable level without calling attention to its brilliance. This solo performance by Carole King boils her song down to its essential components, but somehow doesn’t come across too differently from the polished, beautifully nuanced studio arrangement on Tapestry. It’s all in the craft, really — it’s subtly stylish and sophisticated, and designed for a precise effect. King had it all down to a science, without losing the heart necessary to pull off a heartbreaking ballad.

Like most great pop radio staples, “It’s Too Late” pulls off a neat trick — it is highly effective at conjuring a specific, affecting emotion that is instantly and universally understood, but can also easily slip into the background of your life while you work, drive, shop, or go to the doctor’s office. This is actually the ideal context for “It’s Too Late.” Basically, it’s a song about going through something extremely painful — the slow dissolution of long-term relationship — with the awareness that the situation is actually quite mundane. King embraces that prosaic sadness, and articulates it in such a way that its mix of regret, resignation, and well-adjusted gratitude is deliberately understated, and it feels like a sort of musical cinéma-vérité. It’s not the big dramatic moment, but rather the time after ever tear has been cried out, and there’s no choice but to go about your life while processing the trauma. You know — working, driving, shopping, going to the doctor’s office. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)