Music and lyrics
The lyrics describe the blameless end of a loving relationship.[2] Music critic Dave Marsh saw implicit feminism because the woman left the man.[3] Marsh also remarked on the maturity of the theme.[3] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote that "if there's a truer song about breaking up than 'It's Too Late,' the world (or at least AM radio) isn't ready for it."[4] Marsh described the melody as Tin Pan Alley and the arrangement as a cross between light jazz and "L.A. studio craftmanship."[3] Rolling Stone remarked that King's "warm, earnest singing" on the song brought out the song's sadness.[5] According to author James Perone, the feel of the song is enhanced by the instrumental work of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Curtis Amy on saxophone and King on piano.[2] Kortchmar and Amy each have an instrumental solo.[2]
The sadness of the song is emphasized by its minor key.[6] Perone pointed out several melodic techniques used by King to help make the song a hit. She builds the melody out of syncopated rhythmic motifs which are modified and combined over the course of the song, in contrast to other songs commonly repeated rhythmic phrases.[2] Perone also thought that she made the melody memorable by repeating the highest note several times before the descending to the tonic.[2] This marks the highest and lowest notes in the listeners ear, aiding recognition.[2] An important emotional element of the melody is that rather than resolving on the tonic at the end, as most songs do, "It's Too Late" ends on the mediant, which is related to the tonic but leaves a sense of inconclusiveness.[2] This contrasts with the lyrics, which imply that the singer has fully accepted the end of the relationship.[2]
Toni Stern told author Sheila Weller that she wrote the lyrics in a single day, after her love affair with James Taylor ended.[7][8] The recording won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972, and the song is included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Cover versions
The song has been covered by
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Year-end charts
Chart (1971) |
Rank |
Australia[12] |
33 |
Canada RPM Top Singles[18] |
5 |
US Billboard Hot 100[19] |
3 |
US Cash Box[20] |
2 |
|
Gloria Estefan version
"It's Too Late" was the third promotional (US), and fourth overall single released by Gloria Estefan on her fourth studio album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me.
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Radio Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:19 |
2. | "It's Too Late" (Album Version) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:57 |
3. | "It's Too Late" (Piano Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:58 |
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Radio Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:19 |
2. | "It's Too Late" (Piano Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:58 |
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Radio Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:19 |
2. | "It's Too Late" (Piano Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:58 |
3. | "Cherchez La Femme" (Radio Club Mix) | August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr. | 3:54 |
4. | "Cherchez La Femme" (Album Version) | August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr. | 4:58 |
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Radio Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:19 |
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Album Version) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:57 |
2. | "Cherchez La Femme" (Album Version) | August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr. | 4:58 |
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Radio Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:19 |
|
|
1. | "It's Too Late" (Radio Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:19 |
2. | "It's Too Late" (Album Version) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:57 |
3. | "It's Too Late" (Piano Mix) | Carole King, Toni Stern | 3:58 |
4. | "Cherchez La Femme" (Doom Dub) | August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr. | 8:17 |
5. | "Cherchez La Femme" (Piano Mix) | August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr. | 6:41 |
Official versions
- Album version – 3:57
- Piano mix – 3:38
- Radio mix – 3:19
Release history
Region |
Date |
United States |
June 9, 1995[21] |
Europe |
June 12, 1995 |
Year-end charts
Year-end chart (1995) |
Position |
US R&R AC Top 30 Top 95 of 1995[24] |
46 |
References
- ↑ "Counterbalance No. 66: Carole King's 'Tapestry'". PopMatters.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Perone, J.D. (2006). The Words and Music of Carole King. Greenwood Publishing. pp. 34–35. ISBN 9780275990275.
- 1 2 3 Marsh, D. (1999). The Heart of Rock and Soul. Da Capo Press. pp. 312–313. ISBN 9780306809019.
- ↑ Christgau, R. "Carole King". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
- ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Tapestry". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
- ↑ Dean, M. (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 256. ISBN 0875862071.
- ↑ Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, volume 2. Scarecrow Press. pp. 326–327. ISBN 0810882957.
- ↑ Sheila Weller (2009). Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation. Washington Square Press. pp. 325–328. ISBN 9780743491488.
- ↑ "Brother, Brother, Brother > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ↑ "Quartz - It's Too Late ft Dina Carroll". ChartStats.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ↑ "Various- 80's Re:Covered - Your Songs With The 80's Sound". discogs.com. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- 1 2 Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ↑ "Item: 7739 - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 Hawtin, Steve; et al. "Song title 422 - It's Too Late". tsort.info. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 7/17/71". 50.6.195.142. 1971-07-17. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.7590&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062
- ↑ http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1971.htm
- ↑ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1971". 50.6.195.142. 1971-12-25. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/95/RR-1995-05-05-OCR-Page-0030.pdf#search=%22gloria%20estefan%20it's%20too%20late%22
- ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/95/RR-1995-07-14-OCR-Page-0058.pdf#search=%22gloria%20estefan%20it's%20too%20late%22
- ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/98/RR-1998-07-17-OCR-Page-0056.pdf#search=%22gloria%20estefan%20it's%20too%20late%20july%22
- ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/95/RR-1995-12-22-OCR-Page-0053.pdf#search=%22gloria%20estefan%20r%20r%20ac%20top%2030%20top%2095%20of%201995%22
External links
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See also | |
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- Book:The Isley Brothers
- Category:The Isley Brothers
- Portal:R&B and Soul Music
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1959−1980 |
- "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno (1959)
- "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin (1960)
- "Theme from A Summer Place" by Percy Faith (1961)
- "Moon River" by Henry Mancini (1962)
- "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" by Tony Bennett (1963)
- "Days of Wine and Roses" by Henry Mancini (1964)
- "The Girl from Ipanema" by Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz (1965)
- "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1966)
- "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra (1967)
- "Up, Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson) (1968)
- "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon) (1969)
- "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson) (1970)
- "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon) (1971)
- "It's Too Late" by Carole King (1972)
- "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack (1973)
- "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack (1974)
- "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John (1975)
- "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille (Daryl Dragon, Toni Tennille) (1976)
- "This Masquerade" by George Benson (1977)
- "Hotel California" by Eagles (Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Joe Walsh) (1978)
- "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel (1979)
- "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers (Jeffrey Baxter, John Hartman, Keith Knudsen, Michael McDonald, Tiran Porter, Patrick Simmons) (1980)
|
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1981−2000 |
- "Sailing" by Christopher Cross (1981)
- "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes (1982)
- "Rosanna" by Toto (Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, David Hungate, Steve Porcaro) (1983)
- "Beat It" by Michael Jackson (1984)
- "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner (1985)
- "We Are the World" by USA for Africa (1986)
- "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood (1987)
- "Graceland" by Paul Simon (1988)
- "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin (1989)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler (1990)
- "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins (1991)
- "Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole (1992)
- "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton (1993)
- "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (1994)
- "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow (1995)
- "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal (1996)
- "Change the World" by Eric Clapton (1997)
- "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin (1998)
- "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (1999)
- "Smooth" by Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson) featuring Rob Thomas (2000)
|
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2001−present |
- "Beautiful Day" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr.) (2001)
- "Walk On" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr.) (2002)
- "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones (2003)
- "Clocks" by Coldplay (Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Phil Harvey, Chris Martin) (2004)
- "Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles and Norah Jones (2005)
- "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Frank Edwin Wright III) (2006)
- "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison) (2007)
- "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse (2008)
- "Please Read the Letter" by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (2009)
- "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon (Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill, Nathan Followill) (2010)
- "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum (Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood) (2011)
- "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele (2012)
- "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra (2013)
- "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers (2014)
- "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) by Sam Smith (2015)
- "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (2016)
- "Hello" by Adele (2017)
- "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars (2018)
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