Planned Coincidence
Rainy Days and Mondays - The Carpenters (Blast from the Past Tuesday)
Ever since I started taking voice lessons officially last year, I’ve been trying to figure out how best to warm up. This is a silly thing to worry about — a few lip trills or siren patterns and you should be alright. But this semester I am working on this classical German piece, one that has a lot of expression within it. I don’t have a problem with learning the notes, but I notice that sometimes I have trouble with really acting it out, something that’s pretty crucial when you’re singing in a foreign language! I was pretty stumped at how to work on this, how to really harness my emotion and move naturally, how to convey the meaning and FEEL the music in the context of the lyrics, instead of the notes alone. I went to Youtube to find the accompaniment to my song, and lo and behold first on the recommended page was a karaoke for “Rainy Days and Mondays” by the Carpenters. It was like a sign, a planned coincidence, and I knew right then and there that to unlock the key to expression while singing I just had to try my hand.
This is a song I’ve been enamored with for a while now. I love Karen Carpenter’s voice, the easy-listening feel that she and her brother Richard provided with every song they brought to life. “Rainy Days and Mondays” had the same effect on me that The Beach Boys’ “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” did — this sort of stop and contemplate moment, all sparked by the stark difference of the usual feel the band had versus this song. Both tunes are heartbreaking, but the contrast between this one and the latter is that it has hope. “I Just Wasn’t…” stays melancholy, a sort of resignation in the message. But “Rainy Days and Mondays” takes a break from the sadness to revel in the magic of having someone who can pull you out of the blues. While I’m not really one for lyrical analysis, I will say this is a song that is simple yet masterful in using words.
Karen Carpenter’s voice shines, smooth and soft along the verses. She matches the feel of the instrumental so well, the reaching desperation in both really having a great effect. On some of the low notes her voice sounds tired but still prevails, a little human detail that makes me adore the song even more. “Rainy Days and Mondays” also features both harmonica AND saxophone, so that automatically raised it up a couple notches in my book. Perhaps the great part, the thing that makes my heart soar every single time, are the backing vocals. They’re simple, just stacked harmonies that come in every once in a while. But man, when you get the delayed “hangin’ around” from the second verse on, it just elevates it to a status up in the sky… maybe even beyond that.
I take this song as a masterclass in expression because I can feel it, easily make a connection between the words and the sound. I also love to listen to it because I think The Carpenters are one of the greatest duos in history and I find myself smiling at any song they’ve done. Now I just gotta find out if Karen Carpenter ever sang anything in German….
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Fantastic reflection on this amazing song. Time to revisit the album!