Rainy Days and Mondays

That song, Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters came out in 1971. It played incessantly on my little transistor radio that didn’t pick up the 70 long mile away cool FM stations from the city. 

What could I hear when I got my hands on a better radio? The Doors, Riders on the Storm. Led Zeppelin, When the Levee Breaks and Stairway to Heaven. Rolling Stones, Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. Marvin Gaye, Mercy Mercy Me and What’s Going On. The Who, Baba O’Reilly and Won’t Get Fooled Again. Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Maggie May, Rod Stewart. Ain't No Sunshine, Bill Withers. Sly & The Family Stone, Family Affair, Cat Steven AKA Yusuf Islam, Peace Train.

I had just turned 13 but even I could tell the difference between Hallmark card, corporate pablum and art. 

I was stunned when, years later, people whose options I truly respected seriously claimed Karen Carpenter was an underrated drummer and praised her vocal abilities. But … but … their songs were nothing more than elevator music, grocery shopping and dentist office soundtracks. They were torpid, beige, approximations of life and NOW you’re praising her? Mes amis, Karen was no Terry Bozzio, Steve Gadd or Elvin Jones – she was no Tina Turner, Julie London or Annie Lennox but sure, yes, she definitely had talent. 

I only mention it BUT you can have angelic, high functioning pipes and fab abilities but if you lack verve – if you can’t tap into the juice of life – your music, art, writing, whatever, won’t have soul. Without soul, it will NOT live. DEAD TUNE WALKING! At best you've got something that's gonna start reeking if you don't bin it soon! I'm tellin' you.

I just read Carpenter’s Wikipedia entry. She died in ’83, a month shy of her 33rd birthday. Her long battle with anorexia nervosa finally did her in. Anorexia won.

Two years later, the coroner told colleagues that Carpenter's heart failure was caused by repeated use of ipecac syrup, an over-the-counter emetic drug often used to induce vomiting in cases of overdosing or poisoning.
~~~
Carpenter's friends were convinced that she had abused laxatives and thyroid medication to maintain her weight and felt that the problem had begun after her marriage began to fail. (source) 

Man, I thought she’d died in the late ‘70s. I guess that was just her career.

What brings this up today? It's Monday. It's raining and I'm a little down. Possibly my minor sad is because tomorrow's my birthday and I really thought I'd be a LOT farther along on my recovery path at this point. I blame my stupid, asshole toe.

Weird trivia for the day – Karen and I were born in the same town and in the very same hospital, eight years apart. Weird.