Carly Simon - That's The Way I Always Heard It Should Be - 1971

[JimGinPA]

Check out the photobombers early in the video...

[thucythucy]

1. I wonder what her parents thought about this song. nt

[StClone]

3. Simon's "Boys in the Trees: A Memoir" is a must read

But I can not recall if it answers your question of what her parents thought of the song. As you likely know, her Father, Richard L. Simon, started Simon and Schuster. Carly feels it was stolen from him. Carly loved her Dad and the loss of the company profoundly affected Richard's mental health and Carly's family.

As for the song, "That's the Way I Always Thought it Would Be" her friend and frequent collaborator Jacob Brackman wrote the lyrics and Simon wrote the music. This fact always surprised me as I really thought it was about her real parents! As a thirteen year-old kid in the summer of 1971 sitting in my family driveway in our Ford Galaxy, straining to hear WLS out of Chicago, there among the static and crackle of distant thunder storms, came this song. Its seductive mix of a wonderful female voice, and moving lyrics about soaring like birds, enthralled me. I was hooked for life on Carly, but reminisce mostly of her many early songs.

As I stated in the reply title: Simon's "Boys in the Trees: A Memoir" is a must read. And if you like that read Frank Lloyd Wright's autobiography!

Sorry to ramble...thanks for the question as it got me to thinking.

[thucythucy]

4. Thank you for that info

and recommendation. I'll definitely look up her book.

I had no idea the lyrics were by someone else. I'll also check out some more Jacob Brackman.

Speaking of women singer/songwriters, have you read M-Train by Patti Smith? It's a wonderful book. "Just Kids" I think won the National Book Award (or was at least nominated) but I love M-Train even more. In fact, though I'm a fan of her music, I like her prose writing more than her songs.

There's also a book I've been trying to find and maybe you know the title? It's a comparative biography of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, basically about what it was like to be a woman superstar in an era when men dominated popular music. (They still do, but back in the '60s and '70s pop was even more male dominated). I saw it in a bookstore years ago and flipped through it, but didn't buy it and can't remember anything else about it. I've tried Google with all sorts of search parameters, but thus far: nada. So any help in that regard would be much appreciated.

"No Secrets" was there for me through some very rough times.

Best wishes.

[StClone]

5. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation

Barnes and Noble had it in a discount rack a few years back and I stored it away as a book to someday checkout. Ha, haven't yet but, once again you have me thinking.

Now that Trumpism is on the wane, and we maybe rounding the corner on Covid-19, my mind can slip back into contemplating finer things like a good book. Your suggestion on the Patti Smith work sounds like something I could relate to. I am a big fan of women singers, some not so well known. I could go on about them but I don't know if you'd be interested.

And with your last line you floored me! My favorite song of all of Carly's may well be "We have no Secrets"!

Sometimes I wish
Often I wish
That I never knew some of those secrets of yours

How true when we find the World is not what we think-when we know the Universe's secrets then wish we never did. Carly wrote that song and the lyrics.

My best Joe StClone

[NurseJackie]

2. I love her!