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"Where Do I Go From Here?" paints such a wistful, emotional picture of the Fall season and lost love. I remember when it was first released on the "Lovelines" album in late October of 1989 and how special that was. Re-listening to it again has me in awe. It's always been one of my favorites, but I'm really taken with Karen's performance like never before. She's just incredible on it. Her voice is perfection as usual, but she is so believable in that reading.

Barry Manilow sang it on his "Even Now" album in 1978, and it's very nice, but the Carpenters' version just blows his away. Besides Karen's performance, the arrangement is perfection and that fuzz guitar break! Wow. A review in Rolling Stone at the time in 1989 commented on the song along with "You're The One" saying that "No one could cut through to the blood and guts of a love song like Karen could" and "hearing 'Where Do I Go From Here' makes one wonder why it sat on the shelf for so long."

I know the song has been discussed here before, but I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this lovely recording.

Chris

I really like this song, too. The lyrics are really lovely, and the way Karen sings it's like you can hear the kind of disappointment in her voice that things haven't worked out they way they should. It's just a very realistic song, because sometimes you're just in that situation, where you think you have a grasp on life and then it comes back to slap you in the face.

Excellent song , if it was released it might have been a smash hit , but with the so called image problem back then you never know.

You nailed it Chris with your comment about the Fall (even though its correct name is 'autumn' )

I also remember hearing it when I first got the album and I thought it was lovely right from the first listen. Shall I tell you the best little bit of that song? The break in Karen's voice when she sings the word 'warm', which of course gives you just the very opposite, a slight chill as you listen to it. Very clever touch, that, and very inspired on her part. Frightening to think she was only still in her 20s when she recorded it.

The other lovely line is

Lovers plans, like falling leaves on windy days
Flutter past and they fly away
I thought I knew you oh so well


Stephen

Great observation, Steve! Now I'll have to listen again.



That's one of my favorite moments from it... especially the way she sings "and they fly away". Gives me the chills.

And I stand corrected about using the word "Fall". Actually "Autumn is a much lovelier word!

I knew you would agree Chris

Tell me if you agree when you listen to the 'warm' line

You're a while coming back to me, are you still listening Chris?

You're right, Steve. She does sound "chilly" as she sings the word 'warm'. Wow. That whole performance is just perfection.

As Annie said, Karen has the sound of disappointment in her voice as she sings the song. A sweet sadness.

Hi Chris

I just adore this song. I'm listening right now. This song has become lodged into my brain forever, there are days when I am at work and I have not listened to this song for weeks and I will out of no where starts singing the lyrics to myself. I kid you not. There are not very many Carpenters songs that actually do that, yes I know every one like the back of my hand but there are some that just get planted into my head that no matter what I do they just play back without notice.

Seriously this is one of my most favorite tracks. When the song opens, I always get the feeling like it is Fall and I am sitting on a front lawn with all the brown/tan fall leaves gathered in a ball and I am laying on top of them watching the pretty leaves falling from the tree above, watching the beautiful clouds drifting by. Then when Richard added that rustling sound in the beginging of the song after Karen says, "watching clouds up thru the trees and you hear that instrument that Richard places right there that drifts from the left channel over to the right that sorta transports you into the song.

It's just amazing this song. I love it.

Hey, who wants to send it to me?

This is one of those songs that I think deserved to be released in its day. I know they didnt't have an album to speak of in 1978, but I always wondered why on earth the Carpenters didn't include some of these songs even as B-sides. Instead, when they released new songs during the 70s and 80s, they insisted on dredging up album tracks that we'd already heard. In some cases, the same B-sides were used multiple times on different singles, which I don't think gave much incentive to want them if you already had the album.

In some cases, such as the singles from 'Passage', they even dredged up songs from the previous album! Some examples:

• 1970 "We've Only Just Begun" POP #2, AC #1/7 weeks b/w "All Of My Life" (gold)
• 1971 "For All We Know" POP #3, AC #1/3 weeks b/w "Don't Be Afraid" (gold)
• 1973 "Sing" POP #3, AC #1/2 weeks b/w "Druscilla Penny" (gold)
• 1973 "Yesterday Once More" POP #2, AC #1/3 weeks b/w "Road Ode" (gold)
• 1976 "There's a Kind of Hush (All over the World)" POP #12, AC #1/2 weeks b/w "(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You"
• 1977 "All You Get from Love Is a Love Song" POP #35, AC #4 b/w "I Have You"
• 1977 "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)" POP #32, AC #18 b/w "Can't Smile Without You"
• 1978 "Sweet, Sweet Smile" POP #44, AC #7, C&W #6 b/w "I Have You"
• 1978 "I Believe You" POP #68, AC #9 b/w "B'wana She No Home"
• 1982 "Beechwood 4-5789" POP #74, AC #18 b/w "Two Sides"

Fair enough in the early days, they didn't have a lot of extra material, but they sure as hell did by the late 70s. Why didn't they include 'Ordinary Fool' and this song as nice bonus cuts on the flip side? I know lots of other bands of the day who did, such as Queen and ABBA (they were great at doing this!).

Stephen

they must love the song too much :lol - Or forgot they put it on a single in the first place

Talking of ABBA: Chiquitita's B side shoulda been If It Wasn't For The Nights (after all, it was NEARLY a single)

Things get spookier by the minute , I just replied to someone on abbasite.com about that very subject. Yesterday I was answering Chris questions before he had asked them

That's a little bit freaky