That was so hopeless, unremitting and dark. I fled to my media center, to envelop myself in the dulcet sweetness of the Carpenters’ “Close to You.” Go ahead, mock me. Her voice is perfect. That’s the problem, but go ahead.
On many CoVid Days, I need a Karen cloud to transport me across space and time, and deposit me in a 1970s era family sitcom that never existed in reality, though that was the standard upon which we judged ourselves, our families, our looks, our lives. Is it the Kardashians now? God help us all!
She stops singing. The spell is broken, and I’m reminded of the Vietnam war, civil unrest, assassinations, AIDS pandemic, more wars, too many too young to die, drug overdoses, eating disorders, the decline of civility, depression.
I run back (again) to the music and my media center. Karen is singing the sad song, “Superstar,” most beautifully:
“Loneliness is such a sad affair,
And I can hardly wait, to be with you again.
What to say to make you come again?
Come back to me again, and play your sad guitar.”
The song ends. I remember:
“Karen Carpenter was found dead at her childhood home in Downy, CA by her mother.” Karen, just 32, had enjoyed the highest levels of commercial…
