what should i write?

In my humble opinion, Sounds of the Sixties, presented by veteran DJ Brian Matthew (8-10 on Saturday mornings), is one of the highlights of the Radio 2 week. There's a real mix of hits you've heard a thousand times, hidden gems, and songs which "unfortunately didn't make the charts", basically because they were just dreadful.

I heard this Carole King song on the programme this morning. I think it's a two-and-a-half-minute work of art. Five reasons why:

• the lyrics: the rhymes all rhyme, rather than just sound as if they rhyme as they do in so many songs (which I sometimes find mildly annoying, but that's probably just me). And they say what needs to be said. No less and no more.
• the tune. I'm a sucker for a great melody and this one does it for me. I like the way it curves up in the first two lines of the verse then back down at the end, and...
• the middle eight. Again, what a tune. The same line repeated up a semitone (getting a bit technical for a moment if you'll bear with me), with a neat modulation second time back to the original key.
• the "plink-plonk"/falling-raindrops pizzicato string figure which recurs a few times--like under "I don't need sunny skies for things I have to do" and "it doesn't matter whether skies are grey or blue" (see what they've done there?)--then again at the very end.
• I like Carole King's singing style here. It's a bit rough and ready in places, but what the hell, she's a lovelorn teenager and she's got more important things on her mind than hitting the note on the head.

Enjoy...

Tapestry, schmapestry...