"(They Long to Be) Close to You" is a song written by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

and

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born and raised in New ...

with sections of the early version written by Cathy Steeves. The best-known version is that recorded by American duo

the Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

for their second studio album '' Close to You'' (1970) and produced by Jack Daugherty. Released on May 14, 1970, the single topped both the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

charts. It also reached the top of the Canadian and Australian charts and peaked at number six on the charts of both the UK and Ireland. The record was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) in August 1970.

Early versions

The song was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain and released as a single in 1963 as "They Long to Be Close to You" (without parentheses). However, while the single's other side, "

Blue Guitar "Blue Guitar" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In 1963, Richard Chamberlain (actor), Richard Chamberlain released it as the lead single from his album ''Twilight of Honor''. It was a No. 12 hit on the Adult Contemporary (chart ...

", became a hit, "They Long to Be Close to You" did not. The tune was also recorded as a demo by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

in 1963, was re-recorded with a

arrangement for her album '' Make Way for Dionne Warwick'' (1964), and was released as the B-side of her 1965 single "Here I Am".

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

recorded the song in August 1964, but her version was not released commercially until it appeared on her album '' Where Am I Going?'' (1967). Bacharach released his own version in 1971. But the version recorded by Carpenters with instrumental backing by L.A. studio musicians from the Wrecking Crew, which became a hit in 1970, was the most successful.

Carpenters version

In 1970, "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was released by the Carpenters on their album '' Close to You'' (1970) and became their breakthrough hit. Believing the original title to be too long, Richard Carpenter added parentheses around "They Long to Be". The song charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 17 weeks, including four at number one, becoming Carpenters' first top 10. In 2018, ''

'' ranked "Close to You" the top single of the summer of 1970. Bacharach and David gave

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

the song after he scored a number one hit in 1968 with "

This Guy's in Love with You "This Guy's in Love with You" is a hit song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and released by Herb Alpert in May, 1968. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on thi ...

", which the duo had also written. Alpert recorded the song, but he was displeased with the recording and did not release it. After the Carpenters achieved their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with " Ticket to Ride" in 1969, Alpert approached them to record their version of the song, believing it was well-suited for them. With some reluctance, Richard Carpenter worked up an arrangement, but wasn't keen on it. He expected the matter to pass without further word. A short time later, word circulated back to Richard and Karen that Herb "really wanted them" to record the song. Knowing he and Karen were in a vulnerable position with the label after the lackluster chart performance of "Ticket to Ride" (it had peaked at the #54 spot), Richard went back to work. Carpenter and Alpert collaborated on the song, and the finished product for the album was 4 minutes and 36 seconds. When A&M Records decided to remove the extended coda and release it as a 3-minute, 40-second long single in May 1970, it became A&M's biggest hit since Alpert's "

" from 1968. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number two song for 1970. "(They Long to Be) Close to You" earned the Carpenters a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus in 1971. It became the first of three Grammy Awards they would win during their careers. The song was certified

by the

(RIAA) on August 12, 1970. Reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart in 1970, in a UK television special on ITV in 2016 it was voted fourth in " The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song".

Composition

Richard had originally written the

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

solo part for

but when he was unavailable at the time of recording,

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical ab ...

was hired in his stead. Richard later commented: "Chuck didn't play it that way at first, but I worked with him and he nailed it. A lot of people thought it was Herb – Bacharach thought so, too. But it's the way Findley is playing it." The arrangement was completely different from the version Bacharach cut with Richard Chamberlain, with one exception. When Richard Carpenter asked Bacharach for permission (as a courtesy) to redo the song, Bacharach requested that he keep the two "quin

tuplet In music, a tuplet (also irrational rhythm or groupings, artificial division or groupings, abnormal divisions, irregular rhythm, gruppetto, extra-metric groupings, or, rarely, contrametric rhythm) is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat ...

s" (five note groupings) (piano ornaments) at the end of the first bridge. Bacharach recalled his initial reaction on hearing the finished product: "Man, this is just great! I completely blew it with Richard Chamberlain but now someone else has come along and made a record so much better than mine."

Use in other media

The song plays a key part throughout the animated television show ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', being used prominently during emotional moments between

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

and

Marge Simpson Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson () is a character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and part of the eponymous family (The Simpsons). Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' s ...

over the course of the series. It is first used in the second season episode " The Way We Was", a flashback episode detailing how the couple met; Homer is first shown listening to the song in the car, and it later plays when he sees Marge for the first time in high school detention, and throughout the rest of the episode. It is also the tune of the doorbell that won't stop in the episode " Maximum Homerdrive". It later features in ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' created by Matt Groening. The film was directed by series veteran David Silverman (animator) ...

'' (2007), as Homer tearfully watches a videotape left behind by Marge in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

containing the couple's first dance to the song, and subsequently collapses onto a broken heart-shaped iceberg in anguish. The song is also featured in the 1989 film Parenthood when Rick Moranis sings the song in an effort to get his character's estranged wife to come home and she explains to the class she's teaching it was their wedding song.

Reception

'' highlighted "Close to You" in its "Spotlight Singles" section on May 30, 1970, commenting: "Performance is exceptional." In a 1995 ''

New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazin ...

'' story about love songs released in summers, Stephan Talty described "Close to You" as a "hushed love song" that " etthe tone for a generation's soft ballads" in 1970. In 2014, Rob Hoerburger of ''The New York Times'' observed that the song "highlights both Karen's aching alto and Richard's deft piano playing and elegant Satie-like arrangement."

Personnel

* Karen Carpenter – lead and backing vocals * Richard Carpenter – backing vocals, piano, Wurlitzer electronic piano,

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

Joe Osborn Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

– drums *

– trumpet *Bob Messenger – flute * uncredited –

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Gwen Guthrie version

In 1986, Gwen Guthrie released her version of the song, which could only partially build on the success of her hit " Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent". Compared to the original, this version is very synthesizer-heavy and is adapted to the time.

Music video

In the music video, Gwen Guthrie sings the song on a stage while the crowd dances and papparazi crowd the stage.
Music video at youtube.com

Track listing

12" maxi # "(They Long to Be) Close to You" - 7:14 # "You Touched My Life" - 5:07 # "Save Your Love for Me" - 4:50

Charts

References

External links

* * iarchive:Carpenters Close To You, The Carpenters - Close to You (Music Video VHS, A&M) on Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:They Long To Be Close To You 1963 songs 1960s ballads 1970 singles 1986 singles A&M Records singles Polydor Records singles The Carpenters songs Dionne Warwick songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs with lyrics by Hal David Songs with music by Burt Bacharach Pop ballads Rock ballads