It's Too Late (Carole King song)

Last updated
"It's Too Late"
It's Too Late by Carole King US vinyl single double A-side.jpg
US vinyl single; picture is also used for the "I Feel the Earth Move" side and the parent album Tapestry
Single by Carole King
from the album Tapestry
A-side "I Feel the Earth Move"
ReleasedApril 16, 1971
Genre
Length3:51
Label Ode
Composer(s) Carole King
Lyricist(s) Toni Stern
Producer(s) Lou Adler
Carole King singles chronology
"Up on the Roof"
(1970)		"It's Too Late" / "I Feel the Earth Move"
(1971)		"So Far Away" / "Smackwater Jack"
(1971)
Official audio
"It's Too Late" on YouTube

"It's Too Late" is a song from American singer-songwriter Carole King's second studio album, Tapestry (1971). Toni Stern wrote the lyrics and King wrote the music. It was released as a single in April 1971 by Ode Records and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. Sales were later platinum-certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [4] Billboard ranked "It's Too Late" and its fellow A-side, "I Feel the Earth Move", as the No. 3 record for 1971.

Contents

Music and lyrics

The lyrics describe the blameless end of a loving relationship. [5] Music critic Dave Marsh saw implicit feminism because the woman left the man. [6] Marsh also remarked on the maturity of the theme. [6] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote that "if there's a truer song about breaking up than 'It's Too Late,' the world (or at least AM radio) isn't ready for it." [7] Marsh described the melody as Tin Pan Alley and the arrangement as a cross between light jazz and "L.A. studio craftsmanship." [6] Rolling Stone remarked that Carole King's "warm, earnest singing" on the song brought out the song's sadness. [8] According to author James Perone, the feel of the song is enhanced by the instrumental work of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Curtis Amy on saxophone and King on piano. [5] Kortchmar and Amy each have an instrumental solo. [5] Cash Box described the song as "a sensitive ballad with a strong rock under-beat." [9] Record World said that it is "quality contemporary pop." [10]

Lyricist Toni Stern told author Sheila Weller that she wrote the lyrics in a single day, after her relationship with James Taylor ended. [11] [12] The recording won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972, and the song is included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2003 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [13]

Personnel

Soundtracks

"It's Too Late" has been featured in Hollywood films, including Fandango (1985), The Lake House (2006), and Invincible (2006). [14] [15] It was also featured in "Jagged Little Tapestry", a sixth season episode of the television series Glee in 2015, where it was performed by Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss).

Awards and recognition

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [27] Silver200,000‡
United States (RIAA) [4] Platinum1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Quartz version

"It's Too Late"
Quartz Introducing Dina Carroll-It's Too Late.jpg
Single by Quartz introducing Dina Carroll
from the album Perfect Timing
Released1991
Genre Dance
Length
  • 9:37 (Overnight Mix)
  • 6:46 (Overnight Dub)
Label Mercury
Songwriter(s)
  • Carole King
  • Toni Stern
Producer(s) Quartz
Quartz introducing Dina Carroll singles chronology
"Let's Get Busy (Pump It Up)"
(1990)		"It's Too Late"
(1991)		"Naked Love (Just Say You Want Me)"
(1991)
Dina Carroll singles chronology
"It's Too Late"
(1991)		"Ain't No Man"
(1992)
US promo CD single (ESK 77877)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Radio Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:19
2."It's Too Late" (Album Version)Carole King, Toni Stern3:57
3."It's Too Late" (Piano Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:58
Europe CD single (EPC 662040 1)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Radio Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:19
2."It's Too Late" (Piano Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:58
UK CD-maxi single (662044 2) [Cancelled / Unreleased]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Radio Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:19
2."It's Too Late" (Piano Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:58
3."Cherchez La Femme" (Radio Club Mix) August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr.3:54
4."Cherchez La Femme" (Album Version)August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr.4:58
UK promo CD single (XPCD 652)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Radio Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:19
Mexico promo CD single #1 (PRCD 96384)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Album Version)Carole King, Toni Stern3:57
2."Cherchez La Femme" (Album Version)August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr.4:58
Mexico promo CD single #2 (PRCD 96605)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Radio Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:19
Australia CD-maxi single (662020 2)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Too Late" (Radio Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:19
2."It's Too Late" (Album Version)Carole King, Toni Stern3:57
3."It's Too Late" (Piano Mix)Carole King, Toni Stern3:58
4."Cherchez La Femme" (Doom Dub)August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr.8:17
5."Cherchez La Femme" (Piano Mix)August Darnell, Stony Browder, Jr.6:41

Other notable versions

The song has been covered by

References

  1. ↑ Breihan, Tom (January 31, 2019). "The Number Ones: Carole King's "It's Too Late"". Stereogum . Retrieved June 16, 2023. "It's Too Late," the album's one dominant hit, represents a whole different form of pop music...
  2. ↑ "Carole King: It's too late… to write new songs". Philippine Daily Inquirer . May 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ Harrison, James (2015). "Carole King - "It's Too Late". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. New York: Universe. p. 289. "...over a gently laid-back, percussion-driven jazz samba [King] plays a string of figures...the verse-chorus segues nicely into some cool jazz-guitar grooves...
  4. 1 2 "American single certifications – Carole King – It's Too Late". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Perone, J.E. (2006). The Words and Music of Carole King. Greenwood Publishing. pp. 34–35. ISBN   9780275990275.
  6. 1 2 3 Marsh, D. (1999). The Heart of Rock and Soul. Da Capo Press. pp. 312–313. ISBN   9780306809019.
  7. ↑ Christgau, R. "Carole King". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  8. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Tapestry". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  9. ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 1, 1971. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  10. ↑ "Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. May 1, 1971. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  11. ↑ Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, volume 2. Scarecrow Press. pp. 326–327. ISBN   978-0810882959.
  12. ↑ Sheila Weller (2009). Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation. Washington Square Press. pp. 325–328. ISBN   9780743491488.
  13. ↑ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
  14. ↑ "Fandango". imdb.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "Toni Stern". imdb.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  16. 1 2 Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  17. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  18. ↑ "Item: 7739 - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Hawtin, Steve; et al. "Song title 422 - It's Too Late". tsort.info. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  20. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  21. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles". Cash Box Magazine. 1971-07-17. Archived from the original on 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  22. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
  23. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2016-11-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1971/Top 100 Songs of 1971". Musicoutfitters.com.
  25. ↑ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1971". Cashboxmagazine.com. 1971-12-25. Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  26. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  27. ↑ "British single certifications – Carole King – Its Too Late". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Quartz - It's Too Late ft Dina Carroll". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  29. ↑ Hamilton, James (26 January 1991). "Dance" (PDF). Music Week . p. 16. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  30. ↑ Anthony, James (16 February 1991). "Quartz 'A' All". NME . p. 24. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  31. ↑ McCann, Ian (27 July 1991). "Short Circuit". NME . p. 30. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  32. ↑ "Quartz – It's Too Late" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  33. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 8, no. 13. 30 March 1991. p. 27. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  34. ↑ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 23 March 1991. p. 26. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  35. ↑ "The Club Chart". Record Mirror . 7 February 1991. p. 47. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  36. ↑ Huffman, Eddie. "Gloria Estefan - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me". AllMusic . Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  37. ↑ Baltin, Steve (1995-06-17). "Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box . p. 7. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  38. ↑ Campbell, Chuck (1994-10-28). "Bedtime' With Madonna Is A Bit Drowsy". Knoxville News Sentinel .
  39. ↑ Shanklin, Phil (2015-11-22). "100 Essential CDs – Number 72 –Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me –Gloria Estefan". Reviewsrevues.com. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  40. ↑ Cross, Tony (1995-05-24). "Singles". Smash Hits . p. 58. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  41. ↑ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. 1995-05-05. p. 30. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  42. ↑ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. 1995-07-14. p. 58. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  43. ↑ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. 1998-07-17. p. 56. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  44. ↑ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. 1995-12-22. p. 53. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  45. ↑ "Brother, Brother, Brother > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at AllMusic . Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  46. ↑ "Doin' It Right - Mike James Kirkland | Album | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  47. ↑ "The Singer by John Paul Young". Australian Music Database. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  48. ↑ Lucy Dacus releases covers of Carole King's 'Home Again' and 'It's Too Late', 30 September 2022, retrieved 2022-10-03
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