Video hit Carole King

Carole King - It's Too Late(1971) with Guitar solo Danny Kootch

"It's Too Late" is a song from Carole King's 1971 album Tapestry.

Toni Stern wrote the lyrics and King wrote the music.

It was released as a single in April 1971 and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. Sales were later certified Gold by the RIAA.

The lyrics describe the end of a loving relationship without assigning blame.

Music critic Dave Marsh noted the implicit feminism in the fact that the woman has left the man. Marsh also remarked on the maturity of the theme.

Music critic Robert Christgau claimed 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."

Marsh describes the melody as Tin Pan Alley and the arrangement as a cross between light jazz and "L.A. studio craftmanship."

Rolling Stone Magazine stated the King's "warm, earnest singing" on the song brought out the song's sadness.

According to author James Perone, the feeling of the song is enhanced by the instrumental work of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Curtis Amy on saxophone and King on piano. Kortchmar and Amy each have an instrumental solo.

The sadness of the song is emphasized by the music being in a minor key. Perone also notes several melodic techniques King uses in the song which helped make the song such a hit. She builds the melody out of syncopated rhythmic motifs which are modified and combined over the course of the song, in contrast to many songs in which the rhythmic phrases are simply repeated. Perone also believes that she makes the melody easy to remember by establishing the highest note in the melody by repeating it several times before the melody descends to the tonic. This establishes the highest and lowest notes in the listeners ear, aiding recognition. An important element of the melody from an emotional standpoint is that rather than ending on the tonic, as most songs do to establish a final resolution, "It's Too Late" ends on the mediant, which is related to the tonic but still leaves a sense of inconclusiveness. This effectively contrasts with the lyrics, which imply that the singer has fully accepted the end of the relationship.

The recording won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972, and the song is included on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by

1971: The Sandpipers (A&M Records)

1971: Mark Lindsay

1971: Andy Williams on his album, You've Got a Friend

1972: The Isley Brothers on their album Brother, Brother, Brother;

1972: Bill Deal and the Rhondels

1972: Billy Paul on his album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul

1972: The Stylistics on their Round 2 album

1973: Frances Yip on her Portrait Of Frances Yip album

1980: Dennis Brown on his album Spellbound

1991: Dina Carroll with the band Quartz, earning her first hit; it reached #8 in the UK[8]

1991: Culture Beat on their debut album Horizon

1994: Gloria Estefan on her album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me

1994: Workshy on their album Soul Love

1995: Amy Grant performed "It's Too Late" on the all-star tribute album Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King

2002: Kyle Vincent on his album Solitary Road

2004: Meja on her album Mellow

2006: Saxophonist Michael Lington from his renditions album A Song for You[9][10]

2006: James Morrison on a free album distributed with issue 242 of Q magazine[11]

2008: Sabrina Malheiros on her album "New Morning"

2012: Jackson Greenhorn on the album Jazz Heid

The lyrics:

Stayed in bed all mornin' just to pass the time

There's something wrong here there can be no denyin'

One of us is changin'

Or maybe we've just stopped tryin'

And it's too late baby, now it's too late

Though we really did try to make it

Something inside has died and I can't hide it

And I just can't fake it

Oh, no no no no

(No no no no)

It used to be so easy livin' here with you

You were light and breezy

And I knew just what to do

Now, you look so unhappy and I feel like a fool

And it's too late baby, now it's too late

Though we really did try to make it

(We can't make it)

Something inside has died and I can't hide it

And I just can't fake it

Oh, no no

Ru ru ru ru

La la la la la

There'll be good times again for me and you

But we just can't stay together don't you feel it too?

Still, I'm glad for what we had

And how I once loved you

But, it's too late baby, now it's too late

Though we really did try to make it

(We can't make it)

Something inside has died and I can't hide it

And I just can't fake it

Oh, no no no no no

It's too late, baby

It's too late

Now darlin', it's too late