Richard Carpenter Isn't A Big Fan Of This Hit Song He Made With His Sister

For music fans, hidden lore can sometimes make a tune feel more iconic than the song itself ever did. Love songs especially tend to be ripe with opportunities for good lore (Taylor Swift and all the hidden meanings on the "Midnights" album come to mind). The Carpenters are among other musicians who have created love songs that will never go out of style, but that doesn't mean they love their songs. Fans of The Carpenters might be surprised to learn Richard Carpenter's feelings about the "There's a Kind of Hush" song. It would seem that Carpenter actually wasn't a big fan of their recording of the original song by Herman's Hermits.

On the official Carpenters' website, in the liner notes for the compilation album "Gold," Carpenter expressed regret. "In hindsight, however, even though our version was a hit, I wish we'd never recorded it." He then gave three reasons for this, including that he thought the original was "perfectly fine" and that The Carpenters should have ended their oldies covers sooner. His final reasoning was his dislike of the synthesizer used "on this track, or just about any other track on which I used it."

If you're a famous songwriter or producer, it's not uncommon to have strong opinions about your own music, even if it doesn't necessarily align with what ends up being popular. Richard Carpenter is in good company, as Elton John also wasn't a fan of one of his own iconic songs.  "There's a Kind of Hush" also isn't the only song Carpenter eventually changed his opinion about. In the liner notes for the album "Passion" on the official Carpenters' website, he shared his changing thoughts about the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."

"This song was submitted to us by the publisher, and I immediately felt it was perfect for Karen, though now I feel differently, as I believe the song doesn't linger long enough in a lower register," said Carpenter. In fact, this would be a pattern for Richard when it came to Karen's voice and preferences, as it appears he did not like how high-pitched her voice was on her solo album, according to some industry insiders, per The Telegraph. Regardless of how he felt, Karen's solo album was eventually released in 1996, 13 years after her Carpenter's death.