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958 - That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be - Carly Simon cover

722 views · Published 13 November 2012 · 4:43 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: George Possley · 2012 · Music

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"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" is a 1971 single written by Carly Simon and Jacob Brackman and performed by Simon, released from her self-titled debut album. It reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number six on the Easy Listening chart [1]

An art song with a semiclassical melody in the style of Gabriel Fauré,[2] Elektra staffers were worried the single was too emotionally complex to be released as Simon's first single. With subject matter that includes "the parents' bad marriage; the friends' unhappy lives; the boyfriend's enthusiasm for marriage but controlling nature; the woman's initial resistance and ultimate capitulation."[3]

Simon was quoted as saying, "When I first wrote it I thought it was an unusual thing for people to break up, and now all my friends are divorced. - Wikipedia
SOTD for Sunday, January 6, 2013

This is arranged for my voice. To play in the same key as Carly simon Transpose down 6 half steps
so the Em becomes Bm

Em                            C
My father sits at night with no lights on
Em                            C
His cigarette glows in the dark 
Gm7
The living room is still
Fmaj7            Dm7 C#maj7  C     
I walk by, no remark   
Em                         C
I tiptoe past the master bedroom where
Em                         C
My mother reads her magazines
Gm7                         
I hear her call sweet dreams
Fmaj7                 Dm7  C#maj7  C     
But I forgot how to dream

Bb                          Am
But you say it's time we moved in together
Gm7                         Fmaj7
And raised a family of our own, you and me
Bb                                 Am
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be
              D               Gmaj7
You want to marry me, we'll marry

Em                            C
My friends from college they're all married now
Em                            C
They have their houses and their lawns
Gm7
They have their silent noons
Fmaj7                   Dm7 C#maj7  C                      
Tearful nights, angry dawns
Em                                   C
Their children hate them for the things they're not
Em                                  C
They hate themselves for what they are
Gm7                         
And yet they drink, they laugh
Fmaj7                       Dm7  C#maj7  C             
Close the wound, hide the scars

Bb                          Am
But you say it's time we moved in together
Gm7                         Fmaj7
And raised a family of our own, you and me
Bb                                 Am
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be
                D             Gmaj7
You want to marry me, we'll marry

Em                            C
You say that we can keep our love alive
Em                            C
Babe, all I know is what I see
Gm7
The couples cling and claw
Fmaj7                  Dm7 C#maj7  C    
And drown in love's debris
Em                         C
You say we'll soar like two birds through the clouds
Em                         C
But soon you'll cage me on your shelf
Gm7                        Fmaj7
I'll never learn to be just me first
    Dm7  C#maj7  C          
By myself

Bb                             Am
Well O.K., it's time we moved in together
Gm7                         Fmaj7
And raised a family of our own, you and me
Bb                                 Am
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be
               D             Gmaj7
You want to marry me, we'll marry

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