"I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King

The community chorus my wife and I sing in, at Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania, is practicing a medley of songs for its spring concert titled, “American Pop Forever.”  We sing a verse and chorus each from about forty songs, from the so-called great American songbook.  Most of these songs don’t go very deep into the catalog, as can be inferred. But one song I love is “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King. As you know, that’s the opening song in my book, first out of the gate, kind of a theme song for the whole book. It helps to alert the reader that, “This isn’t a buddy book. It’s for everyone, and we're on the move. It’s about endurance, strength, and overcoming.” It also shows just how animated and passionate Roger is about music. Otto can only watch and say, “Go, hepcat, go.” The song sounds fresh and alive today as it did when it came out in 1971, “the new one by Carole King,” as I write.  It has an aggressive beat, banging hard on the piano, words probably referring to the libido, at a time when women weren’t so open about their sex drive. Carole King was at a point in her career of making a name for herself as a performer, after remaining relatively hidden as a songwriter with her ex-husband Gerry Goffin throughout the 1960’s. She wrote numerous great songs. Tapestry was her second solo album. This hard-driving gem, actually the flip side of the 45 “It’s Too Late,” has an external and internal framework that a travel story needs, and a hippie-organic optimism, helping to make the album one of the biggest sellers of all time. It’s perfect for the opening musical number of the book.