You’ve definitely heard the music. Maybe it was in a grocery store aisle or during a particularly messy breakup in your twenties. It’s that warm, slightly raspy voice, or that specific piano shuffle that feels like a weighted blanket.
Honestly, Carole King is basically the reason modern songwriting exists. Before she was the "Natural Woman" herself, she was a teenage girl in Brooklyn churning out hits for other people in a tiny cubicle. It's kinda wild to think about.
While most people know her for Tapestry, the sheer volume of songs carole king wrote before she ever became a solo superstar is staggering. She didn't just write "a few hits." She defined the sound of the 1960s from behind a curtain.
The Brill Building: A pop music factory
Imagine a building in Manhattan where you go to work at 9:00 AM, sit in a room with a piano, and you don't leave until you've written a Top 40 hit. That was the Brill Building era. Carole King and her then-husband, Gerry Goffin, were the undisputed heavyweights of this scene.
They were kids. Literally.
King was only 17 when she co-wrote "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for the Shirelles. It became the first number-one hit by a Black girl group. Think about that for a second. A teenage girl from Brooklyn captured the exact anxiety of a young woman wondering if a guy would still respect her the next morning. It was 1960. People didn't talk about that stuff openly, but Carole put it to a melody.
The songs you didn't know were hers
Most people are shocked when they realize how many "oldies" are actually King/Goffin compositions. It’s a long list.
- "The Loco-Motion" – Originally sung by their babysitter, Little Eva.
- "Up on the Roof" – A massive hit for The Drifters that made urban life sound poetic.
- "One Fine Day" – The Chiffons took this to the top five.
- "Chains" – Even The Beatles covered this one early in their career.
- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" – Written for The Monkees as a critique of suburban boredom.
It wasn't all sunshine and pop charts, though. There was a weird, darker side. They wrote a song called "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" for The Crystals. It was inspired by their babysitter (Eva again) telling them about her boyfriend’s "loyalty." It’s a deeply uncomfortable song to listen to now, and even back then, radio stations hated it. It shows that even in the "bubblegum" era, Carole was trying to reflect real—if sometimes messy—human experiences.
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When the songwriter became the star
By the late '60s, the world was changing. The Beatles had happened. People wanted "authentic" artists who wrote their own material. Carole’s marriage to Gerry was falling apart, and she moved to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles.
This is where the songs carole king wrote shifted from "teen pop" to "soul-searching."
She met James Taylor. He basically forced her to start singing her own stuff. She was terrified. She thought her voice wasn't good enough compared to the powerhouse singers she’d been writing for, like Aretha Franklin.
But that was the point.
When Tapestry dropped in 1971, it didn't sound like a produced studio gimmick. It sounded like a woman sitting in her living room with a cat (shoutout to Telemachus the cat on the album cover).
The Tapestry Revolution
"It's Too Late" is arguably the most "adult" breakup song ever written. There’s no screaming. No blaming. Just the quiet, devastating realization that "something died." It won the Grammy for Record of the Year and spent five weeks at number one.
Then you’ve got "You've Got a Friend." She wrote it in response to a line in James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." It’s the ultimate platonic love song. James Taylor's version actually hit number one before Carole’s did, which just goes to show how universal her writing was. It didn't matter who sang it; the song was the star.
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Why her writing feels different
If you look at the technical side, King’s music is deceptively complex. She uses "Gospel" chords and "Brill Building" hooks, but she mixes them with a very raw, conversational lyric style.
She doesn't use big, fancy words.
She says things like, "You're so far away." Or, "I feel the earth move under my feet." It’s visceral. It’s about how your body reacts to emotion. That’s why these songs don’t age. A breakup in 2026 feels exactly like a breakup did in 1971. The tech changes, but the gut-punch is the same.
The overlooked gems and later years
Everyone talks about the hits, but Carole never stopped. She wrote "The Reason" for Celine Dion in 1997. She wrote the theme song for Gilmore Girls ("Where You Lead"), which she re-recorded with her daughter, Louise Goffin.
She even wrote a song called "Chicken Soup with Rice" for a Maurice Sendak musical.
The woman has over 400 compositions recorded by over 1,000 artists. That is an insane level of output. You’d be hard-pressed to find a decade in the last sixty years where a Carole King song wasn't playing on the radio somewhere in the world.
Real Talk: The "Natural Woman" legacy
We have to talk about Aretha. When Carole and Gerry wrote "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," they handed it to the Queen of Soul. Aretha turned it into an anthem.
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But when Carole sings it on Tapestry, it’s different. It’s quieter. It’s more of a "thank you" than a shout. It proves that a great song can have multiple lives. It can be a powerhouse soul track or a hushed folk confession.
How to explore the Carole King catalog today
If you’re just getting into her work, don’t just stick to the "Greatest Hits" playlists. You’ve gotta dig a little deeper to see the range.
1. Listen to the Demos
There are recordings of Carole’s original demos for the songs she gave to other people. Hearing her sing "The Loco-Motion" or "Pleasant Valley Sunday" at a piano is a masterclass in song structure.
2. Watch the Live Performances
Find the 1971 BBC In Concert special. She’s sitting at the piano, hair wild, totally unpretentious. It’s the antithesis of the modern, over-produced pop star.
3. Check the Credits
Next time you’re listening to a 60s soul playlist, look at the writers. Chances are, if the song makes you feel like someone is reading your diary, it’s one of the songs carole king wrote.
The real lesson from Carole’s career is that "simple" is hard. Writing a song that everyone can sing along to—but that also feels like it belongs only to you—is the ultimate trick. She’s been doing it for seven decades, and honestly, nobody has done it better since.
To really understand the evolution of pop, start by making a playlist that alternates between her 60s hits for others and her 70s solo tracks. Notice how the piano style stays the same while the perspective shifts from "we" to "I." That shift is where modern music was born.