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Bless the Beasts and Children (song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Bless the Beasts and Children
| cover = Bless the Beasts and Children - Superstar B-Side (Edit).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Back side of "Superstar" U.S. single picture sleeve
| type = single
| artist = Carpenters
| album = Bless the Beasts and Children and A Song for You
| A-side = Superstar
| released =
| recorded = mid-1971
| genre = Pop
| length =
| label = A&M
| writer = *Barry De Vorzon
*Perry Botkin, Jr.
| producer = Jack Daugherty
| prev_title = Superstar
| prev_year = 1971
| next_title = Hurting Each Other
| next_year = 1971
| misc =
}}
"'Bless the Beasts and Children'" is the theme song to the 1971 eponymous film and was performed by the Carpenters. It was featured on the B-side to their hit, "Superstar". The song received enough of its own airplay that Billboard Hot 100 listed the single as "Superstar"/"Bless The Beasts and Children", charting first at #16 for the week of 11/20/71, and then #21 for the week of 11/27/71. Then "Bless The Beasts and Children" had its own run as an A-side charting on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, eventually topping out at #67.[http://www.bookrags.com/The_Carpenters The Carpenters Summary] In order to promote it, The Carpenters performed it on their television series, 'Make Your Own Kind of Music', as "F" for "Film Music". It was nominated for a 1972 Academy Award for Best Song, but it lost to Isaac Hayes's "Theme from 'Shaft'".
The original soundtrack included two different versions of "Bless the Beasts and Children", the other being an orchestral instrumental arrangement by composers Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr., and the original "Nadia's Theme", which was listed as "Cotton's Dream". "Cotton's Dream" was also used as the theme song to the 1973 soap opera, 'The Young and the Restless,' and later "Bless the Beasts and Children" was used when David Hasselhoff's character, Dr. "Snapper" Foster, had to say goodbye to his son in a dramatic 1982 episode of the series.[http://www.cfhf.net/lyrics/young-and-restless.htm The Young and the Restless theme lyrics][https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068286/soundtrack Bless the Beasts & Children (1971) - Soundtracks][http://members.fortunecity.com/drjtv/yr.html The Young and the Restless]
The song was originally released on the original soundtrack, and a slightly different version was released on the Carpenters' 1972 LP, 'A Song for You' on June 13, 1972.Comparison between original soundtrack and the 'A Song for You' LP The original soundtrack had a vibraphone playing the melody in the introduction, while the 'A Song for You' version, released on the single, contained an oboe stating the melody. The two versions (soundtrack and album versions) faded out toward the end, but in 1985, Richard Carpenter re-mixed the song so it does not fade out in the end. He also added a harder bass-line.
Barry De Vorzon composed the song at a residence in Lake Arrowhead, California, where he used to spend his weekends, after director Stanley Kramer gave him the screenplay of the film. At first he wrote a "beautiful melody" and then "loaded the lyric with all the terrible things we're doing to children and animals," but it "did not work." The next day he changed them to simpler lyrics that call to protect their innocence.
Chart history
Personnel
*Karen Carpenterlead and backing vocals
*Richard Carpenterbacking vocals, piano, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano, orchestration
*Joe Osbornbass guitar
*Hal Blainedrums
*Tony Pelusoelectric fuzz guitar
*Earl Dumleroboe, English horn
*Uncreditedvibraphone, tambourine, temple blocks
References
Category:The Carpenters songs
Category:Songs about animals
Category:Songs about children
Category:Film soundtracks
Category:Television drama theme songs
Category:Shirley Bassey songs
Category:1971 singles
Category:Songs written for films
Category:Songs written by Barry De Vorzon
Category:Songs written by Perry Botkin Jr.
Category:1971 songs
Category:A&M Records singles
Category:Songs about animal rights
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