"Bless the Beasts and Children" is the theme song to the 1971 film Bless the Beasts and Children performed by the Carpenters.
Contents
Composition
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.
Versions differences
The original soundtrack included two different versions of "Bless the Beasts and Children", the one by Carpenters and the other being an orchestral instrumental arrangement by composers Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr.
A slightly different version of the song was released on the Carpenters' 1972 LP, A Song for You on June 13, 1972. The original soundtrack had a vibraphone playing the melody in the introduction, while the A Song for You version, also released as a single, contained an oboe stating the melody. Richard Carpenter re-mixed the song for the inclusion on the 1985 compilation Yesterday Once More. Unlike the original, this version does not fade out in the end and also features a harder bass-line.
Release and reception
The song was featured on the B-side to the Carpenters single "Superstar". Billboard magazine listed the single as “Superstar/ Bless the Beasts and Children” on the Hot 100 after the song gained significant airplay, charting first at number 16 for the week of 11/20/71, and then number 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 number 67.
In order to promote it, the Carpenters performed it on their television series, Make Your Own Kind of Music.
"Bless The Beasts and Children" was nominated for a 1972 Academy Award for Best Song, but it lost to Isaac Hayes's "Theme from Shaft".
Personnel
Karen Carpenter – lead and backing vocals
Richard Carpenter – backing vocals, piano, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano, orchestration
Joe Osborn – bass guitar
Hal Blaine – drums
Tony Peluso – electric fuzz guitar
Earl Dumler – oboe, English horn
Uncredited – vibraphone, tambourine, temple blocks