The Right Thing to Do

"The Right Thing to Do" is a song written and performed by Carly Simon that first appeared on her 1972 album No Secrets. The song was recorded at Trident Studios in London's Soho. It was released as the second single to the album, following "You're So Vain" and reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[1] It also reached No. 20 on the Canada Top Singles chart and No. 9 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.[2][3] It reached No. 17 in the UK.[4]

"The Right Thing to Do"
Cover in the Netherlands
Single by Carly Simon
from the album No Secrets
B-side"We Have No Secrets"
ReleasedMarch 1973
RecordedAutumn 1972, Trident Studios
GenreSoft rock
Length2:57
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Carly Simon
Producer(s)Richard Perry
Carly Simon singles chronology
"You're So Vain"
(1972)		 "The Right Thing to Do"
(1973)		 "Mockingbird"
(1974)

Lyrics and music

"The Right Thing to Do" is a love song directed to Simon's then husband James Taylor.[5][6] Simon has stated that "it was actually one of my absolutely undisputed songs about James, written three months into our relationship."[7] Author Sheila Weller notes that the song is both romantic and realistic about the relationship.[6] She shows the romanticism by disregarding her lover's problems but realistic in recognizing "her fading value in the sex-and-love marketplace."[6] To Weller, the latter is displayed in the lines:[6]

And it used to be for a while
The river flowed right to my door
Making me just a little too free
But now the river doesn't seem to stop here anymore

Simon acknowledged that Taylor helped "with a lot of the changes" after she had written the original lyrics and music.[8] Taylor claimed that he told Simon that he liked everything except the original third verse; Simon replaced the verse and Taylor approved.[8] Simon took the line "loving you is the right thing to do", which gave the song its title, from the movie The Last Picture Show.[7] AllMusic critic Joe Viglione and Billboard both praised the song's production by producer Richard Perry.[5][9] Viglione also comments on Simon's "heartfelt" vocal performance.[5] Simon accompanies herself on piano, and other instrumentation includes bass guitar, drums, congas, horns, and strings.[5][9] Vicki Brown and Liza Strike also provide backing vocals.[5] Billboard considered the "light horn backing" to be particularly effective in making the song catchy.[9]

Reception

Weller described the melody as "fetching."[6] Carly Simon biographer Stephen Davis remarks on the song’s "sweet and lulling acoustics."[7] Viglione calls it a "great pop record" and "two minutes and fifty-seven seconds of sublime Adult Contemporary radio music", adding "There's enough tension and drama, especially in the middle eight, to lift this title above most of the introspection on the album, reaching out to all the hopeless romantics who just couldn't help but relate to it."[5] Viglione also suggests that Simon reused the formula of "The Right Thing to Do" a year later for her bigger hit "Haven't Got Time for the Pain."[5]

Cash Box said that it has "fine vocals and a most interesting set of lyrics."[10] Record World said that the song "should have no trouble and prove that [Carly Simon] can do no wrong."[11]

Personnel

Track listing
7" single[12]
  • "The Right Thing To Do" – 2:57
  • "We Have No Secrets" – 3:57

Chart performance

Other appearances

"The Right Thing to Do" has been included on several Carly Simon compilation albums, including The Best of Carly Simon (1975), the three-disc box set Clouds in My Coffee (1995), The Very Best of Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better (1998), the two-disc Anthology (2002), Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits (2004) and the three-disc Carly Simon Collector's Edition (2009).[16] It was also included on Simon's live album Greatest Hits Live (1988).[16]

Ray Coniff covered "The Right Thing to Do" on the 1972 album You Are the Sunshine of My Life.[17] Karrin Allyson remade the song for her 2004 album Wild For You.[18] Megan Mullally sang a duet version of "The Right Thing to Do" with Simon on the TV soundtrack Will & Grace: Let the Music Out![19]

Simon sang "The Right Thing to Do" at the wedding of Caroline Kennedy to Edwin Schlossberg.[6]

"We Have No Secrets"

The B-side of "The Right Thing to Do" single was "We Have No Secrets," also a song from the No Secrets album.[9] According to Weller, "'We Have No Secrets,' was both personally—echoing Carly's boundary-less but betrayal-laced childhood family life—and culturally resonant."[6] According to Simon biographers Charles and Ann Morse, it portrays Simon's efforts to remain honest with herself and others throughout her life.[20] The lyrics reflect on the tension between desire to know more about one's lover's past and the fact that sometimes that knowledge is painful.[21] The lyrics acknowledge that there are some things one may not want to know.[22] Weller regards the line "You always answer my questions/But they don't always answer my prayers" as "[nailing] the tension between" the supposed desirability of open, non-monogamous marriages and the reality that people want to be their lover's sole partner.[6] Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden regarded "We Have No Secrets" as exemplifying the theme of No Secrets, which he saw as the "difficulty of being happy," by "painfully" expressing "the realization that emotion and rationalization are often irreconcilable."[23]

Fox News Sunday used "We Have No Secrets" as bumper music over a clip of United States Secret Service agents when they arrived for the Ken Starr grand jury hearing.[24] "We Have No Secrets" has been included on multiple Carly Simon compilation albums, including The Best of Carly Simon, Clouds in My Coffee, The Very Best of Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better, Anthology, the import version of Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits and the three-disc Carly Simon Collector's Edition.[25][26]

References
  1. "US Albums and Singles Charts > Carly Simon". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  2. "RPM 100 Singles". Library and Archives Canada. May 26, 1973. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  3. Adult Contemporary Playlist. Library and Archives Canada. May 26, 1973.
  4. "Official Charts > Carly Simon". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  5. Viglione, Joe. "The Right Thing to Do". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  6. Weller, Sheila (2008). Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation. Simon & Schuster. pp. 364–365, 373, 472. ISBN 9780743491471.
  7. Davis, Stephen (2012). More Room in a Broken Heart: The True Adventures of Carly Simon. Penguin. ISBN 9781101554258.
  8. Werbin, S. (January 4, 1973). "The Rolling Stone Interview: Carly Simon & James Taylor". Rolling Stone. pp. 32–42.
  9. Tiegel, E., ed. (March 17, 1973). "Pop Picks". Billboard. p. 60. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  10. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 17, 1973. p. 20. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  11. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. March 17, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  12. "The Right Thing to Do". Discogs. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  13. "Flavour of New Zealand". Flavourofnz.co.nz. June 18, 1973. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  14. "Top 100 1973-05-26". Cashbox. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  15. "1973 Year End". Bullfrogspond.com. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  16. "The Right Thing To Do lyrics". Carlysimon.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  17. Griffith, J.T. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  18. "Karrin Allyson thinks jazz singing deserves attention". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  19. Theakston, Rob. "Will & Grace: Let the Music Out!". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  20. Morse, C. & Morse, A. (1974). Carly Simon. Creative Education. p. 31. ISBN 0871913933.
  21. Farber, B.A. (2006). Self-disclosure in Psychotherapy. Guilford Press. p. 14. ISBN 9781593853235.
  22. Harris, J.F. (1993). Philosophy at 33 1/3 Rpm: Themes of Classic Rock Music. Open Court Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 9780812692419.
  23. Holden, Stephen (January 4, 1973). "No Secrets review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  24. Cuprisin, T. (July 23, 1998). "Fox's Snow is toe-to-toe with Sunday talkers". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. p. 8B. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  25. "We Have No Secrets lyrics". Carlysimon.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  26. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits [Bonus Track]". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
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