Carly Simon was involved in some high-profile romances in the early part of her music career. Among those, her tryst with Cat Stevens was relatively short-lived. But it paid huge dividends with a song it inspired.
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That song, “Anticipation,” provided a big boost to Simon’s career as the hit lead single on her second studio album in 1971. And it’s since become one of her most enduring tracks, in part because of some memorable placement in a commercial a few years after its release.
A Fateful Date
Despite her obvious musical talent as a singer and songwriter, Carly Simon didn’t jump right into a solo career. Her ’60s were spent as part of a musical act with her sisters, and then with the band Elephant’s Memory for just a short stint. She went solo with her 1971 self-titled debut, which included her hit single “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be.”
That stoked anticipation for her next album, which she wrote throughout 1971. It was during that time that Simon opened some shows for Cat Stevens, who was, like Simon, established as one of the more prominent singer/songwriters. They decided to get together for a date.
Simon was awaiting his arrival for their scheduled dinner date at her New York City apartment when she decided to pass the time by picking up a guitar. Since he was on her mind, she began to play and sing in a style that reminded her of Stevens’ own. And her own nervous excitement played into what she was singing, as she explained in the book Anthems We Love:
“I was anticipating his arrival. So I just started the song and I wrote the whole song, words and music, before he got there that night. So in about 15 minutes I wrote the whole song. Three verses and the choruses and the outro. That’s only one of three times that that’s ever happened to me. That I just sat down and wrote the whole song in just one stretch. It was only about 20 minutes that he was late.”
Simon first tried the song out in one of the concerts she played with Stevens, and knew immediately she had something strong based on the audience’s reception. With help from the musicians (pianist Paul Glanz, guitarist Jim Ryan, and drummer Andy Newmark) who made her second album (also titled Anticipation), she delivered a studio take that’s both lushly romantic and subtly sad.
By hitting the Top 20, “Anticipation” continued the chart success that Simon had begun with “That’s the Way I Always Heard It Should Be.” A year later, she’d go supernova with “You’re So Vain,” her first No. 1. Meanwhile, “Anticipation” still had some life left to it.
A few years after the song’s release, Simon was asked for permission to use the song in a commercial for Heinz ketchup, with “Anticipation,” in this case, relating to the time it took for the ketchup to actually come out of the bottle once you tipped it. Younger readers who know only squeeze ketchup bottles might not understand this phenomenon, but trust us, the commercial was amusing, and ensured a long shelf life for the track.
Behind the Meaning of “Anticipation”
Instead of sticking to the specifics of her situation waiting for Stevens, Simon turned “Anticipation” into a meditation on the notions of time, and how we all get trapped thinking about the future instead of enjoying the present. The narrator realizes the pointlessness of musing on the unknown future, but can’t help but do it anyway: And I wonder if I’m really with you now / Or just chasin’ after some finer day.
In the second verse, she explains that even her comfort in his arms in the present is colored by the looking ahead she did before he got there: But I, I rehearsed those words just late last night / When I was thinkin’ about how right tonight might be. Finally, she realizes she has to grab onto the moment as it happens: So I’ll try and see into your eyes right now / And stay right here ’cause these are the good old days.
Simon’s chorus is subtly ingenious: Anticipation / Is makin’ me late. In other words, she’s missing the enjoyment going on right now while dwelling on what’s to come. “Anticipation” fulfilled its prophecy in a way, because thanks to that well-executed condiment ad, bigger things were awaiting this song down the road from its release point.
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Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
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