Ab major · Camelot 4B · 86 BPM
You've Got a Friend
by Carole King
- 86
- BPM
- Ab major
- Key
- 4B
- Camelot
- 48
- Danceability
- 88
- Acousticness
Carole King wrote "You've Got a Friend" in January 1971, during the recording sessions for her album Tapestry. James Taylor happened to be recording his own album, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, at the same time. King later described the experience as the closest to pure inspiration she had ever known, saying the song wrote itself, passed through her by something outside herself. Taylor believed King told him it was a response to a line from his earlier song "Fire and Rain", though she said in a 1972 interview that she had not written it with him or anyone specific in mind. When Taylor heard it, he liked it and wanted to record it.
Both artists recorded the song for their respective 1971 albums, working with some shared musicians, and Taylor and Danny Kortchmar performed on each version. Taylor's take was released as a single with backing vocals by Joni Mitchell and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the only song of his to do so, along with number four in the United Kingdom. At the 1972 Grammy Awards, the song earned Taylor Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and King Song of the Year.
Mary Hopkin, Taylor's labelmate at Apple Records, said he offered her the chance to record it first, an offer she declined and later regretted. King and Taylor performed the song together in 2010 on their Troubadour Reunion Tour.
You've Got a Friend runs at 86 BPM, the tempo of boom-bap hip-hop, reggae and slow R&B. In classical terms it sits in andante territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.79 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 698 ms. It is in Ab major, Camelot 4B, which shares its notes with F minor and mixes cleanly with Db major and Eb major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.