“Sweet Seasons” (Carole King)/”It’s Going to Take Some Time” (Carpenters)

In honor of lyricist Toni Stern’s passing, today’s classic songs of the day are “Sweet Seasons” and “It’s Going to Take Some Time.” Ms. Stern wrote the lyrics for both of these tunes and her friend Carole King composed the music.

Toni and Carole wrote “Sweet Seasons” for Ms. King’s 1971 album Music, the follow-up to her groundbreaking 1971 album, Tapestry. Released as a single in January of 2022, “Sweet Seasons” peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #8 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #2 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.

Also on that album and also written by Stern and King was the tune “It’s Going to Take Some Time.” Carole King didn’t release “It’s Going to Take Some Time” as a single, but the Carpenters did. Their version of the song, released in April of 1972, peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. The single received praise from no less an eminence than Carole King herself, who said that the Carpenters’ lushly arranged track made her own version sound “like a demo.”

As some of you know, Carole King was primarily a composer, not a lyricist. (In addition to being one fine singer, of course.) She relied on partners to supply the lyrics to most of her songs, starting with then-husband Gerry Goffin back in the Brill Building era (“Up on the Roof,” “I Can’t Stay Mad at You,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” and plenty more). When she moved to California in the late ’60s, Ms. King hooked up with Toni Stern, a like-minded poet. Ms. Stern’s poetry translated quite well into lyrics for Ms. King’s tunes, the result being a string of notable songs featured on Ms. King’s Tapestry, Music, and Rhymes & Reasons albums. Those songs include “It’s Too Late” (written about Ms. Stern’s breakup with James Taylor), “Come Down Easy,” “Feeling Sad Tonight,” “Peace in the Valley,” “Where You Lead,” and, of course, “Sweet Seasons” and “It’s Going to Take Some Time.”

Toni Stern was born on November 4, 1944 in Los Angeles and grew up around the Sunset Strip scene, thinking of herself as “a mixture of Eloise and Inside Daisy Clover.” By the time she was 23, Stern was living in a Laurel Canyon cottage focusing on writing poetry. When a friend suggested she try her hand at writing lyrics, everything literally fell into place.

Ms. Stern gave four of her lyrics to her boyfriend at the time, movie producer Bert Schneider, who showed them to his friend, music producer Lou Adler. Adler set up a meeting between Stern and Carole King, who he was working with. Ms. King was in the market for a new collaborator after her divorce from lyricist Gerry Goffin and she was impressed by what she saw. The two women hit it off and started writing together.

Ms. Stern recalled how they worked:

“There was a practicality in Carole that was comforting. I would hand her a whole lyric, neatly written out, and she would sit down, and we’d have a song within hours. Working with her made me feel validated, like I wasn’t a wild child.”

Toni Stern’s foray into songwriting was brief. She only wrote with Carole King and only a handful of songs for three albums. After that, she concentrated on her poetry and art, eventually publishing several books of poems.

Toni Stern passed away on January 17, 2024. She was 79 years old. Her friend Carole King wrote this on her passing:

“[Toni] was the first person after Gerry Goffin that I wrote with and had hits with, for example, ‘Where You Lead’ and ‘Sweet Seasons.’ When I moved to California in 1968, she was the epitome of a free-spirited Laurel Canyon woman. She lived in a hillside house with her dog, Arf, surrounded by books, record albums, plants, and macrame.

“We both had curly hair, and she called me ‘Curly Girl.’ We shared a love for horses, and we wanted everyone in the world to be kind and compassionate.

“Toni was also a poet. Her poems, not necessarily in rhyme, are quirky observations or anecdotes that take a surprising turn. Often, on my first read, they evoked a chuckle…

“In the hereafter I imagine Toni riding bareback on a horse on a beach thinking of new ways to say things we all feel. And I know she’d join me in being grateful that our connection continues to live on in your appreciation of our songs.”

RIP Ms. Stern, and condolences to all of her friends and family.