the carpenters' version was included on the duo's 1977 album "passage". on the carpenters' official website, richard carpenter notes that he felt the song was perfect for his sister karen's voice and felt their version had hit-single potential. however, a&m records decided not to release it because it was considered too long for top 40 radio stations to play at the time (just over 4 minutes) and could not be abridged.