Carole King wrote this with Toni Stern, a free-spirited painter and lyricist from Los Angeles who complemented King very well. Said Stern: "I'm sure there was a California quality in me that appealed to Carole. She was moving from a familial, middle class lifestyle to Laurel Canyon, where she started to let her hair down, literally and figuratively. We worked off our contrasts." Stern would usually agonize over lyrics, but she wrote these very quickly.
The lyrics describe the end of a loving relationship without assigning blame. Music critic Robert Christgau claimed that "if there's a truer song about breaking up than 'It's Too Late', the world (or at least AM radio) isn't ready for it." Rolling Stone stated that King's "warm, earnest singing" on the song brought out the song's sadness. According to author James Perone, the feeling of the song is enhanced by the instrumental work of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Curtis Amy on saxophone and King on piano. Kortchmar and Amy each have an instrumental solo.
The recording won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972, and the song ranks at #469 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Carole King wrote this with Toni Stern, a free-spirited painter and lyricist from Los Angeles who complemented King very well. Said Stern: "I'm sure there was a California quality in me that appealed to Carole. She was moving from a familial, middle class lifestyle to Laurel Canyon, where she started to let her hair down, literally and figuratively. We worked off our contrasts." Stern would usually agonize over lyrics, but she wrote these very quickly.
The lyrics describe the end of a loving relationship without assigning blame. Music critic Robert Christgau claimed that "if there's a truer song about breaking up than 'It's Too Late', the world (or at least AM radio) isn't ready for it." Rolling Stone stated that King's "warm, earnest singing" on the song brought out the song's sadness. According to author James Perone, the feeling of the song is enhanced by the instrumental work of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Curtis Amy on saxophone and King on piano. Kortchmar and Amy each have an instrumental solo.
The recording won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972, and the song ranks at #469 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Carole King wrote this with Toni Stern, a free-spirited painter and lyricist from Los Angeles who complemented King very well. Said Stern: "I'm sure there was a California quality in me that appealed to Carole. She was moving from a familial, middle class lifestyle to Laurel Canyon, where she started to let her hair down, literally and figuratively. We worked off our contrasts." Stern would usually agonize over lyrics, but she wrote these very quickly.
The lyrics describe the end of a loving relationship without assigning blame. Music critic Robert Christgau claimed that "if there's a truer song about breaking up than 'It's Too Late', the world (or at least AM radio) isn't ready for it." Rolling Stone stated that King's "warm, earnest singing" on the song brought out the song's sadness. According to author James Perone, the feeling of the song is enhanced by the instrumental work of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Curtis Amy on saxophone and King on piano. Kortchmar and Amy each have an instrumental solo.
The recording won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972, and the song ranks at #469 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.