“Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.” Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, wrote these words.

When I think of great talent whose slender twigs were snapped off. My memory kicked out two wonderful singers from more than a half a century ago. Karen Carpenter and Bobby Darin were in their 30s and at the peaks of their careers when they both died from heart disease, hers resulting from an eating disorder and his stemming from chronic childhood ailments.

With a little research added to a little of my imagination, I have found lyrics from their songs that might have been eerie premonitions of the tragedies they had experienced in their lives.

The Carpenters were an after-party band in Hollywood before Karen and her brother, Richard, would begin a recording career that sold over 90 million records worldwide. The first time I heard Karen’s voice on the car radio, I turned up the volume and said out loud, “Wow, she can sing!”

“And when the evening comes, we smile. So much of life ahead, we’ll find a place where there’s room to grow. And yes, we’ve just begun.”

From “We’ve Only Just Begun,” 1970.

According to several accounts of Karen’s life, she smiled much in front of the cameras, but not much behind them. She couldn’t find that room to grow personally. She was a perfectionist. Though the world loved her singing, she often did several “do overs” because it was never good enough to her. Just as her career was taking off, she thought she was getting ugly by gaining too much weight and went on frequent severe dieting binges.

“Lookin’ back on how it was in years gone by

“And the good times that I had

“Makes today seem rather sad, so much has changed.”

From “Yesterday Once More,” 1973

Karen had a difficult relationship with her parents. They had hoped that Richard’s musical talents would be recognized and that he would enter the music business, but they were not prepared for her success. She was never to be their golden child, yet she continued to live with them until she was 24 years old.

She dated several notable men, including Tony Danza, Mark Harmon and Steve Martin. After a whirlwind romance, she married real estate developer Thomas James Burris on Aug. 31, 1980. Karen desperately wanted children, but Burris had undergone a vasectomy and refused to get an operation to reverse it. Their marriage did not survive this disagreement, and ended after 14 months.

“Are we really happy with this lonely game we play?

“Looking for the right words to say. Searching but not finding understanding anyway.

“We’re lost in this masquerade.”

From “The Masquerade,” 1973

One can only imagine the pain Karen Carpenter had experienced while singing beautiful love songs when, in fact, her heart had been broken.

Bobby Darin grew up in New York. He never met his father and he was raised by his grandmother. He later discovered that the woman who he had thought was his sister was actually his mother.

His real name was Walden Robert Cassotto. He told everyone that he picked the name Bobby Darin out of a phone book. He was bullied in high school and dropped out of college, but then he took baby steps through the show business world until an agent recognized his ability to sing and signed him to a record contract. Best known for his songs “Splish Splash” and “Mack the Knife,” he was described by one critic as “a legend before he was 25.”

In 1957, he had a child with a waitress out of wedlock. The baby was given up for adoption. He had dated singer Connie Francis, but the relationship ended when her parents had forbidden her to see him anymore. He married actress Sandra Dee, but divorced her a few years later.

In 1968, he had campaigned for Robert Kennedy for president. Darin was in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and just a few feet away when RFK was shot and killed.

Reeling from his divorce and the assassination, he went into seclusion for a year, living in a trailer on the coast of California.

“Save my love through loneliness — save my love through sorrow

“I give you my only-ness — come give me your tomorrow.”

From “If I Were A Carpenter,” 1966

Darin was a sickly child. He had several bouts with rheumatic fever that weakened his heart. In 1971, two artificial valves were inserted and two years later, he developed sepsis, an infection in his heart because he had failed to take his antibiotics before a dental visit. Following open heart surgery in December 1973, Darin passed away.

“It’s far beyond the stars. It’s near beyond the moon. I know beyond a doubt. My heart will lead me there soon.”

From “Beyond the Sea,” 1958

The music of Karen Carpenter and Bobby Darin reminds us of days gone by and of lovers who came and left. I’ve wondered how special it would have been to see them sing together. Beautiful voices. Tragic lives. They stayed with us for just a moment. Their songs remain with us forever.

“Love, look at the two of us. Strangers in many ways. Let’s take a lifetime to say I knew you well. For only time will tell us so. And love may grow for all we know.”

From “For All We Know,” The Carpenters, 1971.

“Once upon a time the world was sweeter than we knew. Everything was ours. How happy we were then. But somehow, once upon a time never comes again.”

“Once Upon a Time,” Bobby Darin, 1966.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.