"The Right Thing to Do" is a song written and performed by Carly Simon that first appeared on her 1972 album No Secrets. The song was recorded at Trident Studios in London's Soho. It was released as the second single to the album, following "You're So Vain" and reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. It also reached No. 20 on the Canada Top Singles chart and No. 9 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. It reached No. 17 in the UK.
Lyrics and music
"The Right Thing to Do" is a love song directed to Simon's then husband James Taylor. Simon has stated that "it was actually one of my absolutely undisputed songs about James, written three months into our relationship." Author Sheila Weller notes that the song is both romantic and realistic about the relationship. She shows the romanticism by disregarding her lover's problems but realistic in recognizing "her fading value in the sex-and-love marketplace." To Weller, the latter is displayed in the lines:
And it used to be for a while
The river flowed right to my door
Making me just a little too free
But now the river doesn't seem to stop here anymore
Simon acknowledged that Taylor helped "with a lot of the changes" after she had written the original lyrics and music. Taylor claimed that he told Simon that he liked everything except the original third verse; Simon replaced the verse and Taylor approved. Simon took the line "loving you is the right thing to do", which gave the song its title, from the movie The Last Picture Show. AllMusic critic Joe Viglione and Billboard both praised the song's production by producer Richard Perry. Viglione also comments on Simon's "heartfelt" vocal performance. Simon accompanies herself on piano, and other instrumentation includes bass guitar, drums, congas, horns, and strings. Vicki Brown and Liza Strike also provide backing vocals. Billboard considered the "light horn backing" to be particularly effective in making the song catchy.
Reception
Weller described the melody as "fetching." Carly Simon biographer Stephen Davis remarks on the song’s "sweet and lulling acoustics." Viglione calls it a "great pop record" and "two minutes and fifty-seven seconds of sublime Adult Contemporary radio music", adding "There's enough tension and drama, especially in the middle eight, to lift this title above most of the introspection on the album, reaching out to all the hopeless romantics who just couldn't help but relate to it." Viglione also suggests that Simon reused the formula of "The Right Thing to Do" a year later for her bigger hit "Haven't Got Time for the Pain."
Cash Box said that it has "fine vocals and a most interesting set of lyrics." Record World said that the song "should have no trouble and prove that [Carly Simon] can do no wrong."
Personnel
Carly Simon – lead vocals, backing vocals, piano
Jimmy Ryan – bass guitar
Andy Newmark – drums
Ray Cooper – congas
Vicki Brown – backing vocals
Liza Strike – backing vocals
Kirby Johnson – string and horn arrangement
Track listing
7" single
"The Right Thing To Do" – 2:57
"We Have No Secrets" – 3:57
Chart performance
Weekly singles charts
Year-end charts
Other appearances
"The Right Thing to Do" has been included on several Carly Simon compilation albums, including The Best of Carly Simon (1975), the three-disc box set Clouds in My Coffee (1995), The Very Best of Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better (1998), the two-disc Anthology (2002), Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits (2004) and the three-disc Carly Simon Collector's Edition (2009). It was also included on Simon's live album Greatest Hits Live (1988).
Ray Coniff covered "The Right Thing to Do" on the 1972 album You Are the Sunshine of My Life. Karrin Allyson remade the song for her 2004 album Wild For You. Megan Mullally sang a duet version of "The Right Thing to Do" with Simon on the TV soundtrack Will & Grace: Let the Music Out!
Simon sang "The Right Thing to Do" at the wedding of Caroline Kennedy to Edwin Schlossberg.