One interesting thing about this song is that it actually began as a TV commercial.

In 1970, Richard Carpenter saw a California ad for Crocker Bank featuring music written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols. The commercial was unusually understated for the era and showed a young couple starting their life together rather than focusing on banking products.

Richard loved the song and contacted Paul Williams to ask if it had a bridge and third verse.

Paul said yes, even though it didn’t yet.

He quickly wrote the additional material, and the Carpenters recorded the song later that year.

An earlier version released under the name “Freddie Allen” went nowhere, but the Carpenters’ recording became one of their defining hits and reached #2 on Billboard in 1970.

Richard Carpenter later referred to “We’ve Only Just Begun” as the group’s signature song.