"Yesterday Once More", written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, was a hit song by The Carpenters from their 1973 album, Now & Then. Composed in the key of E, "Yesterday Once More" preceded an "Oldies Medley" on the album, consisting of nine songs from the 1960s. At the end of the song a motorcycle engine transitions into the first song of the medley, "Fun, Fun, Fun". The motorcycle was deleted on the version appearing on The Singles: 1969-1973.
The song peaked at No2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No1 on the easy listening chart, becoming their eighth No1 on that chart in four years. It is the Carpenters' biggest selling record worldwide and their best-selling single in the UK, peaking at No2. Richard Carpenter admitted on a Japanese documentary that it is his favorite of all the songs he's written. He has performed an instrumental version at concerts.
According to Cash Box Magazine, on June 2, 1973, "Yesterday Once More" was the highest-debuting single, at No41. By August 4, it had reached No1.
Dionne Warwick, a close friend of The Carpenters, performed it live in Las Vegas the night before Karen Carpenter's untimely death in 1983