"Let Me Be the One" is a song written in 1971 by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams. It first appeared on the 1971 album Carpenters by The Carpenters.

"Let Me Be the One" is a relatively short song, with a run time of 2:25. Bearing something of a resemblance to "We've Only Just Begun", the song was a potential Carpenters single release in 1971 being Karen Carpenter's choice to follow "For All We Know", but Richard Carpenter doubted the hit potential of "Let Me Be the One" and the choice for single was assigned to "Rainy Days and Mondays". However the album cut "Let Me Be the One" did receive airplay on both Top 40 and MOR radio stations. Paul Williams has described "Let Me Be the One" as "one of those songs that everybody's recorded but it's never been a [major hit] single. It was used very briefly by ABC-TV in 1976: Let us be the one you turn to/ Let us be the one you turn to/ When you need someone you turn to/ Let us be the one."

The 1991 remix for "Let Me Be the One" can only be found on the From the Top box set, for which it was released as a promotional single. It starts off with Karen counting off, and Richard's piano line is very different from the original 1971 mix found on the Carpenters album. In the original 1971 mix, the song fades out; the 1991 remix continues through to the point where Karen and the rest of the musicians create a conclusion.

The earliest evident recording of "Let Me Be the One" was that made by Nanette Workman being one of five songs recorded with producer Tommy Cogbill recorded in late June 1970 at American Sound Studio in Memphis, with "Let Me Be the One" being afforded a UK single release in November 1970 with the singer credited mononymously as Nanette.

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