From Sweet Baby James, his second album. It was released in 1970.
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yousendit
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
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4 comments:
How many stories have been written about this song?
James Taylor wrote this in 1968 at 3 different times. He started it in London, where he auditioned for The Beatles' Apple Records. He later worked on it in a Manhattan Hospital, and finished it while in drug rehab at The Austin Riggs Center in Massachusetts.
This is about the high and low points of Taylor's life. He was only 20 when he wrote this, but was battling depression and drug addiction.The first verse is Taylor's reaction to the death of a friend. The second verse is about arriving in America and struggling with depression, the third is about his stay at the rehab center.
The line "Flying machines in pieces on the ground" is a reference to a band Taylor was in called The Flying Machine, which broke up due to his drug problems.
This was Taylor's second single and his first to chart. His first single was "Sweet Baby James."
It was one of the first big singer-songwriter hits of the early '70s. Before this, most hits were either written by one person and performed by another, or written and performed by a group like The Beatles or Rolling Stones. Artists like Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Elton John followed the trend of writing and performing their own songs.
Taylor has never revealed the identity of Suzanne, the woman he sings about in this.
This is a deeply personal song and Taylor was surprised to find out so many people were interested in his life.
It was falsely rumored that this is about the death of Taylor's girlfriend in a plane crash. The story was that Taylor separated from his girlfriend (Suzanne) to go on tour, but when his friends arranged to fly her to see James, she died in a plane crash (flying machines in pieces on the ground). The story is not true.
ps:
Taylor guest starred in The Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" where he performs for a space shuttle that Homer is aboard from NASA's mission control. He plays this, but after singing the line "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground," he gasps, due to the irony of that line relating to the mission, and sings it with the revised lyrics: "Sweet dreams and flying machines flying safely through the air."
sblake,
I don't know how many stories have been written about this song. I only knew a few pieces of what you mentioned. As always, you extend my knowledge.
Have I said how much I appreciate you?
danke,very sweet.Currently resting.Broke my ankle (again) falling down the back steps on my way to feed the chooks (chickens; Oz slang)
ah,life is hilarious
hope you are better
sblake,
I am so sorry about your ankle and I hope you are not in too much pain. The again part made me wince.
It sounds so like me!
I am better, thanks!
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