When it becomes apparent that the poor inheriting the earth means they become dirt when they die,
The Rich Man's Prayer - Em to D
I kneel down on a calloused knee
Hold my children close to me
And I pray The Rich Man's Prayer
It's…
When it becomes apparent that the poor inheriting the earth means they become dirt when they die,
The Rich Man's Prayer - Em to D
I kneel down on a calloused knee
Hold my children close to me
And I pray The Rich Man's Prayer
It's…
HAPPY
Happy is the anvil as the hammer strikes the blade
A fleeting spark that fades out as the memory is made
Happy is the spark when the hammer strikes the steel
Before the spit has sizzled into a vapor trail
And happy is the planner…
I can't remember her name. I saw her at Kerrville back in 2005. A little blond that always wore a leather cowboy had, played keys and wrote music for movies. (Someone remind me.)
COULD SHE KNOW
Could she know I think about her
Thinking…
After reading the book: The Immortal Life of Henryetta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Google HeLa cells and you'll get the whole story. The most famous cell line EVER.
RUN HeLa RUN
Her name was Henryetta Lacks but she never knew
Her family finally…
Haven't read the book so I don't get it but it sounds good. Your production is very good. I hear a little David Bowie in the singing, but it's still your voice. there were just a couple of lines in there that made me flash on that
Well if you have to be in Oklahoma, you might as well be on one of the largest resevoirs in the USA so you can jump in and wash some of that hot red dust off.
As a Kansas man, that's just a bit too close to Texas for me.
After Brook drowned.
Ra Byn did everything but rhythm guitar.
He must have been about 12.
Open 9th tuning...
Well, you say that you're lonely
I see that you are
Tell me, where have you been
Life ain't no lay pen
Yeah, you call it a…
Tesla...maybe the smartest man that ever lived.
TESLA
Who invented remote control? TESLA
Who invented the fluorescent light? TESLA
Who invented the radio? TESLA
And who died alone and forgotten in 1943? TESLA
So, you say now, “Don’t…
Sometimes it might be best not to even think about what terrible things might happen. It might be part of setting those very terrible things in motion. How can one know?
HAPPY
Happy is the anvil as the hammer strikes the blade
A fleeting spark that fades out as the memory is made
Happy is the spark when the hammer strikes the steel
Before the spit has sizzled into a vapor trail
And happy is the planner…
I learned a chord my teacher told me was called THE GYPSY CHORD. So I wrote a song using nothing but that chord. Initially I had a girl named ....... in it but she didn't like that so I changed her name to, what was it, Emily.
After reading the book: The Immortal Life of Henryetta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Google HeLa cells and you'll get the whole story. The most famous cell line EVER.
RUN HeLa RUN
Her name was Henryetta Lacks but she never knew
Her family finally…
I love the way you have made this true story into a song.
Straight to the point lyrics with tremendous backing vocals.
It's a very strong and determined sounding track.
HAPPY
Happy is the anvil as the hammer strikes the blade
A fleeting spark that fades out as the memory is made
Happy is the spark when the hammer strikes the steel
Before the spit has sizzled into a vapor trail
And happy is the planner…
HAPPY
Happy is the anvil as the hammer strikes the blade
A fleeting spark that fades out as the memory is made
Happy is the spark when the hammer strikes the steel
Before the spit has sizzled into a vapor trail
And happy is the planner…
One night after three month of no rain, as we were driving home from singing at Gringos in Grapevine a splash of water hit the windshield.
I said to myself, "Sweet Rain."
I went home and wrote the song. It's on the soundtrack of a movie called…
So in 1951 you lived in the desert just around the corner from where I grew up , except I wasn't there until 1953 at the ripe and smelly age of 1.I think I was considering buying a house out in the same patch of desert you grew up in. Your Dad might of known a Bob Dollins, he worked at Northrop for a short while . What year did you depart?
In 1951 I was eight years old but it's all like yesterday. The tumbleweeds and the horny toads. Flying kites so far into the desert air that I couldn't see them.
Palmdale, California, 1951
Pretty yellow chickens hating in the sun
Fertilizer…
Small world indeed. In 1953 I was 1 and we lived on the base. In old pics the housing were those Quansot Huts. Hell, if you lived out there at 8 years no wonder you got that dreamy like recollection. It be like living on the Moon, had barren can it get, and the bright sun beating down cooking that desert, sonic booms rattleing windows. I know, I don't know when they stop doing it but I remember as far back as 1964 of our classrooms windows rattling and that 's in Palmdale. They test artilliary as well out at EAB. Fortunately I was only 1 year old back then and i was shielded from the sun by my moma's breast and taken out there before I could develope a memory.Funny thing in early '54 my folks moved just off the south end of 15th. I still live close to it. There is no hope for Peace on Earth as long as militaries stand armed and ready.
First installment of a record of "experimental" tracks, mostly me doing weird stuff around the house and at some point deciding to record "that". Well, in fact that's how most of my music gets done, but well, you get the point. Don't say I didn…
The first version of this is on Songs of The Heart. This version was written around 9/11 and is a plea for America to hold on to God, not move away from Him.
The first version of this is on Songs of The Heart. This version was written around 9/11 and is a plea for America to hold on to God, not move away from Him.
This is one of the saddest must beautiful songs I have ever heard. Listening to it over and over. A love song to a love that has forsaken you. Yet you cling.Yet you hope. Yet you believe.
The first version of this is on Songs of The Heart. This version was written around 9/11 and is a plea for America to hold on to God, not move away from Him.
The first version of this is on Songs of The Heart. This version was written around 9/11 and is a plea for America to hold on to God, not move away from Him.
This is about Mary, the Mother of God and mother of us all. For those who aren't Catholic, Catholics don't worship Mary, we honor her and pray for her intercession, just as people ask other people to pray for them. Mary brings us to Jesus.
Finally, finished this one. Its been a battle finding time and fending off a few bouts with allergies and colds etc...A very windy winter and early spring season in the desert was one of the worst in many years. Hoping to get to working on some…
Such clean acoustic guitar sound. Like the way it grows/builds...how the sound of the voice fills out. Cool voice and song. Starts to sound like the Beatles at the end.
I wrote this in the early 1990's during Desert Storm and after a conversation with my brother-in-law, Er4ic, t the time who was sent over there to fight.
A Restless Time
Watching in the restless time
of what you've got to be.
I don't know if you can draw
and I don't know to see
just what it's for.
just what it's for for me.
I go down the road today
and I don't know what to say
I saw…
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Only if you give it all away first apparently! Great song and wonderful music.
Powerful...
I love this, tremendously powerful lyrics. Yay, rock on!
Sounds brilliant, I love the chorus, it's really rhythmic and the lyrics are excellent!
Haven't read the book so I don't get it but it sounds good. Your production is very good. I hear a little David Bowie in the singing, but it's still your voice. there were just a couple of lines in there that made me flash on that
Well if you have to be in Oklahoma, you might as well be on one of the largest resevoirs in the USA so you can jump in and wash some of that hot red dust off. As a Kansas man, that's just a bit too close to Texas for me.
I am very sorry to hear about Brook.
Maybe he needed a better PR firm? Perhaps he should have considered late night info-mercials? Excellent concept!
Very Pretty story telling. I've been to Deadwood. What a place to spend eternity.
Excellent!
Another very clever one!
This one is one of my favourites of your tracks. The chorus is especially poignant.
I love this! The music is really driving!
You performed this so well. A very interesting story, perfectly done. Good luck, "Emily". Yeah, nice chord!
I love the way you have made this true story into a song. Straight to the point lyrics with tremendous backing vocals. It's a very strong and determined sounding track.
Wow, JM! Grrreat harmonies, and a master class in lyrics.
nice job... its a snapshot in a snapshot.
So in 1951 you lived in the desert just around the corner from where I grew up , except I wasn't there until 1953 at the ripe and smelly age of 1.I think I was considering buying a house out in the same patch of desert you grew up in. Your Dad might of known a Bob Dollins, he worked at Northrop for a short while . What year did you depart?
These songs with the choir are cool. Are these friends , sounds like you got a regular choir doing back up
Small world indeed. In 1953 I was 1 and we lived on the base. In old pics the housing were those Quansot Huts. Hell, if you lived out there at 8 years no wonder you got that dreamy like recollection. It be like living on the Moon, had barren can it get, and the bright sun beating down cooking that desert, sonic booms rattleing windows. I know, I don't know when they stop doing it but I remember as far back as 1964 of our classrooms windows rattling and that 's in Palmdale. They test artilliary as well out at EAB. Fortunately I was only 1 year old back then and i was shielded from the sun by my moma's breast and taken out there before I could develope a memory.Funny thing in early '54 my folks moved just off the south end of 15th. I still live close to it. There is no hope for Peace on Earth as long as militaries stand armed and ready.
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Mix this with OSMPTS and I bet it would work.
Reminds me, right ff, of 50's tv music. Those great vocals again.
Love the vocal sound.
very sad...
Paul, PLease tell me the words of this. There are some I can't understand. My email is: jamesmichaeltaylor@jamesmichaeltaylor.com
This is one of the saddest must beautiful songs I have ever heard. Listening to it over and over. A love song to a love that has forsaken you. Yet you cling.Yet you hope. Yet you believe.
...bespeaks such loss of innocence. A real tearjerker because the betrayal seems so unanswerable.
Gorgeous. Lovely.
...another beautiful vocal and melody.
This really rings... Like it.All the energy and brightness and that little dip into darkness. And the cool guitar work at the end. j mt
Such clean acoustic guitar sound. Like the way it grows/builds...how the sound of the voice fills out. Cool voice and song. Starts to sound like the Beatles at the end.
The link to your web site isn't working for me.
Beautiful. Voice, voices.
This is beautiful.
...really like your story about your childhood at your web page...
Raw and Rockin'...
Beach Boys and Beatles showing thru...always good.
Great groove. Like the voices... .../the little reference to Good Vibrations.
This and djorklandia sound like movie music to me. Grand landscapes and epic travel shots.
Very cool song. Love the guitar sound.