LULLABY
Key D
D4 D sus D, D4 D sus D
(D) Close your eyes and tell me. Tell me what you see. In the sleepy landscape of your reverie. (G) Can you count the blossoms in the (Em) garden (A) of your (D) mind? Think about the mountains and the…
HUNGRY EYE
He goes down to a honky tonk to see the people there
He'll pick him out an angel and he'll stare
But it does not really matter if she is alone
It's not his thot to take the lady home
Hungry eyes. Hungry eyes.
He's just come…
I have no memory of writing or recording this song. I have no idea what it's about.
CONNIE'S SONG
Em D C B...
(Em) Before I knew anything (D) about you, I (C) loved you
(Em) Whenever you would show, I stared in (D) wonder
I heard you…
Damn, Jimmy... It says this song was uploaded in March 2020. That was when Covid was just taking off and that was when my world got weird and my Day to Day went crazy. Damn, Jimmy... I missed this song when it came out. I just now listened to it tonight. Damn, Jimmy... I love this song.
Her name was Rosemarie Jean and I have lost contact with her. She wrote the poem I turned into Beneath the August Moon.
I SAW ROSE AGAIN TODAY
I saw Rose again today
And I recognized the way
My heart reached out
With unturned fingers…
SLAUGHTER MOUNTAIN
My mom’s dad was a coal miner. Her mother died of TB when she was a kid. When she was twelve, her dad, dying of black lung, slit his throat with a butcher knife. That left her with a cripple little brother to take care of…
Larry Spann
I miss him, too. When he gave me that album he told me I had to check you out. He said Townes van Zandt is a great writer, but he didn’t like everything Townes wrote. He liked EVERYTHING you wrote!
SLAUGHTER MOUNTAIN
My mom’s dad was a coal miner. Her mother died of TB when she was a kid. When she was twelve, her dad, dying of black lung, slit his throat with a butcher knife. That left her with a cripple little brother to take care of…
LANCASTER STREET - Em
James Michael Taylor
Midnight in COWTOWN. 90 degrees
Too hot for a blanket. Too hot for a sheet
The trash on the sidewalk is trying to sleep
Breathing the bus fumes on Lancaster Street...
Sunshine brings tacos…
Rose Jeffus
You have such a unique way with words James. Love your song. I will have to share it with my son in law. He is a volunteer twice a week at the homeless shelter. He is about to have surgery on his left arm this morning so he will have to miss a bit.
LANCASTER STREET - Em
James Michael Taylor
Midnight in COWTOWN. 90 degrees
Too hot for a blanket. Too hot for a sheet
The trash on the sidewalk is trying to sleep
Breathing the bus fumes on Lancaster Street...
Sunshine brings tacos…
THE GIFT - key C
An architect in Bakersfield gave him a gift of wine
Napa Valley, California, famous for the vine
When the grape is coupled with the peach, the promise is divine
But he would never pull the cork as he alone would dine…
THE ANGELS CRIED NO - capo @ 4 in Am
Am Em - He lived high up on the mountain top
He lived there with his love
He tumbled to the valley deep
F - When she gave him a shove
And, when he hit the valley deep
It must have broke his heart…
KAWEAH (says the crow)
"Kaweah, Kaweah"
There's a place on up the hill
Redwood trees are standing still
The murmur of the river will invite you
Lay your head down on a rock
You'll forget about the clock
The whisper of the sun will…
The Winnowing Wind
I feel the wind blow thru me
Oh, please don't let it undo me
Let it level and true me
The Wind. The Winnowing Wind
And here I stand, alone, against the wind,
And, who am I to think that I
Can stand alone against the…
THE ONLY THINGS
Any road that leads to somewhere
Any thought that comes to mind
Any sight on the horizon
Any friend that's left behind
Any meal that's ever eaten
Any quilt that's ever lined
Any concert that is set thru
Any document that…
Robert Hayden
Like the concept, great job recognizing those unduspected little flash backs
2h2 hours ago
Reply
Hide
Lazarus Knight
Great! It's like telling her that there's never a moment when she is not the center of focus.
THE ONLY THINGS
Any road that leads to somewhere
Any thought that comes to mind
Any sight on the horizon
Any friend that's left behind
Any meal that's ever eaten
Any quilt that's ever lined
Any concert that is set thru
Any document that…
I think of you very often even when it's not spoken the words are in my mind more than just a token or poem spoken out loud I'm proud to call you a friend who also writes wonderful songs and I often sing along my voice soft or strong always makes me feel real good and I should say it happens every time I think of you. On every guitar string is a note and there's a song at the end of any pencil you might pick up and write down on a piece of paper
Any song you write always fuels my imagination and makes me think and that's a wonderful gift you have Jim thanks nice work
THE ANGELS CRIED NO - capo @ 4 in Am
Am Em - He lived high up on the mountain top
He lived there with his love
He tumbled to the valley deep
F - When she gave him a shove
And, when he hit the valley deep
It must have broke his heart…
Absolutely powerfully beautiful and genius! Love the layered vocals and the lyrical flow
LeAnna
Thank you for letting me hear that!
LeAnna
LeAnna M Christian
You are awesome all-around!
THE ANGELS CRIED NO - capo @ 4 in Am
Am Em - He lived high up on the mountain top
He lived there with his love
He tumbled to the valley deep
F - When she gave him a shove
And, when he hit the valley deep
It must have broke his heart…
ANGLES CRIED "NO!" About Peggy kicking me to the gutter/valley deep. How, even the angles in heaven, were horrified.
8:30 PM
Lee
Lee Snaples
Okay, I did not get that vibe but that makes sense.
Something I missed for many years was singing in a choir. Now that I have multitracking I don't miss it any more.
THE WINNOWING WIND
I feel the wind flow thru me
Oh, please, don't let it undo me.
Let it level and true me
The wind, the…
THE ANGELS CRIED NO - capo @ 4 in Am
Am Em - He lived high up on the mountain top
He lived there with his love
He tumbled to the valley deep
F - When she gave him a shove
And, when he hit the valley deep
It must have broke his heart…
Where did this one come from? I think it demonstrates your range as a songwriter because most of your songs are personal experience and this is very different. Nice job. I like it.
Walking alone in late February
Thinking on friends I’d lost
John and Sean and Christopher
Ryan, Ian, and Mark
Some of them fell to fever and drink
Some to women or song
One of them made it to the good life
But all of them are gone
All…
Gwyn Henry said, "How random, Jim! What precipitated this sharing??? Don't get me wrong, it is very funny.
My reply, "This was about when Peggy, my fuck buddy for 29 years said no more for me. She was giving it to Doug. Not funny to me. So 15 years celebate."
I'M A STRANGER TO ME - capo @ 3 playing in C
I'm a stranger to me
I make the bed where I sleep
I cook the food that I eat
I fold the towel that dries
The tears in my eyes
I'm a stranger to me
I'm a stranger to me
Every morning we meet…
I randomly chose an old album to pick a song from to post and it turned out to be songs one year after Peggy left. I was at my lowest, loneliest, most unconsolable. STRANGER was a song that also spoke to me about my dad having lost my mom. to Gwyn Henry
THE ONLY THINGS
Any road that leads to somewhere
Any thought that comes to mind
Any sight on the horizon
Any friend that's left behind
Any meal that's ever eaten
Any quilt that's ever lined
Any concert that is set thru
Any document that…
"Somewhere between the stumbling and the falling..."
SOMEWHERE
G capo @ 2 - live @ 4
Somewhere between the summer and the winter
The leaves between the tree tops and the fall
Somewhere between my heart and circled letters
Somewhere…
It’s a small town. Woodlake, California. East side of the San Joaquin Valley. 14 miles from where all those “Lindsey” olives you see on your grocery store shelves come from. The Woodlake Echo, says, “In the foothills of the Sequoias”.
FOOTHILLS…
Scott - Thanks for the link. I love how descripted they were i never have smelled the orange blossoms but i bet they are heavenly.
Me -The first time it hit me, I was taking Kay Smart for a ride, top down just west of that bridge at Lemon cove. Nothing else like it.
Scott -
Enter
Scott
Scott Carson Ausburn
I bet ; ) Nothing like smell to jog your memories. I usta be in love with this girl named Belinda that lived up the street from my Grandmothers. We would go bicycle riding often. Her front yard had plum trees that smelled heavenly when the were in bloom. Now every time i smell a plum tree bloom it takes me back to the good times i had with Belinda and wondering what ever happened to her.
Me -So sweet. Peggy wore Sweet Honesty perfume. I’m sure if I met some girl with that I would be shaken.
Refuge into the imagination:
Is it crazy?
Is it survival?
Is desire to survive crazy?
THERE SHE WAS Key - G 102811
G
She'd been gone for three years now so he'd been on the road
Playing every truck stop bar and every song he…
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
I go farther and farther into my appreciation of you songwriting skills... lyrics poetic... ex Broke Piano.. The line that got me this time was "The only things that moves my strings is when somebody breathes" I once interviewed a popular musician in Tulsa, John D.Levan, in the late 70s. When I asked him where he got his ideas for songs, he laughed and said, "Heck, you just turn your head, and thre's a song!" Your line is saying the same, only more intensely... it's the inclusion of "human breath". goes even deeper.
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide under the bed, take a crayon, etc.
jmt - You are broadening my vision of the video. Yes. Under the bed was always a place of mystery and imagined safety.
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide uner the bed, take a crayon, etc.
key - C
I’m clinging to the memories as the world falls apart
The falling leaves, dead Everleys are pulling at my heart.
My quest for rationality, I can’t even start.
So, I’m clinging to the memories as the world falls apart
I’m clinging…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
Kat Angel
Wow! Through your words, I heard my mother, my father, my sisters and brother, my grandma and grandpa, myself talking to my husband, my best friend. I suppose we are all that predictable in time and in retrospect. You made me think and travel through time.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE NIGHT TIME - no Capo or Capo @ 4
(Am)Something about the (Bm)night time makes me feel alive
Makes me want to sing a song. Think about my life
(C)Maybe light a (D)candle. I like lemon grass
(Am)Something about the (Bm…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
Belinda Stephens - Lovely, James. Who are you singing about?
James Michael Taylor
Belinda Stephens Specifically, Peggy. But we all have the voices of our parents and children and other loved ones that we live with.
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Thanks for sharing this with me. Lovely.
Excellent
Damn, Jimmy... It says this song was uploaded in March 2020. That was when Covid was just taking off and that was when my world got weird and my Day to Day went crazy. Damn, Jimmy... I missed this song when it came out. I just now listened to it tonight. Damn, Jimmy... I love this song.
Jim, beautiful lyrics. How wonderful you had that kind of affirmation from your father.
Larry Spann I miss him, too. When he gave me that album he told me I had to check you out. He said Townes van Zandt is a great writer, but he didn’t like everything Townes wrote. He liked EVERYTHING you wrote!
Larry Spann Great album! My first of yours. John DeFoore gave it to me about 15 years ago.
Rose Jeffus You have such a unique way with words James. Love your song. I will have to share it with my son in law. He is a volunteer twice a week at the homeless shelter. He is about to have surgery on his left arm this morning so he will have to miss a bit.
Leslie Young Beautiful but sad. Lee Snaples Such a great song, so poignant
"Wow!" laz
Jonathan Ashley White Oh I can totally hear that! Thats such a fun song. The time change at the “the angles said no” part was cool surprise!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/hashtag/imalwaysinlove?__eep__=6%2F
Belinda Stephens Sad and beautiful too
Linda Linder That was lovely . What a wonderful sound of voices in harmony . I forgot how much I enjoy listening to a choir ! Thank you for sharing !!
Robert Hayden Like the concept, great job recognizing those unduspected little flash backs 2h2 hours ago Reply Hide Lazarus Knight Great! It's like telling her that there's never a moment when she is not the center of focus.
I think of you very often even when it's not spoken the words are in my mind more than just a token or poem spoken out loud I'm proud to call you a friend who also writes wonderful songs and I often sing along my voice soft or strong always makes me feel real good and I should say it happens every time I think of you. On every guitar string is a note and there's a song at the end of any pencil you might pick up and write down on a piece of paper Any song you write always fuels my imagination and makes me think and that's a wonderful gift you have Jim thanks nice work
Absolutely powerfully beautiful and genius! Love the layered vocals and the lyrical flow LeAnna Thank you for letting me hear that! LeAnna LeAnna M Christian You are awesome all-around!
ANGLES CRIED "NO!" About Peggy kicking me to the gutter/valley deep. How, even the angles in heaven, were horrified. 8:30 PM Lee Lee Snaples Okay, I did not get that vibe but that makes sense.
Absolutely powerfully beautiful and genius! Love the layered vocals and the lyrical flow
And people say you don't write any happy songs. :) Nice job.
Where did this one come from? I think it demonstrates your range as a songwriter because most of your songs are personal experience and this is very different. Nice job. I like it.
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Great groove...
Such pathos. We could collect all the Ghost Town songs on Alonetone and have a very interesting album.
It would be cool to put the GHOST TOWN songs in a collection. A great subject with so much sadness... You really capture it here.
Gwyn Henry said, "How random, Jim! What precipitated this sharing??? Don't get me wrong, it is very funny. My reply, "This was about when Peggy, my fuck buddy for 29 years said no more for me. She was giving it to Doug. Not funny to me. So 15 years celebate."
I randomly chose an old album to pick a song from to post and it turned out to be songs one year after Peggy left. I was at my lowest, loneliest, most unconsolable. STRANGER was a song that also spoke to me about my dad having lost my mom. to Gwyn Henry
I also like These are the Only Times I Think of You... You are so prolific and so consistent in quality of work. Gwyn Henry
WoW! What an interesting counterpoint: slow recitation with snappy drum track.
Really snappy and tight. What an interesting lyric.
That pain is incredible and I understand it Alene Brandt
Scott - Thanks for the link. I love how descripted they were i never have smelled the orange blossoms but i bet they are heavenly. Me -The first time it hit me, I was taking Kay Smart for a ride, top down just west of that bridge at Lemon cove. Nothing else like it. Scott - Enter Scott Scott Carson Ausburn I bet ; ) Nothing like smell to jog your memories. I usta be in love with this girl named Belinda that lived up the street from my Grandmothers. We would go bicycle riding often. Her front yard had plum trees that smelled heavenly when the were in bloom. Now every time i smell a plum tree bloom it takes me back to the good times i had with Belinda and wondering what ever happened to her. Me -So sweet. Peggy wore Sweet Honesty perfume. I’m sure if I met some girl with that I would be shaken.
I sang this song at a Sunday night songwriter contest at The Playground in Fort Worth. No cigar.
Gwyn Henry I go farther and farther into my appreciation of you songwriting skills... lyrics poetic... ex Broke Piano.. The line that got me this time was "The only things that moves my strings is when somebody breathes" I once interviewed a popular musician in Tulsa, John D.Levan, in the late 70s. When I asked him where he got his ideas for songs, he laughed and said, "Heck, you just turn your head, and thre's a song!" Your line is saying the same, only more intensely... it's the inclusion of "human breath". goes even deeper.
Gwyn Henry That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide under the bed, take a crayon, etc. jmt - You are broadening my vision of the video. Yes. Under the bed was always a place of mystery and imagined safety.
Gwyn Henry That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide uner the bed, take a crayon, etc.
Bobby Huskins I like this a lot! Thanks for sharing.
Kat Angel Psychedelic sound. Felt like a brain massage.
Kat Angel Wow! Through your words, I heard my mother, my father, my sisters and brother, my grandma and grandpa, myself talking to my husband, my best friend. I suppose we are all that predictable in time and in retrospect. You made me think and travel through time.
Kat Angel James Michael Taylor great song. I love the melody and the words
Joseph Brunelle Haunting Sentimental heart on the sleeve and knot in the pine
Belinda Stephens - Lovely, James. Who are you singing about? James Michael Taylor Belinda Stephens Specifically, Peggy. But we all have the voices of our parents and children and other loved ones that we live with.