The story is at www.iburymydead.com
THE CHILD WITH THE BEAUTIFUL NAME
What remains of an eagle that's fallen
The roots of an oak tree now claim
To draw sap for the shade for the cattle
O're the child with the beautiful name
The law…
The story is at www.iburymydead.com
THE CHILD WITH THE BEAUTIFUL NAME
What remains of an eagle that's fallen
The roots of an oak tree now claim
To draw sap for the shade for the cattle
O're the child with the beautiful name
The law…
I first heard this song yesterday when I was listening to you reading "I bury my dead", and I immediately loved it. I'm sure I would have loved it without hearing the story too, but it sure adds a lot of meaning and depths to it.
Great work, James!
This song tells about a guy I know named Gene.
GENE
Gene had a girlfriend
The band would play and they would dance
She was tall and Gene was tall
A lovely late romance
They'd smile and hold each other
They'd sit and share a drink
Holding…
> First there was Spring Time. Then there was Summer.
> Then there was Autumn.
>
> And then there was Winter. Her daddy mowed lawns
> She was a smart little doll
> River loved Winter. His dad was a singer
> But River…
Dad wanted me to write him some funeral music. This is it. He's still alive at 91 and sings this song to himself and tears come to his eyes. I have a video of Dad and me singing a duet of this song.
EULOGY
He grew up in Clinton, Oklahoma…
Dad wanted me to write him some funeral music. This is it. He's still alive at 91 and sings this song to himself and tears come to his eyes. I have a video of Dad and me singing a duet of this song.
EULOGY
He grew up in Clinton, Oklahoma…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
Yeah, I know.
I can't understand it either.
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 be…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
It's great the way you remember so many of the details of your life.
You so beautifully weave bits of memory into a story cloth. Every line holds my attention always waiting for your next thought.
Thanks again for sharing your amazingly human and heartfelt stories.
I REMEMBER THEM
Capo @ 5 in C (F)
C CM7 C CM7
I stare at a picture of you and me thirty years ago
G C CM7
Sitting on the porch at a cheap motel in Midland
C CM7 FM7
Glad I didn't know way back then what I didn't know
G C CM7
Stars in…
Song well done and voice good. Guitar and chords very nice. Not sure about the way words fit, or something, sounds too much like a commercial. Just a collection of facts.
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…
Gwyn Henry
Meet Me at the Club-- darker than its exterior. I love it. Barbara and Peggy sound great! What a lot of pain must have been wrapped in those sassy harmonies. This song has a Bopcat feel,. musically--- apples that fell from the same tree, and didn't roll too far from ea other. Your vocals especially good in this.
BEAVERS AND WILLOWS
Capo @ 5 in C
FCG FC FCFG
F C G F C
Like beavers and willows
Bats and mosquitos
F) Toad C) frogs and F) flies (G
DA DA - E Am G C
Algae and oil spills
Shovels and coal hills
Black holes…
TWO POUNDS - (Diethylstilbestrol Daughters)
"DES, which was once prescribed to prevent miscarriages, caused obesity, rare vaginal tumors, infertility, and testicular growths among those exposed in utero." http://www.motherjones.com/environment…
I wrote this after I sang with a friend
at his mother's funeral.
He had always wondered
why he looked nothing like his brothers...
DOOR MAT
Key - A
A) My daddy treated Mama like a door mat
D) Me and little brother didn't like that…
I wrote this after I sang with a friend
at his mother's funeral.
He had always wondered
why he looked nothing like his brothers...
DOOR MAT
Key - A
A) My daddy treated Mama like a door mat
D) Me and little brother didn't like that…
I dreamed this song a while ago. Sort of a music circle in a pub. Lots of instruments and percussion and what not. I quite like it :)
(Bass, lyre, bodhran, bongos, shaker, 2 mandolin tracks, multiple clap tracks)
Here's an instrumental folk Celtic sort of tune I made today. Guitar, bass, pennywhistle, mandolin, bodhran.
Took about 4 hours to record all the parts properly. The result is a delightful minute and a half, I think!
A cover of Great Big Sea's cover of Ron Angel's song. I love both versions. I used guitar, bodhran, vocals.
Edit: reuploaded; fixed up the vocals a bit.
Messing around, playing a classic. Recorded on my phone. Lots of fun!
(Merle Travis, Tennesse Ernie Ford, Johnny Cash all did popular versions; probably a million others have played it at some point.)
It's a long-distance love song
Yes, a long-distance love song
I'll sing it just for you
I'll sing a long distance love song
When the night is long
And you've been gone from home
Sing a long-distance love song
Yeah a long-distance love…
When I was a kid, my dad was the preacher at the Church of Christ in Tehachapi, California. We lived in Palmdale, so we'd get up early on Sunday mornings, pile the 5 of us into our 1950 Chevy coupe and head up thru Lancaster and Mojave, over the…
There is nothing like the presence of a horse. The quiet understanding. The gentle strength.
Woodlake, California...1961. I had a horse. She was my friend.
There were times in my teens when Babe was the only being that did not judge me…
ADOBE & BLOOD
Thanks to David Kneller
for bringing up the subject
and creating that phrase:
ADOBE & BLOOD
I read a lotta stories about a lotta stuff
But I tell ya folks, I'll never read enough
To block out the memories what…
This is my adaptation of a poem by Rosemarie Kempton.
"I always felt that it was fitting that you turned the poem I wrote into a poignant hymn that captured the feeling of loss of a loved one. My words sprang from my attempts to understand…
Her real name isn't Luanne and she was so drunk when this all happened (tho she has a cd with this song on it) she has no idea it's about her.
Singing this song always makes me cry...
ABOUT LUANNE capo @ 2 in Am
Am G F E repeats
Luanne…
It’s an exceptional piece... I like pieces that “bother” and flip a phrase to a point... this one intrigues me....
You must keep writing James!!! Hope to cross paths again soon...
Blu (Sharon Walker)
The lyrics of this song,
as they pertain to plot,
are my exact memory of the event.
I had spoken to the kid maybe a minute before the "action" started about how the pressure of the water was very strong. He was nestled down with his back…
what awesome lyrics mate!
Reminds me of good old Robert Zimmerman... but it also doubles as metaphorical mastery!
The boy represents an issue within your community... one for which you are there, and MUST help... but which the community just sits back on, not really seeing the "problem" you are attempting to fix...
Powerful stuff, mate.
Love it. Mark Brookman
GHOST TOWN
Key C Capo @ 2 or whatever works for you...
C Em F G C
I live in a Ghost Town somewhere on the edge of space
C Em F G
Everything is dusty and everything is in it's place
Am Em F G C
All the doors hang open and when it rains…
...after reading John Steinbeck's IN DUBIOUS BATTLE and watching the John Ford movie of GRAPES OF WRATH. The opening and closing statements are quotes from the Preacher in the movie.
A friend said he wanted to do a video of this track. I…
Gwyn Henry
The Stienbeck excerpt: Especially the 2nd paragraph. My Gawd! I had forgotten how that man could write!!! I had forgotten why he is an icon among American writers,. Touched by the gods. As is your song, In Dubious Battle. It is an opus. imhop. If you had never written another song, just leaving this one would earn you a place in the echelons!! (OK, I'll calm down now.) These two pieces in combination have moved me greatly for their Truth. And so totally relevant today.
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
this is just beautiful...lovely vocals...guitar solo in sundown mode...sweet indeed
I first heard this song yesterday when I was listening to you reading "I bury my dead", and I immediately loved it. I'm sure I would have loved it without hearing the story too, but it sure adds a lot of meaning and depths to it. Great work, James!
Hey, that's an unexpected style from you. Nice old-school (60s) feel.
You are a proof for my conviction that a good lyric is a requirement for a good song. All your lyrics are great IMO, and so are your songs.
interesting song,,,very nice story telling,, i think i'll need to listen a few more times
Great great James. I like the picture you took of him thru the window on FB.
Wonderful that you got to do this while he's still around to appreciate it!
This is really beautifully done.
Well, at least you know who you are, that's a lot more than some.
Great song James!
Love it James!
Dig it! Oh yeah.... LG
Beautiful song, Jim.
honesty and info rolled into a nice melodic thread. enjoyed very much. Telsa. thanks JMT!
Right on, I would say.
Good stuff, James!
It's great the way you remember so many of the details of your life. You so beautifully weave bits of memory into a story cloth. Every line holds my attention always waiting for your next thought. Thanks again for sharing your amazingly human and heartfelt stories.
I can relate to this. Good one Al
Song well done and voice good. Guitar and chords very nice. Not sure about the way words fit, or something, sounds too much like a commercial. Just a collection of facts.
love the stumbling drunk feel to the bass and drums great vocal
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Gwyn Henry Meet Me at the Club-- darker than its exterior. I love it. Barbara and Peggy sound great! What a lot of pain must have been wrapped in those sassy harmonies. This song has a Bopcat feel,. musically--- apples that fell from the same tree, and didn't roll too far from ea other. Your vocals especially good in this.
Rocking the loops?
Bruce Balmer I listened to “My New Shorts.” Brilliant use of time. Like mini-oreos or something. Interesting production, nice vocals.
Holy cow. What a song. Michael Rehahn
Gwyn Henry Thanks for writing this, Jim.
"Powerful stuff." Ray Russell
Great "slap-back" feel.
Cool. I had to look up bodhran.
Love it when men sing these songs in unison. Well done.
Great old song, well done.
Very sweet. Nice solo.
That's some sweet guitar playing. Ray Russell
'Very good capture." Gwyn Henry
Visions and emotions that I haven't felt in a long time. Thank you so much. Jere Reiser
"EXCELLENT POINTED SONG RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER!" -Don Law
That may be the most beautiful thing I ever heard. Breathtaking. Thanks for sharing. - Janet Fawcett
It’s an exceptional piece... I like pieces that “bother” and flip a phrase to a point... this one intrigues me.... You must keep writing James!!! Hope to cross paths again soon... Blu (Sharon Walker)
what awesome lyrics mate! Reminds me of good old Robert Zimmerman... but it also doubles as metaphorical mastery! The boy represents an issue within your community... one for which you are there, and MUST help... but which the community just sits back on, not really seeing the "problem" you are attempting to fix... Powerful stuff, mate. Love it. Mark Brookman
I ❤️ that song...Kavin Me too. One of his many good ones. JS Savage
Gwyn Henry The Stienbeck excerpt: Especially the 2nd paragraph. My Gawd! I had forgotten how that man could write!!! I had forgotten why he is an icon among American writers,. Touched by the gods. As is your song, In Dubious Battle. It is an opus. imhop. If you had never written another song, just leaving this one would earn you a place in the echelons!! (OK, I'll calm down now.) These two pieces in combination have moved me greatly for their Truth. And so totally relevant today.