I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been out of control
They took away my blanket. Put me out in the cold.
Even Miami’s got ice on the ground
Man said, “You be a good boy and get out of my town.”
I’d just got to sleep when they turned on the…
I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been out of control
They took away my blanket. Put me out in the cold.
Even Miami’s got ice on the ground
Man said, “You be a good boy and get out of my town.”
I’d just got to sleep when they turned on the…
Katy Tom Noyes
The line....you feel warm when you're freezing to death.... I was so afraid this was going to happen to my Dad the first night. He thought he could tuff it out. Ended up in his car for warmth. He finally realized the severity and went to my brother's. He didn't want to leave his house
I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been out of control
They took away my blanket. Put me out in the cold.
Even Miami’s got ice on the ground
Man said, “You be a good boy and get out of my town.”
I’d just got to sleep when they turned on the…
I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been out of control
They took away my blanket. Put me out in the cold.
Even Miami’s got ice on the ground
Man said, “You be a good boy and get out of my town.”
I’d just got to sleep when they turned on the…
I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been out of control
They took away my blanket. Put me out in the cold.
Even Miami’s got ice on the ground
Man said, “You be a good boy and get out of my town.”
I’d just got to sleep when they turned on the…
I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been out of control
They took away my blanket. Put me out in the cold.
Even Miami’s got ice on the ground
Man said, “You be a good boy and get out of my town.”
I’d just got to sleep when they turned on the…
LANCASTER STREET
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. Sunshine brings beans.
Sunshine…
BUTTER MOON
I heard this kid say the moon looked like a tortilla
Some people say they can see a man in the moon
But I know, if you look just right, you can see the face of Marylin Monroe
Yeah, when the moon first comes up it looks like a…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
capo @ 3
Am walk down...
When I was a child we'd drive 200 miles
to Grandma's in the Spring
I'd hop out of the car, run to the back yard.
Grandma had a swing
But the times have changed...
When I became a dad I took all the rope I had…
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
Poetic. Jeff Prince
Katy Tom Noyes The line....you feel warm when you're freezing to death.... I was so afraid this was going to happen to my Dad the first night. He thought he could tuff it out. Ended up in his car for warmth. He finally realized the severity and went to my brother's. He didn't want to leave his house
April Nicholle Bond Wonderful and moving! Thank you.
Very compelling, and I think the unusual/quirky arrangement complements the story. Tim Tandy
Connie Pittman Ramsey wow! whoa! like i said in the comments on alonetone ... 'its' not a bad movie ... just a bad scene ... is a kicker!! thanks!!
whoa! wonderful! glad you brought this one back out! ... it's not a bad movie ... just a bad dream ...great line as are the rest. thanks for sharing!!
I love and hate this song. The pain of it is a lot to process. You are so good at your craft.
nice. real nice, James!
Beautiful, James Michael Taylor. You are full of talent and you have been blessed with the power of storytelling and connecting! Taylor May
such a great writer, James Connie Ramsey
Brilliant, James Michael Taylor, your story is easy to visualize!! Jim Lamb
Beautiful. Eric Covington
Good one, bud. Steve Fuqua
Beautiful. Very moving. Belinda Stevens
Beautiful. Sad. Touched me. Rahim Quazi
I love this. Thanks for posting. Jenni Mansfield Peal
Beautiful Rose Jeffus
Beautiful brother Wade Jackson
Very Lovely Laurie Callinan
Loved that. Nice. I agree w Jeff, it’s sad but beautiful. Dana Deatherage
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.