SOLITARY WALK
I am a child of Judah
and the mark of Cain is on me
I am a fugitive in every place I go.
and my name is Joseph Friedman
and I tend the olive orchards
on a hillside just a short walk from my home.
There, the silver trunks…
I am a child of Judah
and the mark of Cain is on me
I am a fugitive in every place I go.
and my name is Joseph Friedman
and I tend the olive orchards
on a hillside just a short walk from my home.
There, the silver trunks are ancient
and the olive branches fruitful
but the breeze that shakes the leaves
still low, "Where is God? Where is God?"
I am a child of Esau. I am Ali Abed.
I once lived...olives near my home.
I would prune the trees in winter
when the sap sinks deep in Gaza
and the children won't be throwing their stones
But the soldiers came at midnight
with their power saws remarking
and now the sap has nowhere left to go.
Where is God/ Where is God?
My name is Jimmy Taylor
and I am a Future Farmer
and my project is nine trees out by the road.
and the trees have been neglected
all these many years untended
a home now for a solitary crow.
So, I climb with my saw and clippers
up into the brittle thicket
busy choosing what will stay and what will go.
And I note my meter progress
and I wonder if I'll ever
rid the olive trees of dead wood,
I'm so slow. And I read the Sunday paper
and I daily read my Bible
and I see the scars of pruning down below.
(c) 2002 Royal T Music
was a Texan.
Quannah Parker was the son born to Cynthia Parker, a white girl, stolen by Comanche raiders who grew up to be the wife of the chief. Quannah, in turn became the leader of his tribe. Eventually, Cynthia returned to her people. This…
was a Texan.
Quannah Parker was the son born to Cynthia Parker, a white girl, stolen by Comanche raiders who grew up to be the wife of the chief. Quannah, in turn became the leader of his tribe. Eventually, Cynthia returned to her people. This…
C w Capo @ 5
C G C G
Thirty one years in this city.
C G C G
Thirty one years on this street
Fighting in the morning. Fighting at night.
This place has the smell of defeat…
THE DUST ON THE PIANO
Capo at 2 in Dm
Dm C (2) or Em D
He used to play piano because it made her smile
Dm C (2)
She could be in any room. He'd sit and play a while
F C Bb (G)Dm or G D C Em
He didn't need to see her. He knew she loved…
Born with my left arm over my head, a big blood blister covered my left elbow. I was extracted from my mother's body with forceps. Seems that caused a tumor on my right temple which was surgically removed when I was about three. The purple elbow…
Born with my left arm over my head, a big blood blister covered my left elbow. I was extracted from my mother's body with forceps. Seems that caused a tumor on my right temple which was surgically removed when I was about three. The purple elbow…
Dogs, cats, chickens, hamsters, human beings...it's all the same.
THE POUND
Thank you for coming to the pound
Take your time. Look around.
We’ve got something for everyone,
Someone for everyone.
Thank you for coming to the pound…
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…
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…
Yeah, very nice! Everything is given proper space to "breathe", so to speak. Really draws me in in that intangible sort of way that music sometimes does.
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…
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…
My friend, George Sluizer was making a film DARK BLOOD with River Phoenix and asked me to submit some music to possibly be used in the movie. He didn’t end up using this but he did use four other of my submissions.
(C) 2015 Royal T Music
My friend, George Sluizer was making a film with River Phoenix and asked me to submit some music to possibly be used in the movie. He didn't end up sing this but he did use four other of my submissions.
THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS Key C
Capo @ 3
VIDEO - https://www.facebook.com/reel/629088762494393
https://fb.watch/lQdzfYTriA/
https://www.facebook.com/100007692130538/videos/122358790913196/. With Martha - practice
C. F. C…
THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS Key C
Capo @ 3
VIDEO - https://www.facebook.com/reel/629088762494393
https://fb.watch/lQdzfYTriA/
https://www.facebook.com/100007692130538/videos/122358790913196/. With Martha - practice
C. F. C…
LEAVING - Am
Am - He trembles like a Tamborine
Dm - His thoughts in words adorned
E - She puts her fingers to his lips
Am - Sufficiently informed
She knows a primal language
That answers all his fears
And in the silent darkness
She…
LEAVING - Am
Am - He trembles like a Tamborine
Dm - His thoughts in words adorned
E - She puts her fingers to his lips
Am - Sufficiently informed
She knows a primal language
That answers all his fears
And in the silent darkness
She…
Buddy Holly said he made songs out of things he'd heard his mother say all his life...
A E A D A
I'll always remember what mama said
I'll never forget what my mama said…
Matthew F. Blowers III
Hey James...superbly creative and lively tribute to Buddy Holly and his Mother. The music is catchy and well played and the lyrics are quite touching g.very well done...Write on....Right on.. righteously
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…
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…
GONE - My sequester song...
Chain wrapped around the dog park gate
Weeds growing on the school yard lawn
Where has everybody gone
The chairs are stacked
And the stage is dusty
And my strings are getting rusty...
(C) Royal T Music
There is a story behind this song. I'll leave it at that for now.
_____________________________________
Moonlight shined through the trees in the woods
A barred owl called and I understood
Nocturnal presence flew silently by
I tried…
Some time back, you left me a note on a song, Kingston Recliner:Destiny . . . You know, your verse might make a nice bridge to really capture the essence of “Destiny”. I just saw it and am wondering what "Destiny" is.
capo @ 4 Am - 3/4 time (starts on A)
Am G Am G Am
Last night I said Good bye to Rose but long ago I learned.
The things that last we seldom know and think a bridge is burned.
Bb…
I wrote this song after planting and fertalizing a crop of sudan grass just to have the sun shine down with no relief on it for 100 days and no rain. We, Texas Water, were heading home one night AFTER A GIG at Gringo's in Grapevine when the…
That’s a terrific tune, James! Good lyrics, playing, and vocals. I enjoyed that. It actually helped relax me. I’m so glad you sold it! Sweet song. I always like your music. It’s good you’re making some income with it. You deserve that! - Doreen Peri
Probably anyone who plays the guitar could write this song....
Someone asked if I was actually in Spain in 2003. Actually, 2000. Working on the movie, THE STONE RAFT with George Sluizer, from a book by Jose Saramago.
Inspired by something Jenni…
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…
Begin to see me, worthy Sailor, navigator
Living on the ocean for days
The spirit of the sea lies below us
Above us, dark skies of gray
I just can’t let it go
The search for the grail has gone cold
But a wreck of a ship lies below us…
This is, actually, the instrumental version of I Play C and THEN comes SNAPSHOTS, which was written one morning at a campground between Comfort and Welfare, Texas called OLD NUMBER NINE Depot. It was a weekend songwriter retreat with Liza Gilkyson…
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…
Got to be one of my may favorites you have shared!!! Love love love this one.
First the rareified topic... loving the night time, the dark, what it does for me... as i said, "...u begin right there in the pitch dark of ur room to face the blooming moon knowing...u r of the darkness... a ghost haunting your own room & u move with delight that u are a wraith an invisible scrap of shadow..."
echos your more succinct, "Something about the night that makes me feel aware,,. All my inner voices speaking loud and clear" Gwen Henry
It hit me...I know so many sides of so many arguments it's all become useless.
TOO MUCH
I’ve heard too much. I’ve seen too much
Don’t ask me any questions because
I know too much
I’ve read too much. I’ve written too much
Consider…
HOME
(Am D) or (F C)
VERSE 1.
Where the (G) windmill sings to the mocking bird
And the (CM7) prairie wind, without a word
(Am) Whispers thru tall (D) grass, I’ll be (G) home
(F C G) or (Am D)
VERSE 2.
Where the butter cups and…
HOME
(Am D) or (F C)
VERSE 1.
Where the (G) windmill sings to the mocking bird
And the (CM7) prairie wind, without a word
(Am) Whispers thru tall (D) grass, I’ll be (G) home
(F C G) or (Am D)
VERSE 2.
Where the butter cups and…
Another song for the 2021 National Solo Album Month.
What do we think of this cat? I have an urge to get proggy right now and generally that requires a level of talent that I don't posses. I'm not putting myself down when I say that, it's…
Another song for the 2021 National Solo Album Month.
What do we think of this cat? I have an urge to get proggy right now and generally that requires a level of talent that I don't posses. I'm not putting myself down when I say that, it's…
It's been a long absence from a regular daily practice of song writing. Covid and a major change in the family has distracted me for well over a year. Recently I've been lucky enough to drift back into old familiar things like wine soaked evenings…
"Destiny will find you when you think you're in control. Destiny will find you and rip you a new ass hole..." (Sorry. I couldn't stop myself...destiny, you know.)
When you C reach the Em point
When it’s F all in the rear view C mirror
And Am reflection is your G only point of C view G
You C feel it Em inside
When it F becomes so C clear
There’s Am nothing that G you can C do
F Hold on to G memories…
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
I am a child of Judah and the mark of Cain is on me I am a fugitive in every place I go. and my name is Joseph Friedman and I tend the olive orchards on a hillside just a short walk from my home. There, the silver trunks are ancient and the olive branches fruitful but the breeze that shakes the leaves still low, "Where is God? Where is God?" I am a child of Esau. I am Ali Abed. I once lived...olives near my home. I would prune the trees in winter when the sap sinks deep in Gaza and the children won't be throwing their stones But the soldiers came at midnight with their power saws remarking and now the sap has nowhere left to go. Where is God/ Where is God? My name is Jimmy Taylor and I am a Future Farmer and my project is nine trees out by the road. and the trees have been neglected all these many years untended a home now for a solitary crow. So, I climb with my saw and clippers up into the brittle thicket busy choosing what will stay and what will go. And I note my meter progress and I wonder if I'll ever rid the olive trees of dead wood, I'm so slow. And I read the Sunday paper and I daily read my Bible and I see the scars of pruning down below. (c) 2002 Royal T Music
lovely ..
Had forgotten how good this was! (It is, and always was, a complicated song to sing).
Nice song. I hope that life in Colorado meets this family's expectations.
as usual james another haunting ballad,comes to life.
awwe, now i love the girl with the purple cheek,didn't finish listening you guys are so beautiful...love this!!!!
awwe i love this lil' boy with the purple elbow poor baby, love this song, so cool!
love that song brother God bless
riveting essay on the realities of this well known avenue
Yeah, very nice! Everything is given proper space to "breathe", so to speak. Really draws me in in that intangible sort of way that music sometimes does.
As Colleen Dillon said, haunting. Crying.
Hokey lyrics (every lab coat is contaminated)??? Music doesn't match the sstory. Run, HeLa Run?? Thumbs down
My friend, George Sluizer was making a film with River Phoenix and asked me to submit some music to possibly be used in the movie. He didn't end up sing this but he did use four other of my submissions.
Great lyrics, love the vocals and music Bravo James
Love this.
very nice sir!!
wonderfully quirky as usual... where u get these ideas ? lovely vocals as per ususal james
Red Dirt Music is a genre into itself. I was just in Stillwater and heard a lot of new, for me, Music.
I meant Tiger Lilies not Threepenny Opera, Lol
Love it! Shades of Leonard Cohen meets Threepenny Opera! Thanks JMT!
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Matthew F. Blowers III Hey James...superbly creative and lively tribute to Buddy Holly and his Mother. The music is catchy and well played and the lyrics are quite touching g.very well done...Write on....Right on.. righteously
Blaire Stroud Love the harmonica on that just beautiful!
Laurie Callinan beautiful and sweet....❤ dear friend
I have a clue but still searching for answers. I hv listened to Shorts and I love it. You are a fucking genius. Joseph Brunelle
Some time back, you left me a note on a song, Kingston Recliner:Destiny . . . You know, your verse might make a nice bridge to really capture the essence of “Destiny”. I just saw it and am wondering what "Destiny" is.
Lazarus Knight James Michael Taylor I'm not altogether sure what Instagram is, but "Tonight I Said Goodbye to Rose" is my favorite from Namedropper.
That’s a terrific tune, James! Good lyrics, playing, and vocals. I enjoyed that. It actually helped relax me. I’m so glad you sold it! Sweet song. I always like your music. It’s good you’re making some income with it. You deserve that! - Doreen Peri
Love that song my friend - Chris Harper
Jere Reiser Nice meditation James
WoW! Great drone. Love the dissonance.
Welcome to this busy crossroads of music.
Theo Carracino wrote, "Beautiful. Best moments of my day. Thank you, James Michael Taylor."
Got to be one of my may favorites you have shared!!! Love love love this one. First the rareified topic... loving the night time, the dark, what it does for me... as i said, "...u begin right there in the pitch dark of ur room to face the blooming moon knowing...u r of the darkness... a ghost haunting your own room & u move with delight that u are a wraith an invisible scrap of shadow..." echos your more succinct, "Something about the night that makes me feel aware,,. All my inner voices speaking loud and clear" Gwen Henry
We've all heard too much and seen too much ... too much of many things. Theo Carracino haha ... i love that ending.
Jim Lamb Very well written, James Michael, great lyrics and story!!
Reads like a poem and sounds like a song. Jeff Prince
Rock On!!!!!
Mix your voice up at least on the level of the solo guitar...
"Destiny will find you when you think you're in control. Destiny will find you and rip you a new ass hole..." (Sorry. I couldn't stop myself...destiny, you know.)
...a song to be remembered for...