YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN
I clearly remember, you said it didn't matter
I asked your permission. You said it's my decision
I said, "It's quite a climb." You said, "Well, take your time."
I asked you how you're doing and you said you were doing…
NOWHERE - Key of G
James Michael Taylor
1. Maybe I misunderstood G
Maybe I was wrong C
But I thot you loved me D
You stayed so long G
2. Maybe I missed something…
WHO SHE WAS
Maybe she'll come back. I hope she does.
Maybe there's a site on line
that'll tell me where she works
and who she was
Lady, please come back. I'll be right here
Ever night I'll pull up the covers and shut my eyes
and pray…
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…
IF
If your heart must be broken
let it be by beauty
If in tears you be soakin'
let it be by music
If your silence must be ended
let it be by laughter
If your love must say good-bye
let it be in death
If your pockets must be empty…
This is the extended version of the 35 second original...
Guitars and drums are so
helpful when one wants to express
despair and confusion
and despair....and confusion.
ANY MORE
It was raining in the parking lot
We ran all the way to…
The music speaks the anger and the pain. You've got mad skills at using music to express your feelings. I'm sure in its own way the creations are also healing.
I never sing this song the same two times in a row.
The lyric below is pretty close to how I sing it now.
Listening again, this is an awful version of this song...
I have my recording machine working again...I must redo this.
I PLAY C…
I read a book a long long time ago
Why it frightened me, I didn’t know
But there it was. There I was
How did I know?
A simple story. A man and his lover.
Made me quiver. Run for cover.
Beautiful lady in my future…Woooo
I read a book…
They discovered a planet that has no star
Maybe they'll let me name it whoever they are
I know all about a planet without a star
Oh, please let me name it.
I know all about it.
A planet. No orbit. Just lost out in space
No hope or habit…
This is the extended version of the 35 second original...
Guitars and drums are so
helpful when one wants to express
despair and confusion
and despair....and confusion.
ANY MORE
It was raining in the parking lot
We ran all the way to…
THE COUCH - key - C live - Capo @ 4
https://fb.watch/lIEUn31mBZ/
https://www.facebook.com/100054814402634/videos/2856132984527543/
1-C 4-F
Today we put the couch out by the…
OH JIMMY
capo @ 4 or 5 live
C Am F G
On page thirty of the yearbook he found a picture sweet
A girl named Marie Angel, in school right down the street
Dm walk down G
He didn’t notice…
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…
FOR A PENNY
From the moment Toy saw the light
he was the center of attention.
In a room full of sunlight and 'Welcome,"
he was a new dimension.
Tiny traveler, arriving wet
Peggy hardly breaking a sweat
Toy was born in the middle of the…
I had this house I had been working on and I had all my movie making stuff in it. It burned down. That's sort of like this song but not...
WASTING OF YEARS by James Michael Taylor
I have a brain that I must keep busy
I have a heart with…
Svetlana is on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/public/Svetlana-Lazareva
SVETLANA
Svetlana, the prettiest girl in the world
Flew in from Lithuania. Makes me go ho insania
What will I do now? What did I do before?
Svetlania has a…
Dude stole my guitar
so I wrote a song about him...
BICYCLE EDDY
Bicycle Eddy, he rode at night
Had no fenders on his bike
Had a brown streak up the back of his shirt
Eddy don't care. "It's just dirt."
Bicycle Eddy, he slept all day…
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…
This is the original "song".
ANY MORE
It was raining in the parking lot
We ran all the way to the door
That's when you said,
"I love you but I don't need you any more."
CALIFORNIA
Capo @ 4 in C/Am
I’m (Am) going back to California
A little place in the San (E) Joaquin
(Am, stepping down A G F# F E)
Where the back pasture builds
To Sierra foothills
And Kaweah tumbles down cool and clean
I’m going back…
Matthew F. Blowers III
I am really liking your song on California, I have a special love for that state. You captured all the reaons I miss it, with your superb storytelling in lyrics and with the smooth harmonies and extremely well played music. It has a catchy beat, and I listened to the very last note.
I NEVER DREAM capo @ 2 in C
C
I never dream of building bridges. I never dream I’ll build a dam
I never dreamed of a cathedral for the mighty God, I Am
F
I never dreamed of founding clinics or make donations to the cause
C
I don’t see…
So today, for some reason I decided to read the words first.. Just the words. And found it an absolutely beautiful experience. The metaphors you use to describe great and cosmic plans and intentions of great societal achievement, contrasted with the lines that begin with, "BUT I dreamed we met for breakfast".... (the switch and the contrast is very powerful) what a tiny, common human thing: meeting over the sharing of food,. Then followed by, "I dreamed I held your hand"... human touch/connection, as though those two simple things are worth more than all the highest achievements of worldly fame, and material ladders climbed! Which they are. They so are. The rest of the lyrics continue to develop & express that idea beautifully. Then I listened to the sing, and although it is good as a song, For me, the words in themselves stand strong and impactful w/o anything else. Not to contrast them and say one is "better" than the other. Just that sometimes I see lyrics that stand alone, And just saying, these words do that very well. Gwyn Henry
So I was locked in the broom-cupboard, checking out some old songs that need recording.
I'd just picked one and then suddenly this thing came out of nowehere. It started with one of those guitarist doodles that other musicians love so much…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Now here's a bit of an oldie - the second song I ever wrote. In... 1978!
I think I played it once, or maybe twice, at school assemblies. My musical peers and colleagues back then dismissed it as corny/rancid pop music…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I found this one while I was digging through the shoe-box for the 1994 songs. Apparently I wrote it on 10th November 1995.
Foolishly, I thought it would only take a week or so to record... I was originally expecting…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
So I got me a new geetar the other week.
Named her Lala, obviously. Seemed kind of appropriate - she wears a faded gold dress and is full of chunes and mischiefs.
This is our first effort together. It was meant…
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…
I hope Brian (one of us Proods) will forgive me for posting this before we could get together to work on it further. He first played it for me a few months ago and I've been obsessively tweaking it every chance I could get.
I like to imagine…
My attempt at this super fun sea shanty!
This is an old New Zealand whaling song. The popular recent version was recorded a cappella by The Longest Johns. I'm using the chords suggested by Piotrek_G on ultimate-guitar.
Edit: re-uploaded…
CALIFORNIA
Capo @ 4 in C/Am
I’m (Am) going back to California
A little place in the San (E) Joaquin
(Am, stepping down A G F# F E)
Where the back pasture builds
To Sierra foothills
And Kaweah tumbles down cool and clean
I’m going back…
California has a chorus that camouflages the dramatic irony of the verse narrative. If it weren’t for the unusual intro, it’d seem zirconium. Christopher Youngblood
VIDEO https://www.facebook.com/reel/629088762494393
https://www.facebook.com/100007692130538/videos/122358790913196/
THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS Key C
capo @ 5
C F G C C G C
If your heart must be broken…
Circle of No Regrets sounds quaint. That’s what makes it hit. Unless you turn your ears on, it’s a boring song, but once you do, it’s hard to take.
It’s almost like you’re giving the audience an option. Christopher Youngblood
MOTHER'S EYES
I used to chide my mother
She saw the loss in every face
The cemetery. The old folks home
along the way
I used to laugh at Mother
She saw the pain in every eye
Now time has passed
and Mom is gone and here am I
And…
I wrote to my children, my answer. I told the how I watched them thru the window and enjoyed them in ways they never knew. How seeing them learn and succeed at their efforts was such pleasure to me. How discovering who they were by the talents and generosity they exhibited made me happy...The first response I got was from Embyr, now a registered nurse, mother of 4, just said, "Jim, you were mean."
Sat 11:38 PM
Christopher sent Yesterday at 11:38 PM
I listened to Kite a bunch of times, trying to think how it could be improved (it can’t be), and it occurred to me that Ben Franklin flew a key. That part of the story had never occurred to me as important before. But it’s like he was trying to unlock something.
Maybe he tried it on a clear day and let the kite rise to where he couldn’t see it. That’d be a different experiment altogether. Christopher Youngblood
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Has a dark feel to it.
Maybe I misunderstood... Very apologetic.
I like it. Kind if rockin.
I need a two step partner for this one.
Great song JMT
The music speaks the anger and the pain. You've got mad skills at using music to express your feelings. I'm sure in its own way the creations are also healing.
Beautiful pictures.
A little flight of the bumble bee sounding for a second. Interesting intermission. Not sure how that fits in.
Not sure what that means scientifically but its an interesting image and i get what u are saying. Sounds lost and lonely. Goldyn
Wow! I just love the guitars on this. I can hear that storm!!!
This goes in Taylor family album. Goldyn
I really like the subtlety of this one Goldyn
One of my all time favorites of yours. Richard always asks fir this one and hickory sticks. Goldyn
You should make a Taylor family album with all our songs someday.
Lovely sad song
Amazing.. song.. thank you thank you thank you!!!!! I feel blessed :)
great.lyrics and music
love it james!
Checked out the audio version of your book at http://www.iburymydead.com/ -- wow oh wow oh wow.
What a guddam gut-wrenching song! :(
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Matthew F. Blowers III I am really liking your song on California, I have a special love for that state. You captured all the reaons I miss it, with your superb storytelling in lyrics and with the smooth harmonies and extremely well played music. It has a catchy beat, and I listened to the very last note.
Very catchy! Too short, maybe. Gotta listen twice.
So today, for some reason I decided to read the words first.. Just the words. And found it an absolutely beautiful experience. The metaphors you use to describe great and cosmic plans and intentions of great societal achievement, contrasted with the lines that begin with, "BUT I dreamed we met for breakfast".... (the switch and the contrast is very powerful) what a tiny, common human thing: meeting over the sharing of food,. Then followed by, "I dreamed I held your hand"... human touch/connection, as though those two simple things are worth more than all the highest achievements of worldly fame, and material ladders climbed! Which they are. They so are. The rest of the lyrics continue to develop & express that idea beautifully. Then I listened to the sing, and although it is good as a song, For me, the words in themselves stand strong and impactful w/o anything else. Not to contrast them and say one is "better" than the other. Just that sometimes I see lyrics that stand alone, And just saying, these words do that very well. Gwyn Henry
This is cool. It gives me ideas.
WoW! Knocks me out. Really sizzles.
Makes me want to find a partner and do a little dance...very nice.
You had me at, "If I back off and shut my mouth..." Know exactly where you are. So afraid the answer is, "No."
Sounds like a 50s Buddy Holly era song. Very sweet sentiment. And, yes, I can dance to it.
Great characterization. Great kick drum sound.
WoW! Rock me, dude! Love the imagery.
Kim Triolo Feil James Michael Taylor that's a fantastic story and a very lovely song
Yes! A MONKEES song, for sure.
Interesting sounds. Cool chord shifts.
Aaah, if Love could only be forgotten... Nice.
Like it.
Very nice...
California has a chorus that camouflages the dramatic irony of the verse narrative. If it weren’t for the unusual intro, it’d seem zirconium. Christopher Youngblood
Circle of No Regrets sounds quaint. That’s what makes it hit. Unless you turn your ears on, it’s a boring song, but once you do, it’s hard to take. It’s almost like you’re giving the audience an option. Christopher Youngblood
I wrote to my children, my answer. I told the how I watched them thru the window and enjoyed them in ways they never knew. How seeing them learn and succeed at their efforts was such pleasure to me. How discovering who they were by the talents and generosity they exhibited made me happy...The first response I got was from Embyr, now a registered nurse, mother of 4, just said, "Jim, you were mean."
Sat 11:38 PM Christopher sent Yesterday at 11:38 PM I listened to Kite a bunch of times, trying to think how it could be improved (it can’t be), and it occurred to me that Ben Franklin flew a key. That part of the story had never occurred to me as important before. But it’s like he was trying to unlock something. Maybe he tried it on a clear day and let the kite rise to where he couldn’t see it. That’d be a different experiment altogether. Christopher Youngblood