James Taylor sings White House Inflation event: "I've seen fire & I've seen rain. I've seen sunny

James Taylor ^ | 9/13/22 | James Taylor

[DallasBiff]

I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought that I'd see you again

[logi_cal869]

How very apropos:

https://www.nickiswift.com/455832/the-true-meaning-behind-fire-and-rain-by-james-taylor/

[dfwgator]

I don’t get it. You know, I just don’t get it. I missed the point some place.

The boat left and I wasn’t on the boat. Explain it to me. Heavy metal bands on trial because kids commit suicide? What is that about?

Judas Priest on trial “because my kid bought the record, and listened to the lyrics, and he got into Satan”

Well, that’s great! That sets a legal precedent. Does that mean I can sue Dan Fogelberg for making me into a pussy in the mid-70’s? Is that possible, huh?

Huh? “Your Honor, between him and James Taylor, I didn’t get a ____ ___ ‘till I was twenty-seven years old. I was in Colorado wearing hiking boots, eating granola. I want some money right now!”

-Dennis Leary (From ‘No Cure for Cancer’)

[frank ballenger]

Background articles:Long before rock legend James Taylor packed venues around the world as one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters of his generation, he spent nine months in a Massachusetts psychiatric hospital receiving treatment for depression when he was 18.

Taylor discusses his early mental health struggles in his new audiobook Break Shot: My First 21 Years, but his battle with depression hardly ended there. In fact, the time he spent at another psychiatric treatment facility in Massachusetts served as partial inspiration for a verse in one of the most famous James Taylor tunes, “Fire and Rain.”
The troubadour still deals with depression.
//////////
Carly Simon was married to Taylor from 1972 to 1983. In 2004, Carly said that she no longer speaks to him: “I would say our relationship is non-existent. It’s not the way I want it.”
//////////////////////
As a young man I saw articles in Circus, Cheetah and other
magazines of Taylor next to the radiant and vivacious Carly Simon, looking hopeless and miserable. I thought “that guy is nuts.”

[Captain Rhino]

I will always associate the melancholy lyrics and melody of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” with the Vietnam War. The song came out in 1970, the year after I got back (68-69; 3rd Bn, 26th Marines). Each stanza of the lyrics summons up images and experiences coming out of the US involvement in that war:

https://genius.com/James-taylor-fire-and-rain-lyrics

For the longest time, I thought the song was about some soldier or Marine receiving a “Dear John” letter.

The song’s opening stanza speaks obliquely of some fracture, something unexpected happening. The subsequent stanzas seemed to be a series of poetic treatments of soldier or Marine infantrymen lived experiences in-country (not all of them involving combat). These include crashed helicopters (“flying machines in pieces on the ground“); intense combat (“sunny days that I thought would never end “); telephone exchange conversations with the states (“hours at the time on the telephone line to talk about things to come“); existential angst (“lonely times when I could not find a friend” and “Look down upon me Jesus. You’ve got to help me make a stand.”), etc.

Needless to say, I was surprised when, many years later, I found out he had composed the song about a young woman friend’s suicide and his own struggle with heroin addiction.

Doesn’t matter. For me, this song will always be about getting through that tour in South Vietnam and coming home; coming home to whatever awaited me.

As for its use at the Biden event, it’s a gathering of liberals: old, middle aged, and young. So playing it could’ve just been pure nostalgia for the good ol’ days. Of course, that’s not the explanation that the White House will give when asked. But don’t worry. If it doesn’t poll well, they’ll change it again and again until the ever obliging MSM conveniently forgets about it.