so it's looking like it's going to be an all james taylor weekend. thanks to siriusxm's month long "james taylor channel," i've been introduced to quite a bit more of the james taylor back catalog. through it i've made some great new discoveries (so thank you siriusxm and itunes should thank you as well given the large amount of music i've downloaded as a result).
today's song is one i heard for the first time a couple weeks back. while i am sure the readers of this blog are very astute and discerning, for this particular song, i thought it would be helpful to provide some explanation of why i've posted it via its entry on wikipedia:
Taylor wrote "Sunny Skies" during his treatment at the Austen Riggs Center. The melody is cheerful, which is ironic given the lyrics. Taylor biographer Timothy White describes the melody as "a deceptively upbeat, skiffle-flavored shuffle."
The title "Sunny Skies" actually does not refer to the condition of the sky, but to the title character of the song. The title character of the song "sleeps in the morning," "weeps in the evening," "doesn't know when to rise" and has no friends. The last verse of the song links the title character to the singer, who sings that he looks out his own window to see snow and trees, and wonders if he should let the world pass him by, just like the title character. The singer, just like Taylor himself at the time, wonders if his accomplishments were worth the suffering he went through to achieve them. Perrone also notes that, like the title character, Taylor had gone through a period where he was too depressed to get up in the morning.
taylor is not alone in this experience.
sunny skies - james taylor
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