James Taylor

[fox69]

"Oh, Susannah"

"Oh, Susannah"



Well I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee,
and I'm bound for Louisiana, my own true love for to see.
It did rain all night the day I left, the weather was bone dry.
The sun was so hot I froze myself, Suzanne, don't you go on and cry.
I said, oh, Susannah, now, don't you cry for me,
as I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee.

Well I had myself a dream the other night when everything was still,
I dreamed that I saw my girl Suzanne, she was coming around the hill.
Now, the buckwheat cake was in her mouth, a tear was in her eye.
I said, that I come from Dixie land, Suzanne, don't you break down and cry.
I said, oh, Susannah, now, don't you cry for me,
as I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee.

 

[fox69]

"On Broadway"

"On Broadway"



They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air
But when you're walkin' down that street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere

They say the girls are something else on Broadway
But looking at them just gives me the blues
'Cause how ya gonna make some time
When all you got is one thin dime?
And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes

Ha! They say that I won't last too long on Broadway
I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home, they all say
But oh! They're dead wrong, I know they are
'Cause I can play this here guitar
And I won't quit till I'm a star on Broadway

Oh, they're dead wrong, I know they are
'Cause I can play this here guitar
And I won't quit till I'm a star on Broadway (on Broadway)
On Broadway (on Broadway)

 

[fox69]

"On The 4th Of July"

"On The 4th Of July"



Shall I tell it again how we started as friends
who would run into one another now and again.
At the Yippee Cai O or the Mesa Dupree, or a dozen different everyday places to be.
I was living alone, we were ever so brave on the telephone.
Would you care to come down for fireworks time,
we could each just reach, we step out of line.

And the smell of the smoke and the lay of the land
and the feeling of finding one's heart in one's hand
and the tiny tin voice of the radio band singing "love must stand,"
love forever and ever must stand.

Unbelievable you, impossible me, the fool who fell out of the family tree,
the fellow that found the philosopher's stone, deep underground like a dinosaur bone.
Who fell into you at a quarter to two with a tear in your eye for the Fourth of July
for the patriots and the minutemen and the things you believe they believed in then

Such as freedom, and freedom's land and the kingdom of God and the rights of man
with the tiny tin voice of the radio band singing "love must stand,"
love forever and ever must stand and forever must stand.

Oh, the smell of the smoke as we lay on the land
and the feeling of finding my heart in my hand
with the tiny tin voice of the radio band singing "love must stand,"
love forever and ever must stand and forever must stand.

All on the Fourth of July, on the Fourth of July.

 

[fox69]

"One Man Parade"

"One Man Parade"



Do believe I'm gonna clap my hands, think I might tap my feet.
Put together a one-man band, take a walk on down the street.
Have a one-man parade, nobody needs to know.
Cause I'm right good of holding on to secrets and don't believe they show.

All I want is a little dog to be walking at my right hand.
Taking a breeze just as free as you please, maybe checking out occasional garbage cans.
Talking bout a one dog, y'all, nobody's friend but mine.
Hey now, you can say he's looking kind of funky, but I do believe he suits me just fine.

We were on the road again, I was wondering what to do,
but Honalei, it was pouring down rain, baby she had the low down blues.

Hey now, I was looking for my walking cane tying on my highway shoes.
Thinking 'bout a one man parade, y'all, nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, hey.
I'm right good at holding on, holding on, holding on.

Honalei, it's raining. Honalei, sure nough, it's raining, listen here.
Honalei, it's raining, Honalei, it's raining muddy waters.

Thinking 'bout a one man parade, y'all, nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, hey.
I'm right good at holding on, holding on, holding on.
La la la la la...

 

[fox69]

"One More Go Round"

"One More Go Round"



Workin' on a thing, workin' on a thing, funny little thing I know, sure got to like it.
Only thing I got to show you, running around the room
in my Fruit O' The Loom, a cup of coffee from King Tut's tomb. Save me, Lumalammalu
Sure enough I must have been mokus and so out of focus to miss the first half of the show.
Oh, It gets to the end, we get to run it again just like before, one more go round.

Drank myself some wine back in '69, I was fooling around with my friends in my spare time.
Life along the river, knobby little knees in the Summer breeze,
hammock and a couple of trees, swing low, if you please.
Oh, I must have been mokus and so out of focus, I missed the whole half of the show.
Come to the end and they run it again, same as before, one more go round.

After all this time of fooling around it and never having nothing to show,
yeah, I'm happy to say that I finally found it right underneath my own nose.
Oh, I must have been mokus and so out of focus, I missed the first half of the show.
Please don't let it end, I want it again just like before, one more go round.

 

[fox69]

"One Morning In May"

"One Morning In May"



One morning, one morning, one morning in May,
I spied a young couple, they were making their way.
One was a maiden so bright and so fair and the other was a soldier and a brave volunteer.

Good morning, good morning, good morning said he,
and where are you going my pretty lady?
I'm going out a-walking on the banks of the sea
just to see the water's glide and hear the nightingale sing.

Now they had not been standing but a minute or two
when out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew
and the tune that he played made the valleys all ring,
oh hark, cried the maiden, hear the nightingale sing.

Oh maiden, fair maiden, 'tis time to give o'er.
Oh no, kind soldier, please play one tune more
for I'd rather hear your fiddle at the touch of one string
than to see the waters glide and hear the nightingale sing.

Oh soldier, kind soldier, will you marry me? Oh no, pretty maiden, that never shall be.
I've a wife down in London and children twice three,
two wives and the army's too many for me.

Well, I'll go back to London and I'll stay there for a year,
it's often that I'll think of you, my little dear.
And if ever I return it will be in the spring
just to see the waters glide and hear the nightingale sing.
To see the waters glide and hear the nightingale sing.

 

[fox69]

"Only A Dream In Rio"

"Only A Dream In Rio"



More than a distant land over a shining sea.
More than the steaming green. More than the shining eyes.
Well they tell me it's only a dream in Rio.
Nothing could be as sweet as it seems on this very first day down.
They remind me, "Son, have you so soon forgotten?"
Often as not it's rotten inside and the mask soon slips away.
Strange taste of a tropical fruit, romantic language of the Portuguese.
Melody on a wooden flute, samba floating in the summer breeze.

It's all right, you can stay asleep, you can close your eyes,
you can trust the people of paradise to call your keeper and tender your good-byes.

Oh, what a night, wonderful one in a million frozen fire Brazilian stars.
Oh, holy southern cross, later on take me way downtown in a tin can.
Can't come down from the bandstand, I'm never thrown for such a loss when they say:
Quando a nossa mae acordar, andareimoz au sol.
Quando a nossa mae acordar, cantara' pelos sertao.
Quando a nossa mea acordar, todos os filios saberao.
Todos os filios saberao, e regozilarao.

Caught in the rays of the rising sun on the run from the soldier's gun.
Shouting out loud from the angry crowd, the mild the wild and the hungry child.
I'll tell you there's more than a dream in Rio.
I was there on the very day and my heart came back alive.
There was more, more than the singing voices,
more than the upturned faces and more than the shining eyes.

But it's more than the shining eye, more than the steaming green,
more than the hidden hills, more than the concrete Christ,
more than a distant land over a shining sea,
more than a hungry child, more like another time.
Born of a million years, more than a million years.

 

[fox69]

"Only For Me"

"Only For Me"



Down the end of this barroom, out of sight of the light in the window.
His mind in his whiskey and his body in a folding chair, far beyond repair.
I enter his vision, he watches me look for my seat.
He makes his decision and he stands to his feet, Lord, it's a long way down.

It happened to me, wonderful sight. Only for me, only for you.
It happened to be a light shining through
from one who was lost and found just like me and you.

Old man says, "Young man, my you're looking pretty green,
like a stranger to this kind of place.
Come sit at my table, come and look into my face, I've got a story to tell.
There was a father and son, but that was a long time ago.
And when the time came to run, I just couldn't say no so I left them behind."

It happened to me, wonderful sight. Only for me, only for you.
It happened to be a light shining through
from one who was lost and found just like me and you.

We have seen it before in times of great sorrow
that human compassion will flow from a well that has long run dry.

It happened to me, wonderful sight. Only for me, only for you.
It happened to be a light shining through
from one who was lost and found just like me and you.

 

[fox69]

"Only One"

"Only One"



You are my only one, you are my only one. Well I'm telling you now, you're my only one.

I've got two long legs like to carry me, two sharp eyes to look for the fight.
Two strong arms to hold on tight, two good friends on my left and right, but only one only one.
You are my only one, you are my only one. Don't be leaving me now, you're my only one.

There's only one road before me, too many turns in the way, thousands of things to do today.
Millions of moments, I must admit, but only one, only one.
You are my only one, you are my only one. Don't be leaving me now, you're my only one.

Taken for granted and pushed aside, all that it wanted was a place to run and hide.
Missing message in a hollow tree, hidden deep inside a memory
and the memory seems like dreams.
Hundreds of hopes in the past, nevertheless it was never the last.
Hold on strong or you fade out fast and only one only one.
You are my only one, you are my only one. Don't be leaving me now, you're my only one.

 

[fox69]

"Our Town"

"Our Town"



Long ago, but not so very long ago
The world was different, oh yes, it was
You settled down and you built a town and made it live

And you watched it grow, it was your town
Time goes by, time brings changes, you changed too
Nothing comes that you can't handle, so on you go
You never see it coming when the world caves in on you
On your town, nothing you can do

Main street isn't main street anymore
Lights don't shine as brightly as they shone before
To tell the truth, lights don't shine at all
In our town

Sun comes up each morning, just like it's always done
Get up, go to work, start a new day
You open up for business that's never gonna come
As the world rolls by a million miles away

Main street isn't main street anymore
No one seems to need us like they did before
It's hard to find a reason left to stay
But it's our town, love it anyway
Come what may, it's our town