The Heartwrenching Story of James Taylor’s “Fire And Rain”

Beloved folk singer from New England, James Taylor is considered one of America's greatest songwriters. Popularly known for his song "Fire and Rain" as well as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" there lies a heart-wrenching story behind Fire and Rain. Taylor is now an older man with a brilliant smile, and a head that lacks hair. Back in his so called "prime" which would be the 1970s, he rocks a mane of long black hair. Over the years, contrary to his head of hair, his vocals have not changed at all. As NPR stated, "Even in the saddest songs, it's always had a kindly nature to it." Although James hates to hear his songs on the radio and can't stand to listen to them when they come on, he honors when he can sing it live for an audience. He guesses he's sung it live well over a thousand times now and wishes he had an odometer that always read 999 anytime he would play it, that way the song would really hit home for every member of the audience.

Fire and Rain was initially wrote in 1968. Taylor was only 20 years old when he wrote the song, yet it hits upon three of the most defeating stories that played huge parts of Taylor's life. The song starts with a verse dedicated to the loss of his beloved girlfriend at the time, Susanne. At the time of her death, Taylor was recording with The Beatles in England. Being such an important time in his musical career, her death was kept a secret for a month after it happened. This is where the line, "they let me know you were gone" comes from. Susanne was in a dark place, and it was decided by her parents that she be taken to a ward. She was secluded in an isolation cell and her conditions became worse than before her parents placed her there. Sadly, Susanne ending up taking her own life. Thus came the second line, "Susanne the plans they made put an end to you."

The second verse hits upon Taylor's addiction to heroin. "That was in New York, and that was when I came back to this country from London and was surprised that I'd picked up a habit. So I was physically very uncomfortable and having a rough time." 

Taylor had his first emotional breakdown at the age of 17 and wasted every last penny of his money when it happened. He recovered but later relapsed into a state of mental instability and brought himself back to a mental institution. The folk singer had taken himself twice to a mental institution. This song refers back to Austen Riggs Institution in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Taylor notes this verse to be more of an introspective nature than the rest of the song.

Taylor has been asked by film companies to recreate the story of his life, but James politely refused their ideas saying he's only trying to sing about the inexplicable death of a beloved friend of his. Despite how complex the song may seem, the writing process was very simple for Taylor, and he claims it was both creative and therapeutic. The song came quicker than he imagined, which was a beautiful thing in his eyes, as it released so much emotional tension for him. James strongly believes in externalizing your emotions in some way, whether through conversation, poetry, song, art, etc.

As someone who likes to travel to new countries and experience new cultures, learn from locals, and constantly change the way I view the world, the differences between each country are what makes travelling so much fun. The United States itself has very odd laws, especially throughout history. It's always interesting to see what other laws international destinations have to abide by.

Chances are you've never heard of any of these. Whether they truly abide by these laws, or whether they are truly enforced, we're not to conclude. But according to the law codes, these happen to be true.

Leave it to Reddit to expose some of the most interesting and unusual things Delawareans have ever come across. For a small state, there may be spots or things you don't know about, including the Lewes, Delaware optical illusion cabin or the buried bicycle along the Delaware River. Throughout the first state, we've all seen something unusual, but these people have captured some of them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/23jqho/this_cabin_in_lewes_delaware_is_an_optical/

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https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/o0fijg/a_delaware_state_police_car_with_a_giant_hat/

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https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/gztveg/this_caterpillar_dinosaur_i_saw_in_delaware/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/m3ocge/a_bait_vending_machine_that_my_mother_found_in/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/6l8jiu/delaware_reminds_me_to_drive_sober_via_watermelon/

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https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/cb1hbl/incoming_storm_newark_delaware/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/5ljydd/my_delaware_quarter_is_a_former_painted/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1gak3l/the_delaware_bay_looks_like_the_grinchs_head/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/wpz7dh/buried_bicycle_by_the_delaware_river/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/hklb58/delaware_beach_sign_at_every_entrancedo_not_liter/

Ahh, our favorite pastimes of the first state. Why does it seem like the greatest parts of Delaware are the ones that are no longer here and just a memory? Well maybe not all of these things on the list will be missed...

In New Castle there was an old Blue Diamond Amusement Park where Delawareans could ride a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel.

Believe it or not, the bandstand in Rehoboth that stands today is not the original. The original was torn down and fully reconstructed to what it is today.

The Delmarva Chicken Festival was a family favorite for people of Lower Slower Delaware. The festival ended in 2014.

Drive in movies aren't much of a thing anymore across the nation, but Naamans Road in Wilmington was once the place to be.

As a young writer of this article, I actually never knew these existed. Mobile amusement rides that would just happen to pass through a neighborhood similar to the ice cream truck.

This one will only resonate for certain readers. Going to play mini golf and then going through the car wash afterwards because it was just that much fun to watch the windows.

The Christiana Mall used to be home for the Galaxy Arcade that hosted Spy Hunter and various pin ball machines. Unfortunately it's no longer there.

This strange and small museum in Wilmington ended up closing in 2007.

Kahunaville was a favorite for everyone who stepped through the volcanic doors. With talking tiki trees, people dressed up, summer concert series, and drinks, it's no wonder it became the nightlife scene of Wilmington.

The Delaware Archaeology Museum was located in Dover and closed due to finances falling through.

Before there was a Chase Center on the Riverfront, there was First USA Riverfront Arts Center that hosted many performing arts shows for Delawareans to attend.

Scrimmages held on for a long 15 years, thanks to its many loyal customers. It closed in 2013 and now is home to a new bar.

If you remember seeing the raceway when you went to the Regal Cinema Brandywine location, that was Funscape. An arcade, racecars, laser tag, they had it all. It was the largest entertainment and cinema complex under one roof.

If these were ranked in order of most dearly missed, this could be at the top of the list. Stone Balloon was famous for live music every single night, and even hosted huge musical acts such as Metallica in their early career.

Bert's was a small local chain of record shops across Delaware, and quite possibly the only one worth visiting when it was around.

The Concord Mall was home to many retailers and everyone remembered going for new shoes at Champions.

Newark's Mini Mall wasn't anything big or intimidating, but it's home to many memories for teenagers who grew up with it.

This is a more historic location. The State Theater was located on Main Street in Newark and was actually demolished in the 80s. The location is now apartments and restaurants.

The store offered workshops for aspiring writers, and a safe haven for book readers who wanted to break away from the reality of everyday life and fall into some fictional stories.

Unfortunately Kirby and Holloway ended in a fire, but it was once your typical 1950s diner, that was authentic too. It actually opened in 1948.

Nowadays, driving to the beach during the summer is just somewhat impossible to do without traffic.

Along the Brandywine River, you can actually find an archived vintage picture of Delawareans ice skating on the Brandywine River.

Apparently they served Muskrat. It was a big thing. We even covered the subject in a number of articles. Who knows how real it was?

Blue Hen Lanes closed in 2014. One of the most popular features of Blue Hen Lanes....disco bowling night.

Dover's "new" mall doesn't have a fountain that everyone remembers. It was the one fountain that you could make your wishes and throw a coin in. Where did our wishes go?

The festival was quickly halted and put to an end after people got injured and dangers continued to arise. But smashing pumpkins is always fun, and you know you're jealous if you never attended it when it went on.

The Grange basically defined you as punk when it hosted shows. Rumor has it that Green Day and Paramore actually played at The Grange very early on in their careers.

Joe Biden is famous for being the President of the United States. You probably already knew that. He also rode the train from Claymont into the city. You may already know that too.

As senior weekers became too rowdy in Dewey, it's no longer a thing. Underage drinking became a problem as well.

What is now known as Walgreens, used to be called Happy Harry's. There was a giant man's face in glasses (Harry) on every building.

https://wjbr.com/2019/10/25/author-of-the-giving-tree-wrote-one-of-johnny-cashs-most-famous-songs/

https://wjbr.com/2019/10/23/how-charles-manson-was-involved-with-the-beach-boys/

https://wjbr.com/2019/10/25/video-man-pushes-woman-into-subway-car/