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72 听|听Top 100
Fire and Rain
James Taylor
The intensely personal lyrics of James Taylor鈥檚 Fire and Rain recall his time recovering from heroin addiction and the suicide of a close friend, Suzanne. The 20 year old Taylor had moved to London in 1968 to 鈥渆scape the monkey on his back鈥 鈥 his addiction to heroin that had taken hold while living and |
 Song facts |
| Composer |
James Taylor |
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| Genre |
Folk |
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| Album |
Sweet Baby James |
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| Year of Release |
1970 |
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| UK Chart |
42 |
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performing in New York. However despite some commercial success with his first album the drug habit remained and he went back to New York for treatment later spending five months in Austin Riggs Hospital in Massachusetts.
Back in the US friends told him of the death they had kept secret while he was in London; 鈥淛ust yesterday they let me know you were gone鈥. Taylor wrote the song for his second album "Sweet Baby James". Despite its themes of pain and loss: (I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song/I just can鈥檛 remember who to send it to/I always thought I鈥檇 see you again) there鈥檚 also the awareness that he is lucky to have survived his addiction. In the US the song reached number five 鈥 though it only managed the听top 50 in the UK it sealed Taylor鈥檚 career as one of the premier singer/songwriters of baby boomer generation.
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 听Listen to Cher singing Fire and Rain
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Songwriting tips Try the stream of consciousness approach: More in Writing LyricsLook for unusual words and phrases to make your song different
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