James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter … Read Full Bio ↴James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over 1 million copies. He enjoyed a resurgence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). He achieved his first number-one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.

He is known for his popular covers of other people's songs, such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" and the aforementioned "You've Got A Friend", as well as originals such as "Fire and Rain".

Taylor's four siblings (Alex, Livingston, Hugh, and Kate) have also been musicians with recorded albums. Livingston is still an active musician; Kate was active in the 1970s but did not record another album until 2003; Hugh operates a bed-and-breakfast with his wife, The Outermost Inn in Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard; and Alex died in 1993 on James's birthday.

After his divorce from Carly Simon in 1983, Taylor married actress Kathryn Walker on December 14, 1985 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. She had helped him get off heroin, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996.

On February 18, 2001, at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston, Taylor wed for the third time, marrying Caroline ("Kim") Smedvig, the director of public relations and marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[81] They had begun dating in 1995, when they met as he appeared with John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Part of their relationship was worked into the album October Road, on the song "On the 4th of July". The couple reside in the town of Washington, Massachusetts, with their twin boys, Rufus and Henry, born in April 2001. Henry shares James' intrest and talents.

Sally and Ben, his children with Carly Simon, have also embarked on musical careers. After they were born, Taylor moved with his family to Lenox, Massachusetts.

Country Road
James Taylor Lyrics

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Take to the highway won't you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same

Mama don't understand it
She wants to know where I've been
I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
To want to pass that way again
But you know I could feel it

On a country road

Sail on home to Jesus won't you good girls and boys
I'm all in pieces, you can have your own choice
But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels
And they're coming to set me free
I don't know nothing 'bout the why or when
But I can tell that it's bound to be
Because I could feel it, child, yeah
On a country road

I guess my feet know where they want me to go
Walking on a country road

Take to the highway won't you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child
Mama don't understand it
She wants to know where I've been
I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
I wanna pass that way again
But I could feel it, oh
On a country road

Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down
Walk on down, walk on down a country road
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Country road, oh, yeah
Walking on a country road

Country road, uh
Country road

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to James Taylor's song "Country Road" are a reflection on the singer's personal journey and the people and places that have impacted it. In the first verse, the singer asks to take to the highway and borrow someone's name, suggesting a desire for liberation and anonymity. The line "Your way and my way seem to be one and the same" implies that the singer is searching for common ground and shared experiences with others whom they may encounter on the road.

The second verse begins with the singer acknowledging their mother's confusion over their wanderlust. They admit that returning to the places from their past would be foolish, but that they have a sense of nostalgia and comfort associated with "a country road". This feeling is intensified in the final verse when the singer hears a "heavenly band full of angels" and feels that they are being led somewhere mysterious and unknown, perhaps by a divine or spiritual force.

Overall, the lyrics suggest a longing for freedom, connection, and a deeper understanding of oneself and the world. The singer is on a journey of self-discovery and relies on the open road and the experiences it brings to guide them.

Line by Line Meaning

Take to the highway won't you lend me your name
Please accompany me on the road so that I can use your name as a reference

Your way and my way seem to be one and the same
We seem to have a common purpose

Mama don't understand it
My mother is confused about my actions

She wants to know where I've been
She is curious about my whereabouts

I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
I would have to be foolish to go back to where I have been

To want to pass that way again
To have the desire to go down that path again

But you know I could feel it
I had a certain feeling within me

On a country road
While traveling on a rural road

Sail on home to Jesus won't you good girls and boys
Go to heaven, dear children

I'm all in pieces, you can have your own choice
I am broken down and you can make your own decisions

But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels
I can hear a heavenly choir with angels