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.
Sleep Come Free Me
James Taylor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Since I was eighteen.
Ten lonely years of my life taken,
I've been living in the pages of a magazine.
It breaks my heart to awaken.
Set me free, sleep come free me,
Please, please, please.
Now the state of Alabama says I killed a man,
The jury reached the same conclusion.
I remember I was there with a tire iron
In my hand, the rest is all confusion.
Set me free, sleep come free me,
Please, please, please.
Set me free, set me free.
More like an animal and less like a man,
What they leave you ain't worth keeping.
Brother let me tell you,
I got a clock with no hands,
The only way out is through sleeping.
Set me free, sleep come free me,
Please, please, please.
Set me free, set me free.
You get to where you used to be,
Whoever you claim, it's open to interpretation.
Just remember your number
And abandon your name,
And hold on to your name
And hold on to your imagination, oh no no.
Set me free, sleep come free me,
Please, please, please.
Set me free, set me free.
In James Taylor's "Sleep Come Free Me", he sings about a man who has been imprisoned for the past 10 years in Alabama after being convicted for murder. The man speaks about his experiences in jail and how he feels like he's living life through a magazine. A sense of despair and hopelessness surround the lyrics as the man speaks about the uncertainty regarding his present and future.
The singer pleads with sleep to come free him from this dungeon, forgetting about reality for a while, and being consumed by the comfort of sleep. He feels hopeless and unable to see a way out of his current situation. He refers to himself as more of an animal and less of a man owing to how the prison has stripped him of his humanity over the years.
The last lines of the song, "Just remember your number and abandon your name, And hold on to your imagination," perhaps indicate that the only way to escape one's current predicament is to detach oneself from their current reality and hold on to their imagination.
Overall, the song explores themes of loss, imprisonment, and escapism in a compelling manner.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I've been lying in this dungeon
I have been stuck in a bleak and hopeless place for a long time now
Since I was eighteen.
My confinement started when I turned 18
Ten lonely years of my life taken,
I have lost a decade of my life to this imprisonment
I've been living in the pages of a magazine.
I find solace and comfort from the outside world by reading magazines
It breaks my heart to awaken.
Waking up every day reminds me of the crushing weight of my situation
Set me free, sleep come free me,
I plead for sleep to ease my pain and release me from this confinement
Please, please, please.
I desperately beg for this relief
Now the state of Alabama says I killed a man,
I am blamed for taking someone's life and the state has punished me with imprisonment
The jury reached the same conclusion.
I was found guilty by a jury
I remember I was there with a tire iron
I do have a vague recollection of being present at the scene of the crime with a murder weapon
In my hand, the rest is all confusion.
My recollection of the events after that is blurry and confusing
More like an animal and less like a man,
My current living conditions have degraded me to feel like a beast
What they leave you ain't worth keeping.
The only things given to me in my confinement have no value to my life
Brother let me tell you,
Listen to my story
I got a clock with no hands,
I am living with no sense of time
The only way out is through sleeping.
Sleeping seems like the only way out of this agony
You get to where you used to be,
There is a way to find some hope and positivity again
Whoever you claim, it's open to interpretation.
Your identity can be interpreted in different ways by different people
Just remember your number
Don't forget your identity number
And abandon your name,
Your name is not important anymore
And hold on to your name
Hold on to your identity
And hold on to your imagination, oh no no.
Keep believing in your imagination and dreams
Set me free, sleep come free me,
I plead for freedom and relief from my suffering
Please, please, please.
I beg for this with all my heart
Set me free, set me free.
Freedom is the only thing I desire
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAMES TAYLOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind