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.
Yellow & Rose
James Taylor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh boy, Botany Bay, watching the water go by.
Here's your home so far away,
Here is a tear for your eye.
Here is a vast and unknown land,
Here are the strangers on the sand.
Tiny pieces of everything, into the water they go.
Everything changes for the strangers on the shore.
They are blue and green no more,
They are yellow and rose.
Down under got the south side,
This groovy crazy planet.
Watching from the outside,
It's as smooth as a gravy sandwich.
People play music night for day,
One caught the sun in a sekere.
Oh, seeds of the universe ever endeavor to grow.
Tiny pieces of everything, into the water they go.
Everything changes for the strangers on the shore.
They are blue and green no more,
They are yellow and rose.
Remember when we thought we were in California?
We thought it was the eye of the hurricane.
Old gypsy woman she tried to warn you,
"You'll be back this way again,
Hungry for the rain,
It's written in your hand, plain."
Oh, seeds of the universe ever endeavor to grow.
Tiny pieces of everything, into the water they go.
Everything changes for the strangers on the shore.
They are blue and green no more,
They are yellow and rose.
Yellow and rose, yellow and rose, yellow and rose.
The song "Yellow & Rose" by James Taylor is an introspective reflection on the changing nature of our surroundings and the people around us. The opening lines describe a person sitting near Botany Bay, separated from their home and loved ones. The tears in their eyes indicate a deep sense of loss and displacement. The next line describes the vast and unfamiliar land that surrounds them, with strangers on the shore. This reflects the feeling of being an outsider in a new environment, disconnected from one's roots and the familiar. The subsequent lines that speak of the seeds of the universe and how they endeavor to grow suggest that there is always hope for something new and better in life. The idea that tiny pieces of everything go into the water is a metaphor for the fact that everything is interconnected and interdependent. The final lines about the strangers on the shore being "yellow and rose" suggest a transformation of sorts. The blue and green that they once were represent the familiar and comfortable life left behind, while the "yellow and rose" imagery suggests a new, unexplored world.
The second verse of the song continues with the same themes of transformation and the unknown. The allusion to "Down Under" possibly refers to Australia, which is often referred to by that name. The observation that the planet is "groovy and crazy" reflects the fact that change is ubiquitous and unpredictable. People playing music day and night indicates a constant creative flow in life, while catching the sun in a "sekere" is an allusion to an African instrument made from a hollow gourd. This line reflects the idea that there is always something new to learn and appreciate in life.
The final verse speaks of a past memory of being in California during a storm. The eye of the storm is an allusion to a period of calm in the middle of a storm. The old gypsy woman's warning of returning to the same place suggests that life is cyclical, and we often return to a familiar landscape, even after moving away. The reference to hunger for rain is a metaphor for the human need for growth and renewal in life. The song ends with the repetition of the line "yellow and rose," once again highlighting the transformational nature of the changing world.
Line by Line Meaning
Yellow and rose, yellow and rose, yellow and rose.
These colors are repeated multiple times to represent the idea of rebirth and transformation.
Oh boy, Botany Bay, watching the water go by.
A boy watches the ocean waves as a symbol of the unknown future that awaits him.
Here's your home so far away,
The boy's home is distant, possibly on another continent.
Here is a tear for your eye.
The boy is nostalgic and possibly homesick; he sheds a tear for his faraway home.
Here is a vast and unknown land,
The boy is in a new and unfamiliar place.
Here are the strangers on the sand.
The boy sees unfamiliar faces on the beach.
Oh, seeds of the universe ever endeavor to grow.
This line talks about the universal cycle of growth and regeneration.
Tiny pieces of everything, into the water they go.
This line symbolizes the cycle of life and how everything returns to the earth eventually.
Everything changes for the strangers on the shore.
The boy is experiencing change, as well as the people around him.
They are blue and green no more,
The people are rapidly changing, they are no longer the person they used to be.
They are yellow and rose.
The strangers have transformed into a completely different version of themselves.
Down under got the south side,
The singer talks about South Australia or the southern side of Australia.
This groovy crazy planet.
The singer describes earth and all of its wonders and mysteries.
Watching from the outside,
Observing from afar suggests that he's less invested.
It's as smooth as a gravy sandwich.
The experience of being an outsider is compared to a familiar 'smooth' gravy sandwich.
People play music night for day,
People play music all the time in the southern land.
One caught the sun in a sekere.
A percussion instrument was used to catch the sun in the music.
Sékéré is a traditional West African drum.
Remember when we thought we were in California?
The singer reminisces about mistakenly believing they were in California before. Although not explicitly given, this is most likely in reference to a previous experience where they thought something else was going to happen but it turned out differently.
We thought it was the eye of the hurricane.
The 'we' from the previous line thought they were in a calm place, but really they were in the middle of something big happening, like the eye of a hurricane.
Old gypsy woman she tried to warn you,
Someone, possibly the artist or a friend, had a warning from an old gypsy woman.
"You'll be back this way again,
The gypsy woman predicted that the artist or the friend would come back to where they were before.
Hungry for the rain,
The artist is eager to return to a familiar place and experience something new.
It's written in your hand, plain."
The idea of returning is something that is predetermined, written in their destiny.
Yellow and rose, yellow and rose, yellow and rose.
The song concludes with a repetition of these colors, signifying a new cycle of growth and transformation.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAMES TAYLOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind