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Rating: OCTOBER NOTES (The Autumn of James Taylor's Music)
2002, "October Road": 5 years after the previous studio album, the best-selling (awarded as 'best non-instrumental pop album of 1997') "Horglass," James Taylor returns with a new album of original songs. 12 splendid songs, perfectly harmonious with each other, accompanied by the usual riffs of James' classic guitar strings softly plucked, the usual pure, perfect vocal quality (and mysteriously unchanged for over 35 years), all animated by a compositional inspiration that is more alive than ever and particularly on point.
The musical simplicity of the 12 tracks is extreme. Reflective, slow, and relaxing pieces, but not without rhythm. Taylor's style is unchanged, it has been the same for decades, it has become absolutely unmistakable, his chords, his melodies, his way of singing have become a trademark, a clear and marked sign, a unique trait in the world that has become a point of reference for all songwriters worldwide.
You notice it from the very first guitar notes of the opening track "September Grass", a wonderful, sweet, and soft song that opens the doors to the magical 'nature-autumnal' atmosphere that pervades much of the album. The first single, as well as the title track of the album "October Road", is a folkloric country-blues ballad, a dive into the dirt roads of the American countryside... a splendid rhythm and a no less worthy text:
'I did my time and it changed my mind And I'm satisfied I got so low down fed up My God I could hardly move Won't you come on my brother Get on up and help me to find my groove.... We'll be walking October Road...'
The third track "On the 4th Of July" is a classic Tayloresque ballad, with introspective themes but a gaze turned towards the patriots who made the country (this is the day of the declaration of independence of the American colonies in 1776, which opened the doors to the formation of democracy in the States)... Taylor honors and thanks, as if to say -if there hadn't been that Fourth of July, everything I'm experiencing would never have existed-. From this:
'...Who fell into you At a quarter to two With a tear in your eye for the 4th of July For the Patriots And the Minutemen And the things you believe they believed in then Such as freedom And the freedom's land And the Kingdom of God and the
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 On the 4th of July (03:27)
Shall I tell it again how we started as friends
Who would run into one another now and again
At the yippee cai o or the mesa dupree
Or a dozen different everyday places to be
I was loping along living alone
We were ever so brave on the telephone
Would you care to come down for fireworks time
We could each just reach
We step out of line
And the smell of the smoke and the lay of the land
And the feeling of finding ones heart in ones hand
And the tiny tin voice of the radio band singing
Love must stand
Love forever and ever must stand
Unbelievable you, impossible me
The fool who fell out of the family tree
The fellow that found the philosophers stone
Deep underground like a dinosaur bone
Who fell into you at a quarter to two
With a tear in your eye for the fourth of july
For the patriots and the minutemen
And the things you believe they believed in then
Such as freedom, and freedoms land
And the kingdom of God and the rights of man
With the tiny tin voice of the radio band
Singing love must stand
Love forever and ever must stand
And forever must stand
Oh the smell of the smoke as we lay on the land
And the feeling of finding my heart in my hand
With the tiny tin voice of the radio band
Singing love must stand
Love forever and ever must stand
All on the fourth of july
On the fourth of july
10 Caroline I See You (05:00)
Caroline, I see you
Standing on the stairway
Waiting for your bear there
Handy on the landing
Penny in my pocket
High enough to hold you
When I come back home to you tomorrow
You may well be angry
I'll for sure be hungry
Meet me in the middle
Make it melt like chocolate
Be my little baby
I take you down by the water
Some December morning
Take you from your family
Leave them with their longing
Take you by your hand
Somewhere on the sand. Oh
Caroline I love you
Though I'm late to say so
Hesitate to tell you
What will be your answer
Some December morning
Standing on the stairway
Caroline I see you
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