In “Fire and Rain”, what does he mean about “flying machines in pieces on the ground”? I was once told this was autbiographical of a girlfriend being killed in a plane crash. Is this true? What’s the Striaght Dope on this? - Jinx
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/firerain.htm
That answers some of your questions.
I knew that by the time I previewed someone would have beaten me to it. I’ll just add that Taylor’s old band the Flying Machine was not the same group as the “Smile a Little Smile for Me” Flying Machine.
I already knew the Snopes account of what the song means, but you know… in SPITE of that, when I heard James Taylor sing “Fire and Rain” at that post 9/11 benefit at Madison Square Garden, I swear, all the words seemed to fit perfectly.
And you could see on the faces of the firemen’s widows and families in the crowd, THEY thought so, too. Even though James Taylor wasn’t referring to a real plane crash, or to a real fire, every line seemed to apply to the World Trade Center.
Fire… a flying machine in pieces on the ground… someone killed that won’t ever be seen again. It was eerie, even though I KNEW it was just a coincidence.
i agree, astorian.
while i was watching the coverage on 9/11 those 2 lines of his, “sweet dreams, and flying machines, in pieces on the ground” keep going through my mind. esp. when they would show the smoldering ground in penn.
however he came to write that song, and it must have come from a deep painfull area of his mind. it is one that means many things to many people; and does comfort quite a few. can’t ask for more than that when you are a songwriter.