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Taylor wrote this in 1968 at 3 different times. He started it in London, where he auditioned for The Beatles' Apple Records. He later worked on it in a Manhattan Hospital, and finished it while in drug rehab at The Austin Riggs Center in Massachusetts. In a 1972 Rolling Stone interview, Taylor explained: "The first verse is about my reactions to the death of a friend (that would be Suzanne - explained below). The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back, and there Jesus is an expression of my desperation in trying to get through the time when my body was aching and the time was at hand when I had to do it. And the third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austin Riggs which lasted about five months."
This song is about the high and low points of Taylor's life. He was only 20 when he wrote it in 1968, but was battling depression and drug addiction.
This was Taylor's second single and his first to chart. His first single was "Sweet Baby James."
The stark lyrics about Taylor's depression stand out on Sweet Baby James, which contains mostly lighter, uplifting songs. Taylor was surprised that such a deeply personal song would appeal to listeners, as he didn't think people were interested in his life.
The line "Flying machines in pieces on the ground" is a reference to a band Taylor was in called The Flying Machine, which he played in with Danny Kortchmar. After the band broke up, Taylor went to England where he played his tapes to McCartney, who signed him Apple Records.
The lyrics, "Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you" have been the subject of a great deal of speculation, with rumors that Suzanne was Taylor's girlfriend who died in a place crash. In a 1971 interview with Petticoat, Taylor explained: "It concerned a girl called Susanne I knew who they put into an isolation cell and she couldn't take it and committed suicide."
Her name was Susie Schnerr, and Taylor also explained that it was months before he found out about her death, as his friends withheld the news so it wouldn't distract Taylor from his burgeoning music career.
In a 1972 Rolling Stone interview, Taylor added: "I always felt rather bad about the line, 'The plans they made put an end to you,' because 'they' only meant 'ye gods,' or basically 'the Fates.' I never knew her folks but I always wondered whether her folks would hear that and wonder whether it was about them."
This was one of the first big singer-songwriter hits of the early '70s. Before this, most hits were either written by one person and performed by another, or written and performed by a group like The Beatles or Rolling Stones. Artists like Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Elton John followed the trend of writing and performing their own songs.
In his interview with Petticoat Taylor said that he stole the chord sequence from something his brother Alexander wrote. Alexander, who was the oldest of the four Taylor siblings, was also a musician. He died in 1993.
The Isley Brothers recorded this on their album Givin' It Back, which contained all cover songs.
Taylor guest starred in The Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" where he performs for a space shuttle that Homer is aboard from NASA's mission control. He plays this, but after singing the line "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground," he gasps, due to the irony of that line relating to the mission, and sings it with the revised lyrics: "Sweet dreams and flying machines flying safely through the air." (thanks, Eric - Suffern, NY)
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Some I have, some I haven't.
"The plans they made put an end to you"
this was when lobotomy was in its final stages of acceptance by the psychiatric community. It was seen as a convenient treatment for manic or terminally depressed people - and by destroying their frontal lobes - destroyed their persona. Many died.
can someone check with James Taylor!!
Susie Schnerr a friend from JT´s Greenwich Village days. She committed suicide while he was in London recording his debut album but his friends didn´t want to bring him down during his big break, so they kept it from him until later.
The phrase "another day" here and in the song of the same name both refer to recovery from addiction.
The Flying Machine was the name of JT´s first band, which broke up when he left for England and his eventual solo debut. Stories claiming the line refers to an actual plane crash are just urban legends.
seemed "a song of the era" especially with its ballad-folk song style in minor key. That...
was not the end of it. Over the years I would
hear it from random scources from time to time
so that it remained in my mind. Each time a bit
more strongly. Finally, about 5 years ago I again heard it on the radio and started talking about it with a friend at work. He lent me a cd with
Taylor songs including "Fire And Rain" which I
then took home and played several times.
I was more impressed than ever.The song had started to "make its way into me" I thought about it many times and..... I heard it about a week
ago on a MUZAK Type Tape at a drugstore and that did it,I was knocked for a loop.That song is so powerful its scary!
JOSH LANTZ
Reading,Pa
Suzanne symbolises all the freinds, family, and loved ones we put aside, telling ourselves there will be time for them later. then, one day, there is no later. We get so caught up in our plans, in our insecuriteis and trouble, that we miss out on the people who are important to us.
It's a warning and a prayer that we won't make those mistakes.
ohhh I love James Taylor lol
When Taylor was in rehab, he met Suzanne and they became the closest friends. Both helped each other come clean and when she left, they used to spend many hours on the phone then finally she was flying out to see him and the plane crash, hence "hours of time on the telephone line, talking bout things to come, sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground."
Makes sense. He loved her and she died and so did his dreams of life with her.