"Fire and Rain" by James Taylor.

This week I chose this well-known song by James Taylor. It really is a beautiful song, I love the soft guitar and background music and how it interacts with Taylor's incredible voice. His voice stays somewhat reserved throughout the song, but it is full of emotion and gives off a story-telling vibe.

The most captivating thing about this song - for me - are the lyrics. It is actually quite tragic what he is singing about. James Taylor dealt with substance abuse and was also in a mental institution for awhile for recovery purposes. Upon leaving said institution, he learns of the death of one of his really good friends. There is one line in particular to start the song, 'just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone'. I cannot imagine how he would have felt to deal with so much adversity, on top of already having struggled with drug use and staying in a mental institution.

It seems he wrote this song in response to such tragic events. Not only the death of a good friend, but his own personal life struggles. I think that message is universal. Everyone deals with difficulties of some sort, though maybe not as severe as those of James Taylor. We all see 'fire and rain' at different times in our lives. Just a really nostalgic, meaningful song. I enjoyed the tone and the musical aspects that accompany Taylor's deep message. The song is a classic, without question.