Originally Posted By: Tangmo
Like was said earlier, these don't read like epic poetry, but without a wasted syllable, are delivered naturally with grace. That makes a great lyric.


Howdy, "Tangmo"...

Thanks for adding your own thread into my first songwriting thread!

First thing is, I'm deeply sorry to read that you lost your mother at a young age. I can't imagine -- and would be afraid to imagine -- what that was like. I truly hope that whatever memories you may have about her bring you pleasure and solace.

Concerning your lyrics-that-I wish-I-had-written selection, boy-oh-boy, it ain't difficult for me to understand why they resonate with you so, even apart from your stated reason concerning your memory of your mother.

First of all, the subject of Mr. Taylor's lyrics (if not himself) seems to describe a particular, perhaps living person, even, for whom he had strong feelings of love and respect. Truth be told, the lyrics imply that the subject may have lived through some sort of trauma that was soothed and possibly cured by the loving attention he received from the individual he wrote about in such a praiseworthy manner:

"And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time
And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now
She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine"

Again, the poor subject of the song sounds like he may have "fallen through the cracks" of life in perhaps some tragic way: an accident? A nervous and/or mental breakdown? A veteran of a war who returned home broken in spirit, or just as worse, physically wounded?

"Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
She has the power to go where no one else can find me and to silently remind me
Of the happiness and the good times that I know, and then I just got to go then"

The man appears to have lost something that has impaired his ability just to survive, even -- or, so I believe. And then, in a moment of wellness of that provides clarity, and the gift of sweet recognition and appreciation of the profound blessings he has received in the form of the person who came to his rescue, he reveals his loving thankfulness:

"And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time
And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now
She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine"

Of course, what you've read is my own "take" of the meaning of the lyrics, so feel free, "Tangmo", to disagree, debate and deconstruct what I've written. Regardless, "Something In The Way She Moves" by James Taylor projects lyrics that are powerful, powerfully intimate, that is, if you've known the kind of pain, and also the kind of healing, transformative loving that his sensitive heart testified to in the song.

Thanks again, "Tangmo", for the richly rewarding song lyric selection you posted!

Gratefully,

LOREN

P.S. Concerning your statement that the lyrics don't read like "epic" poetry, all I can say to that is, "epic" poetry is for "epic" egos, and Mr. Taylor surely seems to have dispossessed himself of such lofty, mostly unattainable, and hardly-worth-pursuing goals.











Last edited by bluage; 11/23/18 01:20 PM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".