The Story Behind James Taylor's Fire And Rain

According to James Taylor in an interview with David Mikkelson (via Genius), each verse of the song is about something different. "The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back," he said, "and "[Won't you look down upon me,] Jesus" is an expression of my desperation in trying

According to James Taylor in an interview with David Mikkelson (via Genius), each verse of the song is about something different. "The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back," he said, "and "[Won't you look down upon me,] 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." Taylor is referring to his struggles with heroin at the time, according to Snopes, which brought him to a hospital in Manhattan and a psychiatric institution in Massachusetts called Austen Riggs.

"The third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austen Riggs, which lasted about five months," he said. This is the verse that includes the line "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground," a reference to the dissolution of his old band, Flying Machine (not, as some internet rumors have it, a plane crash).

The song would reverberate through Taylor's career for years to come. According to American Songwriter, by Taylor's estimate he's played the song over a thousand times. It also inspired Taylor's close collaborator, the legendary songwriter Carole King, who played piano on the song. She was struck by the line "I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend," and wrote "You've Got a Friend" for Taylor in response, according to CNN.

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