James Taylor - Before This World Album Lyrics

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Today Today Today

Today, today, today
I'm finally on my way
The time has come to say
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

The bird is on the wing
The bell is about to ring
The big girl she's about to sing
Today, today, today

The world will open wide
And I'm running with the tide
It's time to cut this side
And I must not miss my ride

Somehow I haven't died
And I feel the same inside
As when I caught this ride
When first I sold my pride

The way ahead is clear
My heart is free from fear
I'll plant my flag right here
Today, today, today

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You And I Again

You and I again, these days go by
And I wish that I could slow the whole thing down
Have it all back again, just one more time
Then again maybe we can't, cause I can't escape this feeling
that we've been this way together, you and I

There You are again, I climbed so high
High enough to finally see your side
Shining in the distance
You were tending your own fire
We were biding our time
Both of us waiting for the moment when our
backs would come together you and I

I see how fierce you are
Never this world would drag us down
How serious you are
Standing on holy ground

And so although I know we are only small
In the time we have here
Maybe we have it all

I see how fierce you are
Never this world would drag us down
How serious you are
Standing on holy ground

And so although I know we are only small
In the time we have here
This time we have it all
You and I again
This time, this time

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Angels Of Fenway

86 summers gone by
Bambino put a hex on the Bean
We were living on a tear and a sigh
In the shadow of the Bronx machine

Man, you could feel it smoulder
The whole town had an attitude
Then you'd get a little chip on your shoulder
Say something that's downright rude

Oh, damn them Yankees
Outspending everybody two to one
Picking up on the cream of the crop
Stealing everyone's favorite son

Angels of Fenway
Hear our prayer
We have been chastened
We have been patient

Grandmama was a Fenway fan
Even after Grandad died
I still remember her holding my hand
Taking me along for the ride

She was born in 1918
Last year that the Red Sox won
Back then when they sold the Babe
Something that they never should've ever have done

Hey Nanna can I have another Coke?
Here comes the hot dog man
Look at that, his bat just broke
Gee, that's got to kill his hand

Riding home on the Green Line
Watching the town go by
Nanna made another Red Sox fan
'Til the day I die

That was back in '65
It doesn't seem like a long time ago
Grandmama keeping hope alive
Watched them win in '004

Oh my God, it was beyond belief
Down three, needing four in a row
Holding on by the skin of our teeth
Like a hungry dog on a bone

Angels of Fenway
Give them peace
They have been patient
Red Sox Nation

The whole world held its breath
People got down on their knees
Ready for the sudden death
Praying to heaven for hell to freeze

Nanna watched from her hospital bed
She was there 'til the end of the race
I couldn't hear the last words she said
But she was lying there with a smile on her face
Just a little smile on her face

It doesn't feel like a long time ago...

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Stretch Of The Highway

I was born singing yes I am
Grew up some kind of travelin' man
Sunday morning, pack my things
Say so long sweet potato
I'm on the road again

Oh it's a lovely stretch of the highway
Leading me on
And my favorite thing is to miss my home
When I'm gone, soon as I'm gone

Chi-Town baby, that's my town too
People pick it right on up, do the looma lamaloo
Just for example, look at ye yonder
Chicago's got the finest high-test first-class
Poontang anywhere

Oh it's a lovely stretch of the highway
Leading me on
And my favorite thing is to miss my home
When I'm gone, soon as I'm gone

I want to thank the man that planed the land
I want to thank the man that towed the load
In the burning sun and the freezing cold
I want to thank the man that made this road

Eisenhower
Mr. Dwight D.
General Motors
Big Ol' GMC
They saw the future
Yes, indeed
Eternal combustion
That's what the country's gonna need

Oh it's a lovely stretch of the highway
Leading me on
And my favorite thing is to miss my home
When I'm gone, soon as I'm gone

Tomorrow
Same as today
One more time
Mama that's ok
Shake your head "yes"
Shake your head "no"
Keep it straight and level
And steady as she goes

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Montana

I'm not smart enough for this life I've been livin',
A little bit slow for the pace of the dream.
It's not I'm ungrateful for all I've been given;
But nevertheless, just the same...

I wish to my soul, I was back in Montana,
High on my mountain and deep in the snow.
Up in my cabin, over the valley,
Under the blankets with you.

Over the ocean from here.
Over the mountains from there.

Who can imagine the scale of the forces
That pushed this old mountain range up in the sky?
Tectonic creation, erosion, mutation;
Somethin' to pleasure God's eye.

The world is a wonder of lightnin' and thunder,
And green of the ground as we fall from the sky.
The old and new faces, the tribes and the races...
Thousands of places to try.

Over the ocean from here.
Over the mountains from there.

One sits and waits while the other one wanders,
And squanders his time with a life on the road.
Down from the mountain, across the wide ocean,
The world is in motion and cannot be slowed.

Enough for today... the demands of the moment,
The thing on my mind is the work in my hand.
Wood for the woodstove and water for coffee,
Somethin' I can still understand.

We got a few friends but not many neighbors,
The trip into town takes us most of the day.
And after, "Hello", and "it's sure good to see you",
It seems like there's nothin' to say.

Over the ocean from here.

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Watchin' Over Me

Watchin' over me when I was high
Holdin' my hand and wipin' my eye
Watchin' me cheat, watchin' me lie
Oh watchin' over me

Lookin' back over on the damage I done
Made no kind of plan to be carryin' on
Thought I might ought to been dead and gone
I said oh the damage done

How'm I gonna pay that debt I owe
Big red Jesus on the radio
Down on my knees after the show
I said oh the debt I owe

I learned my lesson again
Well, I learned my lesson again
Only one way to surrender
Learned my lesson again
Got to return it to sender
Leave a little light in the window
Got to remember my friend

Guess I got to say it's a lovely day
Nice enough to know it could ever be so
Ready man, steady man, here I'm gonna go
I said, oh, the lovely day

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Snowtime

Oleana, via Del Norte, O Canada
It was snowtime, it was showtime, it was no time
To be lost in downtown Toronto
It was wintertime, 'round dinnertime
I'm beginning to see that the sunshine just doesn't want to

From a side street come a backbeat
Pulling on me like the moon pullin' on the tide
Ay caramba, one-note samba, la la la la bamba
Lighting me up inside

They had the heat of the sun in the beat of the talking drum
The light of a tropical moon on a night to remember
Someone summoned up summer just strumming on an old guitar
And every note was the antidote to December

My first impression, some kind of procession
Pulling on a long line of fancy dancers
A band stuck up on a flatbed truck
They were raising a ruckus swinging for the fences

Exiled Mexican textile working
Punching two clocks, sending two paychecks home boys
Hard working law 'biding bus riding people
Celebration on wheels destination unknown

They had the heat of the sun in the beat of the talking drum
The light of a tropical moon on a night to remember
Someone summoned up summer just strumming on an old guitar
And every note was the antidote to December

Rio Grande
Oleana
Via Del Norte
Oh Canada

There was a lifeline south in the song coming from her mouth
It swallowed me up and I followed it on downtown
In the light of dawn the message that life goes on
For the frozen man an invitation to live again

They had the heat of the sun in the beat of the talking drum
The light of a tropical moon on a night to remember
Someone summoned up summer just strumming on an old guitar
And every note was the antidote to December

They were shakin' it loose with the juice from the mambo man
Long lanky Yankee boy, Buckwheat and Spanky my my

Santiago de Cuba
Belo Horizonte
Cartagena
Guaguancó Canada
Guaguancó Canada

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Before This World / Jolly Springtime

Before this world was as we know it now
Before the land and sea were formed at all
Before the stars were made to burn and shine
Little love of mine, darling one

Who can pretend to understand at all
No one can both inside and outside be
Who can suppose he knows the way this goes
Little lamb, never mind

So let us love and let us not delay
The world is old and it will never last
Our share of joy is in this moment past
Will you come away, come away

Fall into Jesus baby child
Give up the love that takes and breaks your heart
Let go the weight of all that holds you here
Little love of mine, darling one

Oh the jolly springtime
In the merry month of May
Oh the heavenly hours
Oh the come again day

Let the day run long
Let the river run high
That tomorrow may live
So must yesterday die

Let the resin risin' up in the tree
Make the green leaf bud
The bird and the bee and the fish in the sea
Feeling it in my blood

Oh the jolly springtime
All in the merry month of May
Oh the heavenly hours
Oh the come again day

Yes the winter was bitter and long
So the spring'll be sweet
Come along with a rhythm and a song
Watch creation repeat

Thin thin the moment is thin
Ever so narrow the now
Everybody say got to live in today
Don't nobody know how

Oh the jolly springtime
In the merry month of May
Oh the heavenly hours
Oh the come again day

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Far Afghanistan

Back home Indiana, we just learn to get along
Civilized and socialized they teach you right from wrong
How to hold your liquor and how to hold your tongue
How to hold a woman or a baby or a gun

But nothing will prepare you for the far Afghanistan
You can listen to their stories and pick up what you can
You listen to their stories maybe read a book or two
Until they send you out there, man you haven't got a clue

Oh the Hindu Kush, the Band-e Amir, the Hazara

They tell you a tradition in the hills of Kandahar
They say young boys are taken to the wilderness out there
Taken to the mountain alone and in the night
If he makes it home alive they teach him how to fight

They fought against the Russians, they fought against the Brits
They fought old Alexander, talking 'bout him ever since
And after 9/11 here comes your Uncle Sam
Another painful lesson in the far Afghanistan

I was ready to be terrified and ready to be mad
I was ready to be homesick, the worst I've ever had
I expected to be hated and insulted to my face
But nothing could prepare me for the beauty of the place

No matter what they tell you all soldiers talk to God
It's a private conversation written in your blood
The enemy's no different, badass holy wind
That crazy bastard talks to God and his God talks back to him

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Wild Mountain Thyme

Oh, the summer time is coming,
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, will you go?

And we'll all go together
To pick wild mountain thyme
All around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, will you go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain,
And on it I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, will you go?

And we'll all go together
To pick wild mountain thyme
All around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, will you go?

If my true love, she won't have me,
I will surely find another
To pick wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
Will you go, lassie, will you go?

And we'll all go together
To pick wild mountain thyme
All around the purple heather.
Will you go, oh will you go?
lassie, will you go?