In November of 1972, singer James Taylor married songwriter Carly Simon, whom he would eventually divorce in 1983. In a 2015 interview with People, Simon admitted that she still has love for Taylor, even though he might not feel the same way. Here are a few songs that Simon wrote about their relationship.
“The Right Thing To Do”
Although Simon wrote this song herself first, Taylor, who was her husband at the time, actually helped her make some changes to it. Taylor suggested that Simon change the original third verse, and she took his advice. The song’s chorus is honest, but also sweet.
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I know you’ve had some bad luck with ladies before
They drove you or you drove them crazy
But more important is I know you’re the one, and I’m sure
Lovin’ you’s the right thing to do
Lovin’ you’s the right thing.
“It was actually one of my absolutely undisputed songs about James, written three months into our relationship,” Simon shared of this song with Stephen Davis.
“Legend In Your Own Time”
This song, from Simon’s album Anticipation, chronicles the quiet, often-overlooked tragedy that can come with being an artist. Simon sings about a man who is a singer, whose mother doesn’t necessarily see him as the legend that he is because of what he does for a living.
But you’re a legend in your own time
A hero in the fourth lights
Playing tunes to fit your rhyme
But a legend’s only a lonely boy
When he goes home alone.
Simon confirmed in her memoir, Boys In The Trees, that this one was written about Taylor.
“We’re So Close”
“We’re So Close” is a painful song that gives listeners insight into Simon’s marriage to Taylor. In it, she sings about the irony of being close with a partner, but not being able to communicate with them the way you should.
“The state of our marriage gave me the lyrics to what is perhaps the saddest song I’ve ever written…” Simon writes in her memoir of this song. “Which I wrote one day in 1979 on the Vineyard while James was keeping me waiting for an hour in the car as he pulled his sailboat from the water. By the time he had returned to the car, more than anything, I wanted to read the lyrics back to him…”
She then admits, “What would James have done if I’d read him those lyrics aloud? Most likely nothing.”
Photo by: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns