Blog 1118 – 09.18.2018

“Sweet Baby James”

Yesterday, I wrote of hunting and fishing with my Dad, James Clifford White. I loved my daddy and from a lad he was my hero. Oh, like many boys who most always seem to love their mamas best I was often at odds with dad but I knew he loved me and I always loved him even when we did not see eye to eye. I love James Taylor’s voice and have done Mockingbird versions of many of his songs, Sweet Baby James being among my most favorite. It always reminds me of my dad who was a veritable fountain of wise sayings that he had collected throughout a lifetime. Listen to the words of Sweet Baby James and you will find more than a nugget or two for yourself:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5UGucaz8iwNSEF0SW15b1FRVkk

Sweet Baby James & Long Ago And Far Away

Here are all the words to Sweet Baby James written out for you in case you prefer reading to listening to me sing them:

Sweet Baby James

There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range

His horse and his cattle are his only companions

He works in the saddle and sleeps in the canyons

Waiting for summer, his pastures to change

And as the moon rises he sits by his fire

Thinking about women and glasses of beer

And closing his eyes as the doggies retire

He sings out a song which is soft but it’s clear

As if maybe someone could hear

Goodnight you moonlight ladies

Rockabye sweet baby James

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose

Won’t you let me go down in my dreams

And rockabye sweet baby James

Now the first of December was covered with snow

So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston

The Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting

With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go

There’s a song that they sing when they take to the highway

A song that they sing when they take to the sea

A song that they sing of their home in the sky

Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep

But singing works just fine for me

So goodnight you moonlight ladies

Rockabye sweet baby James

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose

Won’t you let me go down in my dreams

And rockabye sweet baby James

Songwriters: James Taylor / James V Taylor

Sweet Baby James lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

I especially like the lines:

There’s a song that they sing when they take to the highway

A song that they sing when they take to the sea

A song that they sing of their home in the sky

Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep

But singing works just fine for me.

Throughout my life I have heard countless people refer to heaven as their home in the sky but some years ago I came to believe that heaven is not some sweet bye and bye, pie in the sky place but that the kingdom of heaven is within us in our own hearts and that we don’t even have to wait but can begin enjoying it now. I love the picture today of this sweet child and her doggie singing. They know that heaven is no far away place. You can almost hear them singing and see heaven in their faces as they sing. Music makes the heart glad and opens us up to see the heaven within us and all around us. I am reminded of one of my Bible college classmates’ comical response to one of questions in the Four Spiritual Laws evangelism tract: “If you were to died tonight would you go to heaven or hell?” My funny friend said, “Hell no, Heaven yes!” For sometime now I have discarded the belief that I once held in a literal hell but with my friend I still say, “Heaven, Yes!” And with Sweet Baby James, “Singing works just fine for me.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White