#SOL20 D9 James Taylor

When I was 16, I got my first job at the public library in the AV Dept. My job as a library page involved re-shelving videos and CDs (and the very small selection of laser discs! Remember those?).

One of the perks was that I could check things out, and I discovered all kinds of music. I went through a phase where all I listened to was 70s folk music, especially Simon & Garfunkel and James Taylor.

My mom loved James Taylor too, so she was happy when I brought his Greatest Hits CD home. Those were songs she'd listened to as a teenager. I developed such a crush on James Taylor, his piercing eyes and dark hair made me swoon. I would stare at the pictures of him from the 70s and wish that there was even one boy at my high school who looked like that.

James Taylor's music became a soundtrack for my family. One Christmas my parents gave me the James Taylor boxed set and I wore that thing out. When they dropped me off to college, I put the CD on, then watched from the window as they pulled away.

My dad and I danced to "You've Got a Friend" at my wedding (and we played "How Sweet It Is" while we cut the cake). My sweet mother-in-law gave me his Christmas album one year and I loved it.

My mom, sisters, and aunts went to a James Taylor concert a few years ago, and it felt like a throw back to the 70s, including the young couple who leaned over and offered us a pass of their joint. We declined (though I'm not sure that would have been my mom's answer in the 70s).

James Taylor was recently on Seth Myers and I'm not sure how at 71 he manages to have the same charm and swag he did when he was 20, and still when he was 50. But, I can see how he made my mom swoon, and then me. Hearing his voice, I can close my eyes and feel 17 again.

I love how music can do that. How good music can thread itself throughout your life, showing up at intervals and helping to create a mood for so much. I love how I can hear a song and be transported back to a dorm room, a dance floor, a living room.