In June, James Taylor (now aged 67) released “Before this World”, his first album of original songs since 2002. The song that grabs my imagination, because I’d feel similar if the Melbourne Football Club won its first premiership since 1964, is “Angels of Fenway”:
Eighty-six 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
Whole town had an attitude
Tend to get a little chip on your shoulder
Say something that’s downright rude
Damn them Yankees
Outspending everybody 2 to 1
Picking up on the cream of the crop
Stealing everyone’s favourite son
Angels of Fenway, hear our prayer
We have been chastened
We have been patient
Grandmama was a Fenway fan
Even after Granddad 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 have 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
Till the day I die
That was back in ‘65
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 3 needing 4 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 till 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
Doesn’t feel like a long time ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K1qZi6Z0e4
= Official filmclip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnEqSvPyaR4
= Brief interview about the song
www.jamestaylor.com