Song: Enough To Be On Your Way Artist: James Taylor (Originally published Sept.20, 2012)

I recently watched James Taylor perform at the DNC on television and it reminded me of one of my favourite songs of his. I’ve mentioned it before in my blog article My 10 All Time Favourite Songs but I think I’d like to go into more depth here about what I like so much about this song.

What I think I first fell in love with in this song was the melody and chord progression and the instrumentation…it’s a sad song and a powerful one.  I didn’t find out until later that James wrote it about his brother who passed away.

James changed the gender of the main character in the song (good idea to do that when you’re writing about something or someone personal to you!), and I’m sure he changed some other details for the sake of the song.  When I found out it was really about his brother, it explained a lot to me.  First of all, songwriters are always told “write what you know”.  I’m sure this applies to other types of writing, but the truth is that when a lyric is real, people feel it.  When you’re really writing from the heart, it connects a lot better than something totally made up.  Now, I’m not advocating the idea of making your songwriting a diary of your life, but the more truthiness there is to it (I know, borrowed word and not in the dictionary!), the more your audience can relate.

Here are some of the lyrics:

The sun shines on this funeral
The same as on a birth
The way it shines on everything
That happens here on earth

It rolls across the western sky
And back into the sea
And spends the day’s last rays
Upon this fucked up family
So long old gal

The last time I saw Alice
She was leaving Santa Fe
With a bunch of round-eyed Buddhists
In a killer Chevrolet
Said they turned her out of Texas
Yeah she burned `em down back home
Now she`s wild with expectation
On the edge of the unknown

CHORUS:
Oh it`s enough to be on your way
It`s enough just to cover ground
It`s enough to be moving on
Home, build it behind your eyes
Carry it in your heart
Safe among your own

The chord progression in the verses is sentimental and soft, beginning with a Gmaj7 to an A/B (all relative to the capo on the 3rd fret).  Major 7th chords have always been some of my favourites, as was evidenced in the first few songs I wrote once I discovered them.  They are often used in jazz, but are not as difficult to play as some jazz chords.  The A/B chord is simply an A with the added B bass note, which gives a kind of anticipatory feel to the lines.  He plays those two chords once each in the first two lines, then starts the third line, which is twice as long, with the same two chords, progressing to F#m7, Bm7, Em9, A, D/A, A. James likes to keep his bass lines moving which make his guitar progressions intricate and interesting.

My favourite progression, however, is in the chorus. It starts with Bm7 to Em7 to F#m7 and back to Bm7, but the second line takes a twist.  It picks up at the Em7 to F#m7 again, but then it moves to a Gmaj7…a major 7th chord, giving it that emotional punch just at the right time.  His melody moves eloquently over top, with the melodic and lyrical repetition of “it’s enough” at the beginning of the first three lines.  It’s enough to be on your way, it’s enough just to cover ground, it’s enough to be moving on.

When I first discovered James Taylor back in the 70’s, what impressed me most were his chord progressions and melodies.  I didn’t even think about or pay attention to his lyrics until later.  But I have to say I’ve never heard him swear in a song :-).  In the first verse of this song, he opens with the idea of how the sun shines on the funeral, as it shines on everything, implying a kind of indifference to the drama that’s going on beneath it.  The last line hits home with “and spends the days’ last rays upon this fucked up family.”  I wonder if James ever wondered whether or not he should use that word!  On the other hand, there’s an element of “real” to it, isn’t there?  Don’t we all feel that way about our families sometimes?  I think he was bringing his real life into that line.

Have a listen to Enough To Be On Your Way in the YouTube video below.  

I love this song…when I bought the album, it was one of those songs that grew on me the more I listened to it.  For me these days, that is rare.  It may be only because I am unable to find artists that appeal to me in order to discover those gems, and the places where I might hear them on a regular basis (like radio used to) don’t exist.  But there is nothing more beautiful than a song that reveals itself more and more over time.

~ IJ