I was going to play something meaningful tonight … you know, something to make us believe that there are brighter days ahead, that the human experiment isn’t failing, something like Cat Stevens’ Peace Train or the composite of so many artists for a good cause, We Are The World.  Or even John Lennon’s Imagine, or Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s Ebony and Ivory.  Instead, I settled on the voice of James Taylor to bring a smile to my face, and I hope he brings one to yours as well.

James Taylor and J.D. Souther wrote this song with Waddy Wachtell, a guitarist known for his work with Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt and Warren Zevon. The song tells the story of a woman who finds herself living alone after a breakup with her man, and has to deal with the small town gossip. Many people speculated that the song was doubly autobiographical: Taylor’s marriage with Carly Simon was ending, as was Souther’s relationship with Linda Ronstadt. Taylor and Souther refuse to say who they were singing about, though many speculate it was his breakup with Carly that inspired the song.

Her Town Too
James Taylor / J.D. Souther

She’s been afraid to go out
She’s afraid of the knock on her door
There’s always a shade of a doubt
She can never be sure
Who comes to call
Maybe the friend of a friend of a friend
Anyone at all
Anything but nothing again

It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too
It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too

Seems like even her old girlfriends
Might be talking her down
She’s got her name on the grapevine
Running up and down
The telephone line
Talking ’bout
Someone said, someone said
Something ’bout, something else
Someone might have said about her
She always figured that they were her friends
But maybe they can live without her

It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too
It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too

Well, people got used to seeing them both together
But now he’s gone and life goes on
Nothing lasts forever, oh no
She gets the house and the garden
He gets the boys in the band
Some of them his friends
Some of them her friends
Some of them understand
Lord knows that this is just a small town city
Yes, and everyone can see you fall
It’s got nothing to do with pity
I just wanted to give you a call

It used to be your town
It used to be my town, too
You never know ’till it all falls down
Somebody loves you
Somebody loves you
Darling, somebody still loves you
I can still remember
When it used to be her town, too
It used to be your town
It used to be my town, too

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John David Souther / James Vernon Taylor / Waddy Wachtell
Her Town Too lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC