The Tragic Real-Life Story Of James Taylor

According to Snopes, there's a widely accepted theory as to the meaning behind James Taylor's 1970 hit "Fire and Rain." Evidently, some friends arranged for Taylor's girlfriend to fly in and surprise him at one of his concerts, but the plane crashed on the way. That's hinted at in the lines that go "Suzanne, the

According to Snopes, there's a widely accepted theory as to the meaning behind James Taylor's 1970 hit "Fire and Rain." Evidently, some friends arranged for Taylor's girlfriend to fly in and surprise him at one of his concerts, but the plane crashed on the way. That's hinted at in the lines that go "Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you," as well as "sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground." 

However, the truth about "Fire and Rain" is more complicated and arguably even more tragic. Suzanne is a real person — Suzanne Schnerr, a friend from Taylor's teen days with whom he played in a band called the Flying Machine. "We used to hang out together, and we used to get high together," Taylor said in Timothy White's "James Taylor: Long Ago and Far Away." In 1968, when he was recording his first album, he learned that Schnerr had committed suicide months earlier, the news purposely withheld by their mutual friends because "they didn't want to shake me up." (Fyi, the "they" in the line "the plans they made" refers to "'ye gods,' or basically 'the Fates,'" Taylor said.) 

As for the rest of the song, according to a 1972 interview with Rolling Stone (via "The Girl in the Song"), the second verse is about his personal and professional anxiety, while the third verse "refers to [his] recuperation in Austin Riggs," a residential treatment facility.

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