"Carolina in My Mind": Folk Feelings

I’ve given myself a bit of a challenge today. The idea of this “Folk Feelings” series is for me to take a look at the folk songs that I find stir up particularly strong emotions without needing grand, booming instrumentals or in-your-face vocals. In my previous post about “Catch the Wind” by Donovan, that wasn’t a particularly difficult task. The lyrics stood out spectacularly and gave the song so much power and character. Now, as I move on to another personal favorite folk song of mine, that avenue isn’t exactly open to me. Even as I write this, I don’t yet have a clear idea of the “why” behind this song.

“Carolina in my Mind” is a song by famous folk singer (or singer-songwriter, if you will) James Taylor. He’s probably best known for his song “Fire and Rain,” which is also an emotional, moving piece, but “Carolina in my Mind” has something extra, in my opinion at least.

“Carolina in my Mind” is, to put it simply, a song about being homesick. It was recorded when Taylor, a North Carolina native, was in Europe (primarily the UK) recording an album. As is made obvious by a previous post of mine, nostalgia is a powerful feeling to me personally, so I’m sure that plays a role in my love for this song. However, while “Catch the Wind,” another one of my favorites, has poetic lyrics that perfectly encapsulate a very specific emotion, as I sat down to write this and recalled the lyrics to “Carolina in my Mind,” I realized that at some points, the lyrics were downright clunky and awkward.

Of course, after looking up the full lyrics to the song and reading them over, there are some really beautiful verses in there. But, I’d like to take a look at the less stellar parts first.

I understand the simile Taylor uses in the chorus when he states: “And ain’t it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?” The bittersweet nature of missing home is a feeling of pain stemming from a source of joy and happiness that can come on suddenly, much like if someone close to you hits you out of the blue. However, I think imagery from that line just seems a bit silly and detracts from the overall mood of the song.

The other part of the song that always struck me as a bit odd was the line about “geese in flight and dogs that bite.” From what I’ve read, Taylor is referencing his own dog here, but I don’t really know why it’s necessary to specify that the dog he’s remembering is prone to biting. In fact, that seems like a reason to miss it less. It seems like a stretch to rhyme with “geese in flight,” which also doesn’t seem extremely necessary. Maybe Taylor really liked geese, but surely there were other things he missed a bit more that he could have added in here?

In the end, however, this is an extremely personal song. So, maybe Taylor felt that it was important to include the details about his dog’s aggressiveness, and maybe the image of a friend hitting him was meaningful. Plus, there are a lot of great lines in the song. This verse is probably my favorite:

“There ain't no doubt in no one's mind

That love's the finest thing around

Whisper something soft and kind

And hey, baby, the sky's on fire, I'm dying, ain't I?

I'm going to Carolina in my mind”

In my post about “Catch the Wind,” I noted Donovan’s gift for reframing common experiences, such as being in love, in unique, interesting ways. James Taylor, on the other hand, comments quite plainly about love: Without a doubt, it’s the best. I don’t know what it is about that line, but the matter-of-fact nature of it just strikes a chord with me. The mention of dying and the sky being on fire could mean many different things, but in the context of the song itself, it brings to mind the chaotic sense of being far from home, the whirlwind of emotions when you’re in an unfamiliar place and you miss the comfort and assuredness of where you came from.

Over the course of writing this post, I’ve softened my stance on the lyrics. Still, I wouldn’t say they're what drive and charge this song. Instead, I’d argue it’s the fact that James Taylor felt something so deeply, so honestly, and he was able to take that feeling and translate it into a song without it feeling contrived. Sure, the line about “dogs that bite” might not be life-changing, but it was what he was thinking about, what he felt, and none of that was lost when he put pen to paper and wrote “Carolina in my Mind.”