Boys In The Trees

Lyrics & Music by: Carly Simon

I'm home again in my old narrow bed
Where I grew tall and my feet hung over the end
The low beam room with the window looking out
On the soft summer garden
Where the boys grew in the trees

Here I grew guilty
And no one was at fault
Frightened by the power
In every innocent thought
And the silent understanding passing down
From daughter to daughter
Let the boys grow in the trees

Do you go to them
Or do you let them come to you
Do you stand in back
Afraid that you'll intrude
Deny yourself and hope someone will see
And live like a flower
While the boys grow in the trees

Last night I slept in sheets the color of fire
Tonight I lie alone again
And I curse my own desires
Sentenced first to burn and then to freeze
And watch by the window
Where the boys grew in the trees

Acoustic Guitars: Carly Simon, James Taylor, Jeff Mironov
Drums: Steve Gadd
Background Vocals: Carly Simon & James Taylor
Marimba: David Carey
Tenor & Soprano Recorders: Harvey Estrin, George Marge

© 1978, C’est Music, ASCAP

Devoted To You

Lyrics & Music by: Boudleaux Bryant

Darling you can count on me
'Till the sun dries up the sea
Until then I'll always be
Devoted to you

I'll be yours 'till endless time
I'll adore your charms sublime
Guess by now you know that I'm
Devoted to you

I'll never hurt you
I'll never lie
I'll never be untrue
I'll never give you reason to cry
I'd be unhappy if you were blue

Through the years our love will grow
Like a river it will flow
It can't die because I'm so
Devoted to you

Acoustic Guitar: James Taylor
Electric Guitar Solo: Hugh McCracken
Electric Piano: Richard Tee
Bass: Will Lee
Drums: Steve Gadd

© 1958 House of Bryant Publications, Nashville, TN
All foreign rights controlled by: Acuff-Rose Publications, Nashville, TN

Haunting

Lyrics & Music by: Carly Simon

There's always someone
Haunting someone
Haunting someone

Like an echo in the wind leaves, unreconciled
Waiting to be picked up and bounced down again
On listeners ears

There's always someone
Haunting someone
Haunting someone
And you know who I am
Though I never leave my name or number
I'm locked inside of you so it doesn't matter

There's always someone
Haunting someone
Haunting someone
And you know who I am
Though I never leave my name or number
I'm locked inside of you so it doesn't matter

There's always someone
Haunting someone
Haunting someone
And I can't sleep easy
'Cause I'm afraid of dreaming
And then the memory of the dream
There's always someone
Haunting someone
Haunting someone
Haunting someone

Piano: Ken Bischel
Drums: Steve Gadd
Background Vocals: Alyia Orme, Lucy Simon, Joanna Simon, Steven Dickson, Marc Embree
Oboe: Phil Bodner
Harps: Margaret Ross, Gloria Agostini

© 1978, C’est Music, ASCAP

You're The One

Lyrics & Music by: Carly Simon

Well I spent all night alone with you
And you weren't even there
Your eyes burned on me like the midnight sun
And somewhere in the night I knew
How much I really cared

'Cause you're the one
You're the one
For me you are the one

I tried to keep my distance
Afraid of striking out
But protect myself from life is all I've done
So I got to tell you now
Before another night goes by
That you're the one
You're the one
For me you are the one

And sometimes it hits you right away
And sometimes it takes awhile
Oh but now that you've crept up on me
There's nothing I can do
To stay away from you though Lord
Well, I've tried to keep it down
But resistance only moves it to the front
So I got to tell you now
And not worry what you'll say

'Cause you're the one
You're the one
For me you are the one

Guitar: Cornell DuPree
Piano: Richard Tee
Bass: Gordon Edwards & Tony Levin
Drums: Steve Gadd
Background Vocals: Carly Simon, Hamish Stuart and Alex Ligertwood
Obligatto Vocal: Hamish Stuart

© 1978, C’est Music, ASCAP

One Man Woman

Lyrics & Music by: James Taylor

Well it's plain as rain
And it's there for all the world to see
Just 'cause everybody does it
That doesn't make it right for me
Someone's making plans
Involvin' my old man
Everytime I turn by back around
I'm feelin' like a one man woman
Living in a two time town

Now in the place that I come from
The people don't grow on trees
(except some of the boys)
And you can't treat people like meat
Without getting brought to your knees
Now and then baby

The way I've been feeling
Since I hit this town
Like to jump in the river and drown
Feeling like a one man woman
Living in a two time town
Way I feel is like I'm living in a two time town

Sometimes I'd like
To get out on the floor
Shake it till dawn
Some young thing
Like to teach him the bump
Make me want to take him home

Well excuse me
I don't mean to preach you no lectures
Yeah but me and my man won't
Be able to stay for breakfast
Gotta go home now
I guess he's got the itch
And I'm just a bitch
Who's trying to bring him down

Feeling like a one man woman
Acting like a one man woman
I guess I'm just a one man woman
Who's living in a two time town

Guitar: Cornell DuPree
Piano: Richard Tee
Bass: Gordon Edwards
Drums: Steve Gadd
Tenor Sax Solo: Michael Brecker

© 1978 Country Road Music, Inc, BMI

Excerpts from: Land of Milk and Honey

On Tranquillo: "Well, the title was certainly wishful thinking. At night, he's (son Ben) a real Baby Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The line 'why don't you melt my heart' was a mistake. The lyric got rewritten, but the background singing was already recorded and we had to stick with it."

On Haunting: "At times there are situations that can become desperate, when you can't exorcise a person from your heart. But I don't mind the sensation of falling prey to my emotions. People who need that control are missing something. I can't see why you would want that kind of control."

On Performing: Carly has scheduled her first tour in six years!

"I'm trying not to stress anything like 'Carly Simon's Great Return to Performing' or anything like that. I'm just going to slip back into the scene as quietly as possible.

Performing, you know, is a very odd thing to do. Singing is more intimate and personal. People find themselves in my songs. It wouldn't be bad if everyone in the audience could come up onstage and I could kiss them beforehand. As it is, it's like making love without any preliminary kissing."

On the Concert: After cancelling the first scheduled show due to a stomach flu (James performed in her place), Carly takes the stage is Boston: It's her first performance in six years...and she's just this side of puking on the audience. "I hope this is a loose set," she announces. "Anyone can go to the bathroom at any time, and so can I."

The set included: Anticipation, We Have No Secrets, You Belong To Me, De Bat (Fly In Me Face), You're So Vain, That's The Way I've Heard It Should Be, It Keeps You Runnin', Devoted To You, Goodnight, Irene.

Note: The full article can be read at Rollingstone.com for a subscription fee.

Excerpts from: Motherhood Comes First

On Touring: This spring, Carly dramatically hit the road again, playing in small halls and campus clubs around the Northeast. Now, with 12 shows behind her, she says, “I don't see performing as the trauma I once did.”

Still, she needed her security blankets. James traveled with her and she booked few dates farther than 90 miles from New York, so she and James could get back to spend the night with the kids. She even stipulated in her contracts that disposable diapers be provided backstage for the times the baby came along. (Afterward Carly and James autographed leftover Pampers and handed them out to fans.)

On Family Life: James and Carly mesh recording studio, rehearsal and touring schedules to cover the children's pickup, eating and sleeping needs when they are in their nine-room apartment on Central Park West. Their only help is a five-day-a-week housekeeper-sitter. The planning still falls mostly to Carly.

"I go through 10 checklists a day - 'Where are the kids now? Are they home from the picnic? Have I bought the meat for dinner? I cannot totally be without a consciousness of where the kids are. I have almost all the responsibilities running the household and pulling the whole thing together. It's hard."

She has found that her childless friends "have very little tolerance for my having to be home at a certain time or not having the freedom to drive down to Florida for a couple of days to hang out at the beach. I do occasionally get furious and hate one kid or another for a spell - and feel guilty," she says. "But that's to be expected." For her, motherhood has meant "discovering a new dimension to love -cherishing this little person without any barriers."

On Growing up Simon: Her father, Richard Simon, co-founded the publishing house of Simon & Schuster at the age of 24 and entertained notables ranging from Richard Rodgers to Jackie Robinson. One of Carly's uncles, Peter Dean, is a singer. Uncle Alfred Simon co-authored a book on the Gershwins, the late Uncle Henry Simon was a musicologist and critic, and Uncle George Simon is a venerable jazz historian-critic. George observes that his niece Carly "was always more jazz-oriented than the other girls - more bluesy and ballsy in her phrasing, very intuitive and expressive."

Read full article online at People magazine (free)

Excerpts from: Stages Dramatic Re-Entry

On Boys In The Trees: "I've never felt until now that my voice has been mixed out in front enough on my records. I have praise for every producer I've worked with, and I've learned so much from each one. But I was too embarrassed to say I wanted to hear more of my voice before. The production of Boys In The Trees is sparser, so it doesn't get in the way of my vocals.

The songwriting inspiration I get is for problem-solving reasons. I find answers to questions I have about myself in the lyric and the melody. My writing is quite introspective, like a journal in musical verse."

"The song Haunting is the first time I've written a tune in my head as a tone poem before I set it to a melody."

For producer Arif Mardin, these were special recording sessions. "On their vocal duet, 'Devoted To You, it was magic, one of those rare moments. To communicate that feeling of devotion, I had Carly and James sing mono into one microphone."

On Performing: Carly takes the stage in support of the new album. Who would have thought that in Boston, Massachusetts on the opening night of her first solo tour in six years, Carly Simon would come down with the flu? "My band was rehearsed, so James went on in my stead, and he's the only one who could have done it. Luckily I'm not married to a baseball player," Carly laughs.

"Playing for an audience is strange enough. And if I sang impersonal songs, I don't think it would be any easier for me to get up and perform. But singing songs over in the studio this time allowed me the chance to strengthen myself to the point where I wouldn't mind recording the vocals I'm singing on stage."

In A Small Moment

Hi Carly!
Like most true fans, many of my favorite songs of yours are album cuts that for whatever reason didn't really receive airplay. A particular favorite of mine is "In a Small Moment." To me, it's like a perfect mini short story.

What can you share about the inspiration behind this song?
Thanks! Ross - Seminole, Florida

Dear Ross, A tiny slip up of character can adjust the actions further along that you take. It's those small moments that you tend to sweep under the carpet and get deposited in the "do not disturb" area of your brain, that leads you to allow yourself a replay, next time maybe not so easy to sweep and so the "do not disturb" area grows larger to encompass more easy sleazy acts which demean the honesty and integrity of one's nature.

"Just a little lie"... you can't get away with it unless you are a psychopath. If you are inherently honest, the lie will sleep beside you and change you from the inside out, subtley or not so subtley. Everybody commits these little acts, it takes a good woman, a good man, to admit them.

Do I sound like I'm giving a sermon? Oh Oh. Sorry!
Love, Carly - 10/15/05

Boys In The Trees album cover

Carly,
I think my favourite album cover is Boys In The Trees. Where was that shot? Did you ever get a say in the look of the album? It seems to me like every cover photo reflects the mood of the album. Big love, Charlotte West - Manchester UK

Charlotte,
It was very much the idea of Deborah Turburville, the photographer of that cover. I had a totally different idea which I'm glad she didn't listen to. I actually would have done something silly like asking to be photographed in a child sized bed with big huge trees outside looking threatening. Very surreal. As it turned out, it is surreal, but with grace and with less particularity or specificity to the lyric.
Love, Carly - 7/14/03