In my mind I'm gone to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine? Can't you just feel the moonshine?
Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?
Yes, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind
There ain't no doubt in no one's mind that love's the finest thing around
Whisper something soft and kind and hey, babe, the sky's on fire
I'm dying, ain't I?
Gone to Carolina in my mind
~ James Taylor
If the fates allow, I will be in North Carolina when you read this, and not only in my mind. I am driving up to Durham to visit my daughter, stopping in Daytona (where I am writing this) on my way, visiting with a dear friend. I have a long drive ahead of me, so this post may be brief.
But Carolina has long been in my mind. I honeymooned on the Outer Banks with my new husband and my dogs back in 1984. (And who honeymoons with their dogs?) And from 1989 to 2002, every August found me and my family soaking in the rays on the beach at Southern Shores. OBX is a heart spot for us all. And though we have not visited there in a few years, I feel certain that I will find myself on those shores again one day. Beach, books, and beer . . . that's my kind of vacation. Well, one of them.
And who doesn't love James Taylor? At the time that he wrote and recorded this song, back in 1968, James was reportedly in a psychiatric facility, trying to kick a heroin addiction. Because he was unable to tour and promote his debut album at the time, the song never made it into the Top 100. But after the success of "Fire and Rain" in 1970, Apple re-released "Carolina in My Mind" and it performed well. And James Taylor went on to become, well, the beloved James Taylor that we still know today.
Dark and silent, late last night, I think I might have heard the highway call
And geese in flight and dogs that bite, the signs that might be omens say
I'm going, I'm going
I'm gone to Carolina in my mind
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