Something in the Way She Moves
| "Something in the Way She Moves" | |
|---|---|
| Song by James Taylor from the album James Taylor | |
| Released | 1968 |
| Recorded | 1968 at Trident Studios, London |
| Genre | Soft rock |
| Length | 2:54 |
| Label | Apple Records |
| Writer(s) | James Taylor |
| Producer(s) | Peter Asher |
| "Something in the Way She Moves" | |
|---|---|
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|
| Single by Tom Rush | |
| from the album The Circle Game | |
| B-side | "Rockport Sunday" |
| Released | 1968 |
| Genre | Folk Rock |
| Length | 3:25 |
| Label | Elektra Records |
| Writer(s) | James Taylor |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Gorson |
"Something in the Way She Moves" is a song written by James Taylor that appeared on his 1968 debut album for Apple Records, James Taylor. It has also been covered by other artists, including Tom Rush and Harry Belafonte. The opening line inspired George Harrison to write the #1 Beatles' song "Something." According to James Taylor's stage banter at the Apollo Theater on June 16, 2015, this was the song he played for Paul McCartney as an audition before signing with Apple Records.
"Something in the Way She Moves" is a romantic song.Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau regards the song as being about "transcendence of a sort." Taylor plays the song accompanied only by acoustic guitar.
Author Barry Alan Farber used "Something in the Way She Moves" as one of his favorite songs on the theme of love that "both comforts and strengthens." He particularly notes the lines:
With these lines, Taylor shows awareness, rare in songs, that part of what is soothing about his lover is the quality of her voice. Farber speculates that what is appealing is that it may remind Taylor of his mother's voice, so that Taylor is being soothed by recalling being taken care of as a youth.
Farber also highlights the lines:
as effectively expressing a feeling many people have of "being scared of not being anchored sufficiently well in the world."
Allmusic critic Linsday Planer regards "Something in the Way She Moves" as one of the "notable inclusions" on the James Taylor album. Fellow Allmusic critic David R. Adler described it as "one of Taylor's finest melodies".Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Mark Coleman agrees that it is a "highlight" of James Taylor, describing the song as "winsome" and predicting the path Taylor would take in future recordings. Taylor biographer Timothy White describes it as being "unquestionably Taylor's finest performance" on James Taylor. White described it as "spare in presentation" and "poignant on its own elegant terms."Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau believes that the spare performance and Taylor's "restrained delivery" add to the song's power, as Taylor "lets the melody, lyric, guitar, and voice speak for themselves." Martin Charles Strong describes it as being a "memorable original" and one that "marked Taylor out as a kind of male Joni Mitchell, if not quite as adventurous."
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Wikipedia