James Taylor's song of suicide, loneliness and addiction somehow remains hopeful and uplifting, even as people experience their own dark times. Holly Sinclair was driving through a Missouri winter to see her brother, in hospital after a suicide attempt, when the song came on the radio. Michael Granberry, arts writer for the Dallas Morning News, is also a huge James Taylor fan. He's the same age as Taylor, and reflects on the context of assassinations and war raging in America when he wrote Fire and Rain. Peter Asher was James Taylor's manager and producer, and remembers their first meeting, and the first time he heard Fire and Rain. Marcia Hines released a successful cover version of the song after moving from America to Australia as a teenager, and hearing the song blasting out of radios on both sides of the world. Mark Deeks and Jeff Alexander from Sing United community choir talk about the emotions generated when people sing a song they feel a connection to. And Peter Bardaglio, climate change activist, talks about a summer of fire and rain. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven
This was an impregnable fortress.
The only way you got out was.
In a wooden box.
The controversial maximum security prison, impossible to escape from.
One of the duties of a political.
Prisoner is the escape the IRA inmates who found a way.
I'm Carlo Gabler, and I'll be navigating a path through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in british and irish history.
The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them.
Escape from.
From the maze.
Listen first on BBC Sounds.
BBC sounds music radio podcasts.
Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone.
Susanne, the plans, they may put an end to you.
My brother loves all sorts of music, and we would share and swap music recommendations.
And he.
For a while, he was very much into, like, folk music from the seventies.
I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
He was two years younger than me, and we were competitive.
We were both about similar intelligence.