Walking Man

this song is so calming! waliking? (4th line), buning (7th line)

Golden wings against the sky, what a pretty picture that puts in my mind.

This song was written by James about his dad, it's referring to his physical and emotional absence during his life. We've all been Walking Man at some point in our lives I'm sure, I sure have

A man, possibly mentally ill, walks as if he has a purpose, thinking about the end of time. No one bothers to know him.

Time passes,

You want to forget about this sad individual. You know you should but you can’t.

He keeps walking, and without conversing with him he is an enigma to you.

As time passes, normal people work hard until they get old and tired of the drudgery. They talk on and on about their problems and try to escape from reality.

The walking man doesn’t have a normal life and is unaware of other peoples problems. He doesn’t discuss his problem with anyone. He just keeps walking.

Everyone makes an impression on the world but it’s hard for the outcast to have influence. He makes no attachments (but makes an impression on you) You seldom see him but because you have you are sub-consciously troubled, but no one would be interested in discussing it with you so that you could dismiss the feeling. You want the thoughts of him to leave you. You wish that he would act normal or talk and give you an explanation. He is what he is. You accept that he is what he is. You wonder if he will be free of his affliction when he dies and becomes an angel, reaching the Holy Land (his eventual destination). This relieves your mind and you can say good-by to thinking about his sad condition. (my best guess) Dennis Gwin

This was a song about the autumn. "Keeping an eye on the Holy Land. A hypothetical destiniation. Who is this walking man?"

"Any other man stops and talks". The seasons keep changing from day to day.

The season ends at the Winter Solstice. "Who would want to listen to him kissing his existence goodbye"?

Everything in this number points to the slow passing of the seasons events. "The hay is in the barn". "The goose has gone to fly". (South for the winter).

Everything in this number indicates the slow, inexorable passage of time.

I like the idea that it is a poetical reference to the autumn. I think it may be an echo of Steppenwolf the novel by Hermann Hesse about a man who chose not to engage with society but saw himself as a wolf from the steppes of russia, living an isolated life in the middle of society. Hesse who won the Nobel prize in part for this novel thought that this was not a good way to lead a life and wrote the book to say so.

I bought this album when it was released in 1975, and it took almost 40 years to understand. It exemplifies the brilliance of Mr. Taylor's writing acumen. Functioning on many levels, this work demonstrates the irrefutable evidence of greatness: timelessness. I hope this analysis inspires everyone to revisit all his songs with new ears and behold as these living works unfold deep inside of you as they have and continue to unfold inside of me with cathartic joy. The first lesson "the baby" gives us in writing is this: tell the listener NOTHING. Allow them the joy of discovery because when we discover something on our own, we OWN it! We are proud of our discovery and that creates a reward pathway that we want more of. The great writer allows our brains the opportunity to give us a shot of dopamine. When that happens, you become a heroin addict without the heroin. "Walking man" is clearly a riddle. The cover photo with the pocket watch is the first clue. Note the time on the watch: late afternoon. A lifetime is 24 hours, and our writer sees himself as beginning the march to the end. The spectre of death looms large with great writers, but that is a different study altogether. The walking man is TIME. The tempo is exactly 60 beats per minute. He tells us this song is a riddle, "say, who is this walking man?" Keeping an eye on the holy land when the world and our time is finished. Bridges ARE for burning, contrary to popular advice, because you can never really go back, so it's counterproductive to entertain this option. I was drawn to further extrapolate thus: God is time. Past (the father is called "ancient of days" in scripture) Present (Jesus said, "..the kingdom of heaven is at hand, meaning here and now.) Future (the Holy spirit exclusively predicts the future to the prophets in visions and dreams throughout scripture. "Hear ye oh Israel, The Lord thy God is one God" Although time can be conceptuallyc apprehended as past, present and future, the three cannot be separated. the scriptures are full of current time as certain events are recorded. " it was about the third watch" "the sun went backwards about 20 degrees...In the fullness of time...in the beginning..) I'm missing a couple hours, time flies, the time is not quite right, walk on by my door and my (so I stay young). Cut hay while the sun is high...it takes time for a weed to grow... nosobbe