This song is about James' friend, Suzanne, who commited suicide. A lot of people think it is about a plane crash because of the line "sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" but that is actually a reference to the break up of his band, Flying Machine. The opening line ("just yesterday mornin, they let me know you were gone") is stating the fact that he didn't find out until about 6 months after it had happened because he was away. There are also references to James' heroin use which was at its peak, like in the stanza that starts "Won't you look down upon me Jesus..." where he expresses the seriousness of his usage and the consequences of continuing on this path. This is a wonderful song and never ceases to make me teary-eyed.
This song is about James' friend, Suzanne, who commited suicide. A lot of people think it is about a plane crash because of the line "sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" but that is actually a reference to the break up of his band, Flying Machine. The opening line ("just yesterday mornin, they let me know you were gone") is stating the fact that he didn't find out until about 6 months after it had happened because he was away. There are also references to James' heroin use which was at its peak, like in the stanza that starts "Won't you look down upon me Jesus..." where he expresses the seriousness of his usage and the consequences of continuing on this path. This is a wonderful song and never ceases to make me teary-eyed.