<P> Taylor wrote `` Long Ago and Far Away '' in 1970 , about a year before it was recorded for Mud Slide Slim . Joni Mitchell sings background vocals and Carole King plays piano . It is a sad song that Taylor biographer Timothy White calls `` among the most wistful of Taylor 's vast catalogue of secular hymns . '' The theme of the song is how things do n't turn out as planned , how dreams do n't usually match the ultimate reality and how expectations do n't last . The lyrics evoke a motif common in Taylor 's songs , that of the sea and sailing away for one reason or another . Other images in the lyrics include `` tender dreams '' and `` broken glass . '' Towards the end of the song the singer asks why his song is so sad . The phrase `` long ago and far away '' never appears in the lyrics . Rather , Taylor sings that `` Long ago a young man sits and plays his waiting game . '' In 1998 Taylor noted that the lyrics in the second verse `` Love is just a word I 've heard when things are being said '' was the `` most coherent '' part of the song for him at that time , stating that `` it is a musing on the nature of expectations , and how they do n't last . </P>
<P> Taylor wrote `` Long Ago and Far Away '' in 1970 , about a year before it was recorded for Mud Slide Slim . Joni Mitchell sings background vocals and Carole King plays piano . It is a sad song that Taylor biographer Timothy White calls `` among the most wistful of Taylor 's vast catalogue of secular hymns . '' The theme of the song is how things do n't turn out as planned , how dreams do n't usually match the ultimate reality and how expectations do n't last . The lyrics evoke a motif common in Taylor 's songs , that of the sea and sailing away for one reason or another . Other images in the lyrics include `` tender dreams '' and `` broken glass . '' Towards the end of the song the singer asks why his song is so sad . The phrase `` long ago and far away '' never appears in the lyrics . Rather , Taylor sings that `` Long ago a young man sits and plays his waiting game . '' In 1998 Taylor noted that the lyrics in the second verse `` Love is just a word I 've heard when things are being said '' was the `` most coherent '' part of the song for him at that time , stating that `` it is a musing on the nature of expectations , and how they do n't last . </P>
james taylor long ago and far away backing vocals
james taylor long ago and far away backing vocals
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell