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The main reason why I think James Taylor's 1972-73 hit "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" is a "Great Song" has little to do with chart position, although it reached #3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in the US and #7 on the matching chart in Canada.
Not bad...but what REALLY makes it "Great" is that it can be interpreted in a number of ways.
For example, One reviewer called it: "a stunning example of a jazzy romantic ballad about a betrayed lover who allows his heart to rule his head--the type of song usually sung by female artists."
But another reviewer went quite a bit deeper, claiming the lyrics "make James come off as desperate and capricious. He asks a girl to spend the night to fend off his loneliness, tells her he's not going to beg, then proceeds to do just that." The reviewer goes on to say that "it sounds like the manipulations of an addict, which James was at the time."
Interpretation is in the ear of the beholder...but sometimes a song has more layers than you think. Or maybe not.
But either way, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" by James Taylor is still a "Great Song of 1972-73!
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