Your Smiling Face

"Your Smiling Face"
Dutch cover
Single by James Taylor
from the album JT
B-side	"If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight"
Released	September 1977
Genre	Pop rock
Length	2:30
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	James Taylor
Producer(s)	Peter Asher
James Taylor singles chronology
"Handy Man" (1977) "Your Smiling Face" (1977) "Honey Don't Leave L.A." (1977)

"Your Smiling Face" is a hit single by singer James Taylor. First available on the album JT, and released as the disc's sophomore single in September 1977, "Your Smiling Face" peaked at number 11 in Cash Box magazine and at 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 near year's end. It reached number 11 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada.^[1][2] On Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, it reached number 6.^[1][3]

Lines like "Isn't it amazing a man like me can feel this way?" reflect Taylor's surprise at his newfound happiness in his relationship with Carly Simon.^[4] Rolling Stone critic Peter Herbst described it as being "unabashedly happy".^[5] However, according to Taylor biographer Timothy White, the song was written for Taylor's and Simon's then three-year-old daughter Sally.^[6] White described the song as a "pop sonnet".^[6] Taylor described it as a "good, light-hearted pop love song".^[6] Herbst praises Taylor's vocal for being "a pretty convincing rock singer" on the song.^[5]

"Your Smiling Face" was a fixture in Taylor's live shows, but he had to abandon it for a while because he went through a period where he had difficulty reaching the falsetto notes.^[6]

Popular culture

• The song was used in the 1978 film FM, starring Michael Brandon and Eileen Brennan.^[7]
• It was parodied in the South Park episode "Fat Camp" as "The Prostitute Song."^[8]
• James Taylor, on the kids' show, Sesame Street, sang a parody of this called "Whenever You See a Grouchy Face" to Oscar the Grouch.^[9][10]
• The song was performed by the Filipino child stars John Steven de Guzman, Janna Agoncilio, Ashley Sarmiento, Rhed Bustamante, Marco Masa and Yesha Camille on ASAP 20 in August 9, 2015.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1977–78) Peak position Canada RPM Top Singles 11 Canadian Adult Contemporary (RPM) 4 US Billboard Hot 100 20 US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 6 US Cash Box Top 100[11] 12

Year-end charts Chart (1977) Rank Canada RPM Top Singles[12] 140 US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[13] 132

References

1. "JT Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
2. "RPM 100 Singles". Library and Archives Canada. December 24, 1977. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
3. "RPM Adult Oriented Playlist". Library and Archives Canada. December 10, 1977. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
4. Ruhlmann, W. "JT". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
5. Herbst, P. (August 11, 1977). "JY". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
6. White, T. (2009). Long Ago And Far Away: James Taylor - His Life And Music. Omnibus Press. pp. 248–250. ISBN 9780857120069.
7. "FM Soundtrack". IMDB. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
8. O'Neal, S. "10 Underrated South Park Songs". nerve.com. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
9. "VH1 Music Studio: Past Programs and Lesson Plans". VH1. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
10. Brenner, J. (November 22, 2013). "Sesame Street Turns 44: Our Favorite Celebrity Moments!". Parade. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
12. "Top 200 Singles of '77 – Volume 28, No. 11, December 31 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
13. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 380. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics