James Taylor (character)

James Taylor is an American singer and songwriter. Two of his most popular songs are "Fire and Rain" and "You've Got a Friend."

While Homer Simpson and fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Race Banyon were on a space shuttle mission, James Taylor visited Mission Control and sang to them. Aldrin protested that it wasn't a very good time for music, as they were dealing with an emergency on board: Sand and ants from a broken ant farm getting into everything. Taylor, however, insisted on singing anyway, beginning with "You've Got a Friend."

Taylor did relent somewhat when he sang "Fire and Rain." When he sang the line about "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground," he paused, apparently realizing how inappropriate the lyrics were under those circumstances. Then he backed up in the song and sang the phrase again, changing the lyrics to "Sweet dreams and flying machines flying safely through the air."