James Taylor is widely considered to be one of the greatest folk music singers of all time. The singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, also has the distinction of being one of the first musicians ever signed to The Beatles strange, poorly-managed experiment in record producing, Apple Records (whether he is the actual first artist to be signed is debated, many people claiming it was Badfinger who was signed first). His song "Carolina In My Mind" was the first of his many hits, released on the self-titled debut album in 1968. The song exploded into popularity, especially in - who would've guessed - North Carolina, and has since become (arguably) James Taylor's most popular hit.

"Carolina in My Mind" is an incredible example of longing and of homesickness, which is exactly what James Taylor was feeling when he wrote the song. James Taylor was recorded in London at the same time as The Beatles were recording The Beatles (also known as The White Album). While there, Taylor decided to skip on over to the nearby island of Formentera. Feeding on the increasing homesickness that he had for his home of North Carolina, Taylor pumped out "Carolina in My Mind," expressing his longing for his dog, his family, his childhood and really just North Carolina in general. There are probably few things that he wasn't missing, and going from the relatively temperate North Carolina weather to the infinitely cloudy and gloomy weather of London, one can sympathize with his homesickness.

Now, one of the most talked about parts of this song is the mention of a woman by the name of Karen at the beginning of the second verse in which Taylor says that Karen is a "silver sun." Some people thought Karen was a metaphor for North Carolina, some people thought she was some woman that he met, and some thought that it was a reference to drugs (somehow), because at the time, Taylor was trying to kick a nasty drug habit. In reality, according to Taylor, Karen was actually a woman he met when he went to Formentera. Exactly what their relationship was is unclear, but it appears that they were together for a very short time, maybe even just a day. But this woman had a big effect on Taylor, saying even years later that he continued to think about her. He even got a police sketch artist to sketch what he remembered of her appearance, though he could never find her. Regardless, it seems as though Karen became his short-term muse.



Es Calo port on the island of Formentera, Balearic Islands
Photo: Lunamarina, Dreamstime

This is the point where you're thinking I'll start talking about North Carolina, right? I mean, the song is called "Carolina in My Mind," it has to be the most obvious choice for a place. Well you're wrong, and should therefore feel ashamed (I didn't mean that, please keep reading). I'm here to talk about Formentera, the island where Taylor went and met Karen; the island where he wrote the song. Formentera is an incredibly small island located in the Mediterranean, and by "incredibly small," I mean it's really small. Its area is only 32.1 square miles. It belongs to the Balearic Islands, which is owned by Spain and only has about 10,000 people living on it. It is also a huge vacation spot for Europeans for a few reasons. First, it's an island in the Mediterranean, so it's warm and on the water. And second, nude sunbathing is allowed, which we all know is a loved pastime of Europeans.

When on Formentera, you'll see very few cars, mostly you'll see people on mopeds and bikes because why bother with a car on an island that has an area of only 32.1 square miles? This is the island that James Taylor was on when he met Karen and we can only imagine that they met while nude sunbathing (now you're thinking of 1968 James Taylor nude on the beach with his sick mustache and you are so welcome for that mental image).

Regardless of how they met, what's important is that they met and the combination of their meeting and the growing homesickness that Taylor had formed itself into the great song we now know as "Carolina In My Mind."

Ben Palmer
May 7, 2015 Carolina In My Mind Songfacts
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Comments: 5

• Sharon Thompson from Gulf Shores AlabamaI was a hippie in the 70's and went to Formentara in 2000 to visit friends there who had been there since the 70s and it has a hippie market as does Ibiza because of all the folks that came there. Still a lot of crafts and artist to buy things from. I am going to see James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt in Pennsacola and can hardly wait! I see why he would choose this island away from London, warm and welcoming!
• Jeff from NyI lived there from 70-76 and was there in 68 as well for a short time. The island was the "back to the land" values that inspired hippydom in the most magnificent way. There was 1 phone on the island, 1 gas pump usually empty, little electricity and plumbing, so every daily function was a time consuming event. You drew water from a cisterna, knew when to put bleach in the water based on the color of the worms, everyone had musical instruments, celebrated ful moon, met as an international community to pick up mail every afternoon, we learnt each others languages, swam nude on the nicest beaches, made money with the German tourists, explored withcraft which the island was known for, read, studied, played chess, made art, went to Ibiza to buy herbs, had dinners on open fires with pinas that were prepared for hours. Dogs ran free, goats with legs tied, poppies in May. Sat on a wall at a place call Fonda Pepe to opine on what should be Utopia but knowing it was occurring at that moment. Gabrielet the artist, Library Bob, Lena the weave, Mark from LaMola....we all had names. Not telling mine. Cliche to say those were the days..... but undeniably they were for me and many in my generation now in or approaching our 70's
• Karen From San Francisco from San Francisco Cawhen I saw JT's one man show he had a video while talking. One of his pics was of a long blonde hair gal with freckles
  and that's who he said was Karin.
• Ben from MarylandBased on the research I've done, here's what I've found:
  
  1. How Taylor himself came to know of the island, I'm not sure, likely he was told about it by someone and thought he'd check it out while The Beatles were busy doing their thing.
  
  2. My guess (and this is just a guess) is that Taylor wanted somewhere to get away and relax. He was in a completely unfamiliar place hanging around with the most popular group of people in the world, so getting away from it all is pretty understandable.
  
  3. From what I've read, no one has been able to locate Karen. It was a quick thing and Taylor hasn't been able to locate her since, unfortunately.
• Bruce from LondonHi Ben.. I'm very interested in this particular time when James went to Formentera. I have been going there for the past 10 years. Now, in 1968, the year I presume he went over there, the island was hardly known at all and had very little in the way of shops, electricity, etc.
  1) How did James come to hear about this very remote island? And why did he decide to go there?
  It seemed a very popular place to be for people like King Crimson (Lady Formentera); Pink Floyd, and even Bob Dylan.
  2) What was the attraction of this island that basically had nothing there?
  3) Have all attempts to find Karen "Silver Sun" been in vain?

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