<Table> <Tr> <Td> "Sweet Baby James" (1970) </Td> <Td> "Fire and Rain" (1970) </Td> <Td> "Carolina in My Mind" (1970) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> "Sweet Baby James" (1970) </Td> <Td> "Fire and Rain" (1970) </Td> <Td> "Carolina in My Mind" (1970) </Td> </Tr> <P> "Fire and Rain" is a folk rock song written and performed by James Taylor . Released on Warner Bros. Records as a single from his second album, Sweet Baby James, in February 1970, the song follows Taylor's reaction to the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend, and his experiences with drug addiction and fame . After its release, "Fire and Rain" peaked at number two on RPM's Canada Top Singles chart and at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 . </P> <P> On the VH1 series Story Tellers, Taylor said the song was about several incidents during his early recording career . The second line "Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you" refers to Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend of his who committed suicide while he was in London, England, recording his first album . In that same account, Taylor said he had been in a deep depression after the failure of his new band The Flying Machine to coalesce (the lyric "Sweet dreams and Flying Machines in pieces on the ground"; the reference is to the name of the band rather than a fatal plane crash, as was long rumored). </P>

Who sang i see fire i see rain