"Knocking 'Round the Zoo" is a song written by

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

that was originally released on his 1968 debut album on

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...

. He had previously recorded the song in 1966 with his band the Flying Machine, but that recording was not released until 1971 on ''

James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine ''James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine'' is an archival release of 1966 recordings of American singer-songwriter James Taylor's band The Flying Machine (not to be confused with The Flying Machine of " Smile a Little Smile for Me" fame f ...

''. It was also released by Apple as a single in France (APF 506), backed with "Something's Wrong." "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" and "

Something in the Way She Moves "Something in the Way She Moves" is a song written by James Taylor that appeared on his 1968 debut album for Apple Records, ''James Taylor''. It has also been covered by other artists, including Tom Rush and Harry Belafonte. The opening line i ...

" were included on the

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

tape that Taylor sent producer

Peter Asher Peter Asher, (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and r ...

that convinced him to sign Taylor to Apple.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

critic Lindsay Planer describes "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" as a "pseudo- blues." The lyrics were inspired by Taylor's stay at the psychiatric facility McLean Hospital. In the first verse of the song, Taylor sings that "There's bars on all the windows and they're countin' up the spoons." In actuality, McLean had 2000 pound security screens on the windows rather than bars, but they did use special utensils and count all the metal after each meal. The verse goes on to state that "if I'm feeling edgy there's a chick who's paid to be my slave/And she'll hit me with a needle if she thinks I'm trying to misbehave." In the second verse, Taylor further sings of his anger towards the workers at McLean. In the third verse, Taylor sings of how he felt ostracized at McLean with lines such as "Now my friends all come to see me/They point at me and stare." According to the editors of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', "Taylor adds a chilling descant of bedlamite sounds" to this verse. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' critic

Timothy Crouse Timothy Crouse (born 1947) is an American journalist and writer. Family Crouse is the son of Anna (née Erskine) and Russel Crouse. His maternal grandparents were Pauline (Ives) and author, educator, and former Columbia professor John Erskine. T ...

describes the song's drum beat as "sinister" and its guitar playing as "nervous," stating that this reflects the "anger and impatience" Taylor felt at McLean. ''

Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' critic Mark Coleman considers "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" a "highlight" of ''James Taylor'', describing it as "kicky" and saying that it predicted the path Taylor would take in future recordings. ''

'' praises its "witty,

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

y musical irony." ''Rolling Stone'' critic

Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen in all three capacities. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and re ...

says that it "combines a subdued sense of humor with more naturalism." Taylor biographer Timothy White criticizes the "ponderous" prelude on string instruments that arranger

Richard Hewson Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band. Career Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and has worked with musicians s ...

prepended to the song on the ''James Taylor'' album. ''

'' writer Jules Siegel criticized the song for sounding like "a

sado-masochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

fantasy." Siegel suggested that Taylor was making himself out to be an aristocrat and still in control despite being in a mental hospital, with "a female attendant paid to be his slave." Siegel also criticizes the line about the attendant hitting him with a needle. Author Ian Helperin criticizes the

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

release of ''James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine'' for revising the instrumentation.

References

{{Authority control James Taylor songs 1968 singles Apple Records singles Song recordings produced by Peter Asher 1968 songs Songs written by James Taylor