And here is my installment for “Original Wednesday”, where we at FMP dig into each other’s libraries of original songs and play them on video.
I chose Jim’s song “Harmony” from his 2005 album “What about today?”, which is available on fusco-moore.com, and other well-known sites.
This song closes out that album, and is the perfect album closer. Up-tempo, short, meaningful, and extremely catchy.
During the second bridge my voice went a bit nasal on me, but I recovered in perfect harmony (booya! Another one for the Jeffster!). This is also the first one I recorded in my “studio”, which is my spring upgrade project. Watch out for the video “As the wall is built” when I work on painting and building this studio into a sweet looking musicstation.
I hope you enjoy the video!
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
F
They say you’re coming around to this cold New England town.
Well, that don’t mean much to them, but that sure means a lot to me.
G
You’ve seen many parts of the world, reporting on the Vietnamese.
All I want to see today is you in your red and green Christmas fleece.
G
Strange things have happened to me on these snowy Christmas eves…
They say you’re coming around, but they don’t say anything else.
Don’t leave me here in the dark; please lead me out in the cold.
Let me know that you’re coming for sure. (I’d wait forever for her.)
By now, you know that you’re the type of a girl who rocks the world
of a guy in a rural town.
Strange things are happening to me on this snowy Christmas eve…
E D
You don’t need a blanket, and you don’t need a bed.
E G
If all you’ve got’s my shoulder, baby, you can rest your head.
G C
Remember last Christmas, building the tree,
G C7
Lying under the branches, just you and me?
We were talking about Jesus, defining the Holy Ghost,
Wondering where our senses of humor went when we needed them most.
You don’t need a blanket, and you don’t need a bed.
If all you’ve got’s my shoulder, baby, you can rest your head.
I attended a Thursday mass in the center of town.
Looking out for your big, bright cathedral eyes.
I was always the one who tries, and you were the one.
And I in my sport coat, and you in your dress — we knew it was best…
INSTRUMENTAL (over G – C – G – C7)
G
Hay was all they had in the manger,
E
Hay was all that Mary had.
But that didn’t matter none to Mary ’cause
Wow it seems so long since i’ve done an original Original Wednesday. I checked my video session catalog (which is nearing 100 by the way) and the last true original song I have brought you (read: a song that I have written) was actually on July 15. That is OVER TWO MONTHS! I couldn’t let it go on any longer!
So i’m digging one up for the sessions today. Finally, not only an original tune, but a PREMIERE, never before seen or heard, Jeff Copperthite original.
All my fans and my sessionmates are familiar with my playing style. I feel this song is somewhat of a deviation. The guitar part I play to this song is probably among the more creative ones I have recently conceived. The lyrics – well, remember I am a happily married guy, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t tell a story that isn’t personal to the writer. Plus, it fits the “spirit” of the guitar part quite well.
Perhaps this song will make it to the recording studio next year for another album. I’ve felt the writing itch for a couple months now. Scott & I are going to be getting together in the near future to do some jamming as well. Perhaps a new Quilt EP or album is not that far in the future. And everyone that knows both of us know, that he’ll blow me out of the water on the guitar.
My viewcount has reached 42K, and I have three new requests to work on for my upcoming sessions, but now back to your regularly scheduled “New Bands 2.0” week. I’ll be back Saturday covering a band that has already made me say “Holy crap why did I pick this band?” – not because they don’t sound good, but because they sound incredible, and covering them will be a tall order. I’m up to it, however.
And tomorrow, Jim will be back with another new band (feel free to register it under the “Thumpin’ Thursday™” tag Jim), and Chris will be back to satiate our eyes and ears with another new band.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Original Wednesday!
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
This, as you’ll probably be able to tell once you start listening to it, is a song that I wrote a long time ago. In some ways, this would be a reason to choose a different song to record, as I think I have better songs to showcase that I’ve written more recently. I do feel that I’ve progressed as a writer and that I’ve written more structurally complex and lyrically thoughtful songs.
And yet, in other ways, this is one of those songs that reminds me how I used to write and, in some ways, reminds me of a type of song that I don’t really write any more. This song, “Writing Thousand Kingdom Blues,” was written just as I really started to get into Bob Dylan’s work. Everything about him fascinated me — his lyrics, his music, his personality. Everything about him had an other-worldly feel to it, particularly to a young high school student who had yet to experience many things. At the time, I hadn’t even heard nearly as much music as I have now.
That being said, I wrote this song without filters. That is, I didn’t think about literal meaning as I was writing; I focused more on the feeling and the overall image that the words conveyed. Thus, terms like “chalkboard salesmen” or “unnecessary sports gaming powers-that-be” didn’t need to make immediate sense to everyone; it was more important that what was in my head flowed out and onto the page honestly and in as creative and unique a form as possible. I’ll freely admit now that I don’t remember exactly what I meant by all these lyrics in the song. I do remember the specific references for a lot of them, though, and it’s fun to think about the ones that I don’t. That’s what I always hoped people would want to do with my music — with any music, really — to take it in and come up with a theory about what it means and, perhaps, how it could relate to their own lives.
The inspiration for the title came from a novel I read in my senior year of high school — Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres. My English teacher, Mr. Rinaldi, had us read it alongside Shakespeare’s King Lear and draw comparisons between the characters and plot details. It was an enjoyable book, and I remember its themes and ideas creeping into my own writing of the time. That’s actually one of the things I miss most about being a student — the ability to take in a lot of new literature and information in general and tune out class when inspiration hits, putting the pen to paper and writing. My most boring classes in college were often the ones that I got the most writing done during. I can think of a couple for which the only interesting aspect was trying to complete a poem or decide on how to finish the chorus to a song.
Ah, well, there’s always my nine remaining master’s degree courses to look forward to… 🙂
Well, that’s it for me tonight. But, before I conclude, I should point out that I have the honor of recording and posting the very first Original Wednesday of 2009! For my next Original Wednesday, I’ll be debuting another new song that will be featured on my upcoming album (to be recorded in 2009!). For now, I hope you enjoy this blast from my recording past.
Acoustic cover songs are what the Laptop Sessions music video blog is all about, but only to a certain extent. The three music artists signed to Fusco-Moore Productions, the production company that hosts the blog, love to listen to new music, particularly from their favorite artists. They love to feature that music and those artists on their music blog. New rock music, alternative music, indie music, and more is available in acoustic guitar music form on the Laptop Sessions free videos site, but the goal of the three artists is not simply to have people listen to their acoustic cover versions. Rather, these songwriters hope that, if you enjoy the covers – they try to record the best cover songs on the web! – then you will also enjoy their original music. Thus, every Wednesday on the video blog is Original Wednesday, a time for the boys of FMP to share unplugged music videos of the songs that they have spent time recording and promoting!
