Tag Archives: acoustic

“Woman” (John Lennon Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Let’s have a little contest here- go ahead and find me a better solo acoustic performance of this song.  I’ll wait…

…

I didn’t think so! 🙂  Tonight, I bring you one of my personal favorite performances.  I’ve been practicing this song for many months now.  I wanted to get it right.  To me, John Lennon’s “Woman” is an example of a perfect song.  Yes, it’s about Yoko Ono, but if you look past that, you get a truly amazing song.  If you haven’t heard it before, get ready to have a new favorite song.  It’s probably my favorite love song of all time.  The songwriting, the words, the tune, and even the production of the original version is simply unsurpassed in my mind.  This came on the radio this morning- what a way to wake up.  And I knew it was a sign that it was high time I did this song on the place for great acoustic cover song music videos: The Laptop Sessions blog!

“Woman” appears on “Double Fantasy”, which is an album that should’ve been titled, “Half Good”.  John wrote half the songs and Yoko…wailed her way through the other half.  But, this was John’s comeback album- he hadn’t done one in years before Double Fantasy came out.  Of course, it turned out to be his last- it was released only weeks before he died.  That makes songs like “Beautiful Boy” all the more poignant.  That song is amazing, too- listening to Double Fantasy proves that John Lennon is one of the absolute best songwriters of all time.  He had the perfect mix of genius and wacky, out-there “artist” to him.  Songs like “Watching the Wheels” and the number one hit “(Just Like) Starting Over” (which I also covered- search for it in the John Lennon category) round out some great hits for John from Double Fantasy.  He even had some other obscure, but equally great, songs on the album including “Cleanup Time” and “I’m Losing You”.

I tell you right now that this song will play at my wedding on July 25th.  I will ball my eyes out.  Something about the way he sings it and how he admits, “I’ve been a jerk in the past, but I am sooooo appreciative.”  In the end, it all adds up to, “I love you.”  Of course, if you know my tastes in music, you know that I love a good, “Yeah, yeah” or “Well, well” in a song.  And we all know that John Lennon is the originator and master of that (“She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” = genius!).

I’m glad to bring this acoustic cover song music video tonight.  I am very hopeful that soon my YouTube video views will increase by leaps and bounds.  You know I’ll keep you updated!  Enjoy Jim Fusco Tuesday for this week!

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“Brilliant Disguise” (Bruce Springsteen cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to another edition of Jim Fusco Tuesdays here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!  Views have been increasing by leaps and bounds here on the blog, fueled by posts by Chris that were picked up by popular Bob Dylan sites in anticipation of his new album, “Together Through Life”.  I hope you’ll consider tiding-yourself over with my brand-new album, released just one week ago, “Halfway There”.  I’m very proud of it and it’s been getting some great reviews.

Onto tonight’s music video- a cover version of Bruce Springsteen’s classic song, “Brilliant Disguise”.  This is a simple, yet great, tune that actually took me a few weeks to perfect.  The choruses are very similar each time, but have very important differences, so I had to practice when each one came in.

Funny story- when my brother Mike and I were growing up, we always thought he said, “Brick in disguise”.  Of course, it probably didn’t help that our father would always sing, “Brick in the sky”.  We were never quite sure whether he was messing up by accident or on purpose.  I think the general consensus is that he just loves messing with us! 🙂

I love the recorded version of “Brilliant Disguise”- that perfect clean sound that starts off with the drums and then comes in with just the right amount of synthesizer and guitar.  To me, this is what a great song should sound like.  I love the chorus, too- not only the tune, but the words.  That last time through the chorus, “You better look hard and look twice…” is so well-worded, it gets me every time.  And, it’s true- with many people at many times in our lives, we have to ask ourselves whether we’re seeing the really person or just a “brilliant disguise”.

It’s been a long week- we finally got away for a night in Providence, RI (went to the Providence Place mall and saw “Monsters vs. Aliens” in 3-D) and had a very nice time.  But, I had to do so much video work over the next three nights that it completely wiped-out any happiness I had built-up over that tiny vacation.  I can’t wait to go again.  Couple that with two incredibly busy and stressful days at work and you get, ‘All work and no play makes Jimmy a dull boy” syndrome.  Hopefully the second half of the week will be a bit better- I hear we’re getting nicer weather and that just gives me more of an excuse to school Chris for the um-teenth time in baseball.

Have a great night and I’ll see you in a week’s time.  Enjoy this Bruce Springsteen cover!

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“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” (Bob Dylan Cover)

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For Bob Dylan chords and lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

It was definitely one of those “clouds parting” kind of Chris Moore Mondays for me.

First of all, I should clarify that “Chris Moore Mondays” is the title we use around here to remind you all that it’s my job to post a great cover song music video for you each and every Monday evening.  Next, I should explain the “clouds parting” aspect.  Well, I woke up around 5:30 this morning and was having serious difficulty getting myself out of bed.  Then, I noticed I had an email from bobdylan.com.

Long story short, I had woken up to find the link to a free download of the new, unreleased Bob Dylan track “Beyond Here Lies Nothin.’”  It will be track one on his upcoming album, Together Through Life, to be released on Tuesday, April 28th.  Sorry, Jim — this means that your birthday the following day is going to be something of an anti-climax.  😉

In all seriousness, this is an exciting bit of New Music Tuesday news.  After all, there were five years of separation between 2001’s Love and Theft and 2006’s Modern Times.  Now, it’s been less than three years and there’s a new release.  Based on the first track alone, I couldn’t be more excited.  It’s a pretty simple song — only three chords and a basic verse, chorus, repeat structure with a few instrumental breaks thrown in and a classic Dylan chorus style in which the lines in each chorus are slightly different.  I wasn’t sure what to think of the lyrics at first, but they’ve really grown on me today as I’ve listened to the song repeatedly and learned to play it.  I’m still not sure what to think of lines like “The whole world is my throne” or “And every window’s made of glass.”

The conclusion I’ve come to is that this is a deceptively simple song.  In the beginning of the song, Dylan sings of a lover in terms that express fairly standard love-song mentalities.  Still, by the end of the track, he compares himself to a ship in harbor with the sails up.  This implies that the ship is about to leave harbor, or perhaps that he is ready to move on to something — or someone — new.  And yet he goes on to tell his lover that she should lay her hand upon his head.  In typical Dylan fashion, even a love song has darker overtones, as played out in the chorus lines.  The choral sections really are my favorite lines.  “Beyond here lies nothin,’” he sings, “But the mountains of the past” or “Nothin’ done and nothin’ said.”  There is simply nowhere else he would rather be than where he is, as he acknowledges that there is nothing “beyond here.”  The questions, of course, are 1) where is “here”? and 2) does he really want to be “here” or are there simply no better options?

As I mentioned, it’s a fairly simple song.  Even I was able to figure it out in short order.  It’s three chords — Am, Dm, and E — easily within my register with an uptempo beat.  It’s actually caused a bit of a debate among Dylan fans who have disagreed over the use of accordion in the song and the state of Dylan’s vocal abilities.  As far as I’m concerned, the instrumentation is excellent, raw and loose but very intentional and fitting, accordion or no accordion.  As for Dylan’s voice, I read one user’s take on the fansite expectingrain.com.  He essentially said that Dylan’s vocals have deteriorated even more than they had on Modern Times.  My reaction is simple:

Really?

I mean, if you’ve followed Dylan over the past decade and enjoyed Time Out of Mind or the aforementioned two albums, then you know that his gritty vocals are fitting.  He may not stand a chance on American Idol, but I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing!  Another post that I read made a great deal of sense.  This user basically argued that Dylan’s vocals on studio recordings and during live performances should be weighed separately.  I agree with this — while his vocals may be a bit difficult to understand and follow in concerts at times, his studio recordings haven’t failed to impress me — including vocals, instruments, etc.

Needless to say, I hope you enjoy my take on this brand new Dylan song.  If you’re a guitarist, you should check out my chords and lyrics (see the link above) and have fun playing it yourself.  And, without further ado, I wish you a good night and a great week…

See you next session!

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“Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” by Bob Dylan – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play (Lyrics from “Together Through Life”)

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For the cover song music video, CLICK HERE!

” Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ ”
Bob Dylan

Am – Am – Dm – Am – E – Am

Am
Oh, well, I love you pretty baby;
You’re the only love I’ve ever known.
Am                                  Dm
Just as long as you stay with me,
Dm                               Am
The whole world is my throne.

Am                      E
Beyond here lies nothin’…
E                                      Am
Nothin’ we can call our own.

Well I’m moving after midnight
Down boulevards of broken cars.
Don’t know what I’d do without her,
Without this love that we call ours.

Beyond here lies nothin’…
Nothing but the moon and stars.

(SOLO)

Down every street there’s a window,
And every window’s made of glass.
We’ll keep on lovin’ pretty baby,
For as long as love will last.

Beyond here lies nothin’…
But the mountains of the past.

(SOLO) x2

Well my ship is in harbor,
And the sails are spread.
Listen to me, pretty baby:
Lay your hand upon my head.

Beyond here lies nothin’…
Nothin’ done and nothin’ said.

Am

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

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