E A E
I was a sailor; I was lost at sea.
E A E
I was under the waves before love rescued me.
E A E
I was a fighter; I could turn on a thread,
E
Now I stand accused of the things I’ve said.
CHORUS:
A
When love comes to town, I’m gonna jump that train.
A E A E
When love comes to town, I’m gonna catch that flame.
E A E
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down,
E
But I did what I did before love came to town.
Used to make love under a red sunset.
I was making promises I was soon to forget.
She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown,
But I left her standing before love came to town.
I ran into a juke-joint when I heard a guitar scream.
The notes were turning blue, I was dazed and in a dream.
As the music played, I saw my life turn around…
That was the day before love came to town.
CHORUS (repeat)
I was there when they crucified my Lord.
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword.
I threw the dice when they pierced his side,
But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide.
For U2 chords and lyrics, CLICK HERE! / For B.B. King chords and lyrics, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
Hello and welcome to a brand new week. Thanks for spending a little bit of it here on the Laptop Sessions music video blog with the latest edition of “Chris Moore Monday.” No one understands the pressure I’m under! I mean, there’s a lot riding on this video — if I’m good, I’m helping your week get off on the right foot. If I’m not so good, then… Well, let’s not even consider that option.
For tonight’s selection, I’m doing something that I’ve only done once before…
…make an enjoyable recording! No, I’m just kidding. (Not about the “enjoyable” part, I hope…)
This is only the second time that I’ve recorded a song by not only one but two artists whose work I’ve never played before. Tonight’s subjects? U2 and B.B. King. (Jeff has already recorded U2, but B.B. King is a new addition to the blog.) Why, you may ask? Well, the big “New Music Tuesday” release of tomorrow, March 3rd, is No Line on the Horizon, U2’s first new studio album in five years. It’s already making waves, having received a five-star rating from Rolling Stone magazine. Now, I’m not often one to agree with Rolling Stone, but I am very curious about this album. After all, Rolling Stone has never given U2 the five star salute. Bono and company have come close, earning 4.5 stars for 1991’s Achtung, Baby, but this is the first time they’ve received 5 stars for an original studio release.
To be fair, this isn’t their first 5 out of 5 star experience — the band’s re-release of The Joshua Tree was granted 5 stars. I just listened to that album last night for the first time, and although I wouldn’t give it five stars, I very much enjoyed it. The first three tracks are a veritable U2 greatest hits, and there are several deep cuts that are great songs.
So, tomorrow is a new music Tuesday to look forward to. To hold you over, I’ve gone back into the U2 catalog and hauled out an oldie but goodie. “When Love Comes to Town” was originally released in 1988 on Rattle and Hum (a title that is taken from lyrics in the song “Bullet the Blue Sky,” from The Joshua Tree). This is a song I have always loved — there’s such an energy between Bono and King’s vocals and the addition of King’s guitar to the instrumental mix. I have always felt that the song had a timeless feel, and I would have loved to hear someone like Johnny Cash record a version of it. So, for my cover song music video version tonight, I’ve slowed it down a bit and taken it down an octave (which is convenient, since my vocal chords are no match for Bono’s typical soaring range!).
The result?
Just like I thought, this song has such a classic feel to it that it lends itself to a stripped-down acoustic arrangement. Still, my version is no match for the energy, emotion, and rocking presence of the studio version! (And I can’t quite figure out what “catch that flame” means… I sing “catch that plane,” which is what I’ve always thought he said, but the official U2 lyrics page says “flame.” Oh, well…)
I hope you enjoy this U2 cover, and I hope it tides you over until tomorrow’s release of No Line on the Horizon.
Am F
If you feel you wanna fight me,
C G
There’s a chain around your mind.
When something is holding you tightly,
What is real is so hard to find.
Losing babies to genocide,
Oh, where’s the meaning in that plight.
Can’t you see that we’ve really bought into
Every word they proclaimed and every lie, oh…
CHORUS 1:
Am C C F F C
If we could only get out of our heads, out of our heads,
G
And into our hearts…
If we could only get out of our heads, out of our heads,
And into our hearts…
Someone’s feeding on your anger.
Someone’s been whispering in your ear.
You’ve seen his face before;
You’ve been played before.
These aren’t the words you need to hear.
Through the dawn of darkness blindly,
You have blood upon your hands.
All the world will treat you kindly,
But only the heart will understand, oh understand…
CHORUS 2:
If we could only get out of our heads, out of our heads,
And into our hearts….
Children of Abraham, lay down your fears, swallow your
tears, and look to your heart.
(repeat CHORUS 2)
Every man is his own prophet,
Oh, every prophet just a man.
I say, all the women stand up, say yes to themselves;
Teach your children best you can.
Let every man bow to the best in himself;
We’re not killing any more.
We’re the wisest ones, everybody listen,
‘Cause you can’t fight this feeling any more, oh, any more…
CHORUS 2 (repeat)
End on:
Am
Ohhhh….
** 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. **
For J.J. Cale / Eric Clapton chords and lyrics, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
Okay, so before I explain my song choice tonight, I have to briefly address the music video I just watched. I really do love music videos, and it seems a lost art. Interestingly enough, it seems that the MTV show “Total Request Live,” or TRL for short, both furthered the popularity of music videos… and led to their demise. I mean, what’s better than a show devoted to showing music videos? Oh, wait — TRL, not unlike commercial radio, ended up circulating only about ten popular videos on any given day. Oh yeah, and the show only aired clips of those ten music videos! What?! Who decided on this format? No wonder they finally took it off the air!
To be fair, I heard that the show had recently adopted a more progressive format, utilizing online resources to poll viewers, etc. But I stopped watching the show loooong before that.
Anyway, back to the music video I just watched. I was on Yahoo and saw a link to Coldplay’s new music video for “Life in Technicolor II” — it’s a great one! I was impressed with the overall progression of the video, as it documents a children’s puppet show that turns into an all-out rock’n roll concert that includes the puppet versions of Chris Martin and company playing their instruments, and Martin not only jumping around (hanging as though suspended in the air as he sings “Now my feet won’t touch the ground”) and crowd surfing. It ends with them being picked up, in true rock star style, by a helicopter that exits the room by smashing through a window. Which begs the question… how did it get in in the first place?
And this is wonderful…
…except for the fact that the Barenaked Ladies already did this! Certainly, Coldplay’s video is not a plagiarism of BnL’s music video for “Pollywog in a Bog” last year (I wonder if they even saw it), but it seems odd that they did a puppet show so soon after BnL. I guess that just goes to show how ahead of the curve they are. If you haven’t seen these videos, you should definitely go watch them. BOTH of them — it’ll be worth the six minutes of your life it will take! (Just search on YouTube for “Barenaked Ladies Pollywog” and “Coldplay puppets”). The BnL video is especially worthwhile, if only for the really cute animal puppets that look creepily similar to the respective band members. Such a fun and funny video!!
Okay, so back to my video for tonight…
Those of you who regularly frequent the blog will already know that my goal this year is to tie every “Chris Moore Monday” in somehow with the following New Music Tuesday. So, you may be wondering what a J.J. Cale song that is over four decades old has to do with new music… Well, J.J. Cale is releasing a new album tomorrow entitled Roll On, his first solo album since 2004. His most recent success was The Road to Escondido, an album recorded in 2006 in conjunction with Eric Clapton. This was certainly not their first interaction, as Cale wrote the songs “After Midnight” and “Cocaine,” both of which Clapton popularized. When I was growing up, my dad would often play his “Cream of Clapton” greatest hits, which included both of these songs.
Thus, it is my honor to bring you an old Cale track in honor of his new release, which (again) comes out tomorrow. This song may have been written in 1966, but he’s still writing and recording in 2009 at the age of 70, and that is nothing short of amazing!
