Tag Archives: Big Star Songs

“Thirteen” by Big Star – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play

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“Thirteen”
Big Star

(Capo III)

G               Cadd9   G              Cadd9        G
Won’t you let me  walk you home from school?
G               Cadd9  G            Cadd9    Am7
Won’t you let me meet you at the   pool?
Em        Am7      Em                   Am7
Maybe Friday I can get tickets for the dance,
Em – D           G
And I’ll take…   you.

Won’t you tell your dad, “Get off my back”?
Tell him what we said about “Paint it Black.”
Rock and roll is here to stay; come inside where it’s okay.
And I’ll shake you.

Won’t you tell me what you’re thinking of?
Would you be an outlaw for my love?
If it’s so, well, let me know.
If it’s no, well, I can go.
I won’t make you…

** 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. **

“Thirteen” (Big Star Cover)

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For Big Star chords, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to my first Laptop Sessions post of the new year!

Yes, 2009 will be even better than 2008.  I hope…

Seriously, though, I’m excited for all the improvements and updates that have already taken place, even in the brief five day period since New Year’s Day.  If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you should notice some of Jim’s handiwork on the front page of the site.  Go ahead, check again.  You’ll see the new scrolling pictures of our original albums (click and take a listen!!).  You’ll see the weekly calendar of sessions: Chris Moore Mondays, Jim Fusco Tuesdays, Original Wednesdays, Jeff Copperthite Thursdays, and Guest Sessions Fridays — learn ’em, love ’em!

And my personal favorite addition is our new Fusco-Moore original (well, technically, it’s just a Fusco original… :- ) loading bar with four squares.  There are some excellent features that we’ve built up over the past year, and I hope you’ll take the time to acquaint yourself with all the great material that’s available on the site.  Go ahead, explore…

For tonight’s session, I chose a pretty obscure one.  In fact, I haven’t even found a copy of the original version.  This is Big Star’s “Thirteen.”  I first heard this song when Elliott Smith’s acoustic version was released posthumously on New Moon.  This is an amazing song and Smith’s version, as far as I’m concerned, is the quintessential version.  The combination of his fingerpicking style and voice is a beautiful thing.

Just last night, I heard the Wilco cover of this song, recorded originally in 1997.  As Jeff Tweedy began to sing the lead, I instantly remembered the song.  Only, I didn’t know where I had heard it.  Thus, I rediscovered the beauty of the iPod.  I searched “Thirteen,” found my Elliott Smith version, and set out to learn the song myself.

It’s as simple as that.

That’s what we do around here.  So don’t go too far — hurry back for the very first Jim Fusco Tuesday of 2009 and I’ll see you again soon!

Chris reaches the 80,000 YouTube views milestone!

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By Chris Moore:

Well, it’s been a slow climb uphill, especially considering that I’ve seen many individual cover songs (not unlike my own) that are individually at tens of thousands of views.  That being said, every notch in the belt towards 100,000 is reason for excitement.

So, I took a break from getting dressed and ready for work to report that I have officially reached 80,000 YouTube views!

Every time I hit one of these increments, I get even more determined to see six digits.  So, even though the session-a-day project is over, I’ll just have to find new and different ways to make fewer videos get more views.  Maybe I can start by posting fewer of my favorite songs that are completely unknown to the YouTube community as a whole.  I have to admit that I understand the balance that needs to be struck, but I just love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I record the songs that I truly love.  And I honestly thought that some of my long shots, such as Wilco’s “Wishful Thinking” or even Big Star’s “Thirteen” might pick up some attention from the indie music crowd on YouTube.

Some of the videos that I have recorded recently — covers of Bob Dylan, the Barenaked Ladies, and the Beatles, for instance — have become fairly popular videos, at least for me.  However, many of my other videos are getting fewer views than my average even, say, six months ago.  Some videos — like the Wilco ones — pick up steam after a while, but many others — like Leonard Cohen, the Fruit Bats, and, of course, Big Star — just stagnate.  I like what Jeff has done, cornering the Laptop Sessions market on recording songs that were popular in the 90s but that are not necessarily from popular bands.  As Jim pointed out the other day, Jeff and I seem to be the 90s and 2000s wonder boys.  I guess I’m more of the 90s and 2000s kid with a lot of obscure records in his collection… 🙂

Regardless, I hadn’t intended to write a “State of the Tube” address for myself, but there it is!  I hope you enjoy Jeff’s Thumpin’ Thursday post tonight, stop back for another all-new guest session on Friday, and then I’ll see you back here on Monday!