To see how it’s played in the cover song music video, CLICK HERE!
“Minstrel’s Song”
The Moody Blues
C F C F C
Words, a simple song, a minstrel sings
C F C
A way of life in his eyes.
C F C F C
Hear the morning call of waking birds
C F
When they are singing, bringing
F C G
Love — Love.
C D F C
Everywhere, love is all around.
Everywhere, love is all around.
Now the winter’s gone,
Cold wind has blown
The endless stream in our lives
Where the minstrel sings
This simple song.
He’s always bringing, singing
Love — Love.
Everywhere, love is all around.
Everywhere, love is all around.
BRIDGE: D – F F – C – G – C G
C F C
Listen to the one who sings of love.
F C F C
Follow our friend, our wandering friend.
C F C
Listen to the one who sings of love.
G C
Everywhere, love is around,
G C
Around, around…
Hear the nations sing
Our minstrel’s song,
As he walks by in their lives.
Soon the spring will come,
And everyone will all be singing, bringing
Love — Love.
Everywhere, love is all around.
Everywhere, love is all around.
BRIDGE
CHORUS (x2)
** 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 Death Cab for Cutie chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
This one gave me blisters on me fingers and numbness in me thumb (thanks to all the sliding up and down the guitar neck, the barre chords in the progression, and the fact that I didn’t really know the lyrics to the verses before playing it tonight), but it was all worth it, for all two minutes of it.
And, quite a number of takes of this simple little song later, I know the lyrics by heart!
“The Sound of Settling” is the second single from Death Cab for Cutie’s fourth album, Transatlanticism. This is the album that my sister, Jaime, strongly recommended I hear if I hear nothing else from the band. Seeing as how this is one of those “I’ve heard of them, but I haven’t heard any of their songs” bands for me, I picked it up on sale and enjoyed it. Apparently, it was the first album that frontman Ben Gibbard felt was a truly serious, well put together record.
While I like several of the songs on this album very much, I haven’t found myself very interested in picking up their other material, as they seem to have a penchant for EPs and other non-album releases. Those sorts of releases seem nice if you’re a fan and have new material to look forward to, but they’re really quite expensive over the long run. Consider Ben Folds’ EPs Speed Graphic, Sunny 16, and Super D; those added up to a combined total of about $24.00 for 15 songs, about 7 or maybe 8 of which were any good. This is not a slight to the good songs on these EPs; some were tremendous and among his best ever released.
Then there were the covers and outtakes from previous albums that he re-recorded. And, as any music fan knows, some songs were never meant to see official release outside of designated bonus track status on another album or collection.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this cover song music video, as it is the first Death Cab for Cutie song to be debuted at the Laptop Sessions blog. There was so little new music of interest this week as well as last week that even I don’t feel a need to visit Newbury Comics today. And THAT’S saying something! So, instead, I went back to my iPod to find a band that we had missed along the way. There are still a lot of bands that have gone uncovered, as well as classic and/or great songs from artists that we have, so don’t even think about taking us out of your “Favorites” menu.
Instead, be sure to stop by later tonight when our founder makes his triumphant return to the second day of the week as it should be: Jim Fusco Tuesday!
See you next session!
(The text of my original Monday night post follows below the video…)
Well, my cover song music video for tonight is recorded, rendered, and ready to go…
…and if I actually had Internet (thanks for nothing, Cox!) or even a wireless signal from an unsuspecting, password-phobic neighbor, you’d be reading my post and watching my video. Instead, I’ll be posting both my session and the accompanying chords tomorrow after I get a visit from the cable guy (lower case for any of you Jim Carrey fans thinking the worst!) some time between 10:30 and 12:30.
Until then, I’ll leave you with the following clues about the song I’m playing:
1) The song is from one of my favorite albums to listen to at night in a dark room, sometimes to fall asleep to.
2) The aforementioned album is NOT “Pet Sounds.”
3) My sister recommended this band and album.
4) The band is named for the song performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in the 1967 Beatles movie, “Magical Mystery Tour.”
5) The band’s name is comprised of four words – an adjective, a noun, a preposition, and an object of the prep. -in that order.
For the 2008 “Yes, No, or Maybe So” one-sentence reviews, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
At long last, here it is…
My top ten list of the best albums of 2008.
Top Ten Albums of 2008
1. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings – The Counting Crows
2. That Lucky Old Sun – Brian Wilson
3. Viva La Vida – Coldplay
4. Accelerate – R.E.M.
5. Modern Guilt – Beck
6. Snacktime – Barenaked Ladies
7. A Hundred Million Suns – Snow Patrol
8. Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
9. The Red Album – Weezer
10. Loyalty to Loyalty – Cold War Kids
Honorable Mention:
Liverpool 8 – Ringo Starr Momofuku – Elvis Costello
To be honest, Marcy Playground is a band I had forgotten about, leaving them behind in a hazy collection of other nineties modern rock one hit wonders.
Out of sheer curiosity, I felt the urge to hear this most recent album from the “Sex and Candy” singer — it was originally slated as a John Wozniak solo project — that I came across on the Newbury Comics new release rack. (It certainly didn’t hurt that the disc came with a free download of their previous album, the aptly titled third release from the band: MP3.)
I didn’t expect much, considering that over a decade had passed since I had heard a song from the band. I always liked “Sex and Candy,” but even in 1997 I knew it was a fairly straightforward track made notable only by its provocative lyrics and Wozniak’s low, unique vocal tones.
What I got was a solid album comprised predominantly of an artist’s exploration of the roots of his music. Throughout Leaving Wonderland…in a fit of rage, Wozniak’s songwriting is simple and the band’s arrangements are as standard as they come.
When I use the term “solid,” I mean that Marcy Playground’s fourth release is comprised of generally enjoyable songs placed in an effective order to not only keep the listener’s attention, but also to contribute to a largely common set of themes.
And, yes, beyond all these qualifications that I am making, there exists the realization that a “solid” album may be listened to and even appreciated, but it is nothing special.
As with their late nineties single, one of the greatest strengths of the album is Wozniak’s signature vocals. Throughout the album, he weaves tales of sorrow, loss, and reconsideration. Whatever “Wonderland” represents for Marcy Playground’s John Wozniak — a relationship or fame to name just a couple possibilities — the exit from said Wonderland is indeed a violent one, soaked in booze and drugs and, at times, literally marked by flames.
“Blackbird,” the opening track and the first US single, sets the tone for what is a heavily acoustic record, a notable departure from their previous release. “Irene” and “Memphis” are so acoustic and rootsy that they sound as though they were snatched from a decades old country/folk record.
Meanwhile, the album is spiced up by tracks like “Devil Woman” and “Good Times” — the first Canadian single — which are predominantly acoustic, and yet endowed with a heavy beat and a set of catchy vocals.
Of course, the album is not without its electric touches. “I Must Have Been Dreaming” is a clean and catchy cut, but “I Burned the Bed” and “Emperor” are drenched in distortion and lie at the heart of this album, both thematically and musically. “Gin and Money” offers the complete package — opening with a nearly tribal beat, subtle but integral piano, and acoustic fingerpicking before kicking into high gear with a little feedback and a lot of spirited vocals and electric guitar.
Overall, I score this album as a “Maybe Not.” I’m glad I bought it, and I’ve listened to it almost twenty times already. I truly enjoy many of the tracks, and Wozniak has crafted the order to ebb and flow at just the right times.
However, what doesn’t hit home with me is the simplicity of the lyrics — referring to himself directly in “Good Times,” taking the bright and instantly-stuck-in-your-head “Star Baby” and crippling it with cheesiness, and feeding into some middle school-worthy rhymes in “Thank You,” to name a few instances. This is my most significant criticism; even the largely predictable arrangements fit within the larger context of the album.
This is an album about coming to terms with the universal thematic subject matter of love and youth lost, of having to grow up after having lost something to the ravages of time. If you can look past the simplicity of many of the thoughts being conveyed, then this album is worth a listen.
If not, then it might be time for you to go back to the classics — Dylan, Beatles, etc. Or at least to last year’s Counting Crows album.
