To see how it’s played in the cover song music video, CLICK HERE!
“Canceled Check”
Beck
B D A E A B
I hate to do this, but you’re a pain in the neck.
I thought you knew this; you handed me a canceled check.
You’re so helpless; your girlfriends think you’re a saint.
B D A E A D
I’ll give you a quarter; I’ll keep my judgments to myself…
D F#
And I get caught up in the moonlight,
F# B B7
Reaching out for a rotten egg — I don’t wanna beg —
B7 G F# B
It’s crystal clear your time is nearly gone.
Count your blessings, and do the things that you should.
Oh, the has-beens that never had it so good…
Stormy weather, the kids are making a racket
In the wilderness, the wild lives are so mild…
And I get caught up in the moonlight,
Reaching out for a rotten egg — I don’t wanna beg —
It’s crystal clear your time is nearly gone.
SOLO (over verse chords)
And I get caught up in the moonlight,
Reaching out for a rotten egg — I don’t wanna beg —
It’s crystal clear your time is nearly gone.
** 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. **
Hello and welcome to another all-new Laptop Session, brought to you by the music blog devoted to great new rock music. My acoustic cover song tonight is not a new rock song, but it is a classic by an artist that did release an excellent album this year. That artist is Elvis Costello and the song is “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” I had actually planned on recording (and did, in fact) record a different song for my session tonight, but after I finished that one, I went on to this Elvis Costello tune and liked how it came out so much that I had to post it tonight. For whatever reason (the amount of time that I had been singing previously, the air conditioning taking all the moisture out of the air in the house, or my allergies), my voice was somewhat rough for this recording. Normally, that would be enough for me to put down the guitar and wait for another day. However, I think it worked for the emotion that is supposed to be conveyed by this track. Aside from the very end of this take when my voice is simply too shot to hit the notes I wanted to hit (please feel free to laugh at the ridiculous look on my face), I’m happy with how it came out.
This is one my favorite Elvis Costello songs of all time, and it’s a perfect track to bring to this music blog, as it has been recorded as a cover song previously by such bands as the Wallflowers. It’s a fairly simple song with simple chords, simple but great lyrics, and a simple message that I know Ringo Starr would love, and it translates very well to acoustic guitar. That being said, Jim and I did some research tonight and were shocked to find that although he is listed as #80 on the list of best rock artists ever, he has had very few songs chart well, especially on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s amazing that his most popular songs really aren’t as successful as you might expect for an artist of his standing. That either says something about him or, more likely, the system. (Especially considering that this is a system that barely recognizes the existence of such talented and influential acts as the Moody Blues…)
If you’re a regular viewer of the Laptop Sessions, you’ll get another dose of Elvis Costello very soon — his new rock music on this year’s Momofuku is some of my favorite from him and is easily in my personal top four or five albums of the year (and this is saying alot, as I’ve heard somewhere approaching fifteen new albums this year already!).
Whatever you do, don’t go too far; Jeff will be back tomorrow with an all-new acoustic cover song music video for your listening and viewing pleasure…
Welcome to a fresh new Tuesday installment of the best acoustic cover song music blog series in the universe! That’s right — not just the country or the world, but the universe! Of course, I said the series is good, so that doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be any good, so you’ll just have to take your chances tonight…
Tonight’s music video is an acoustic cover from the new Weezer (Red Album). “Automatic” is track nine of ten — a powerhouse of an electric number with a great distortion guitar riff — and written by drummer Pat Wilson. I read that Wilson actually played the guitar for this one and frontman Rivers Cuomo sat at the drums. If you search YouTube videos like I did, you’ll find that there are some live versions of the songs from the Red Album already available and the one for “Automatic” is definitely worth checking out, if only for the alternative arrangement of the band.
I love to see when the bands I love switch it up a bit and allow other members to take the center stage, if only briefly. Some great bands that have done this on a regular basis are the Band, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Barenaked Ladies, the Moody Blues, and — now — Weezer! Still, many of my favorite musicians and bands are really one-man shows with a band to support them. Take Jakob Dylan (Wallflowers) and Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) just for a couple examples. Dylan and Duritz are two of my favorite songwriters, and although I like their bands, it is really their songwriting and lead singing that makes me love the bands and continue to buy their albums.
Even as I’m writing this, I can only think of one real exception to this songwriter-over-band preference of mine. Namely, Matchbox Twenty. I love Matchbox Twenty, and I have since their first album. I have bought every album and even loved their recent EP. But I just didn’t understand why Rob Thomas had to go off separately and try a solo career. For all intents and purposes, he really IS Matchbox Twenty. I mean, up until the EP, he wrote literally every song on each of their releases!
Exception aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed the new Weezer album, and I hope you have too. If you haven’t, you should really check it out. I found that the first couple tracks threw me a bit at first, but I quickly fell in love with a number of the songs — such as “Though I Knew” (a previous Laptop Session I recorded) and “Miss Sweeney” (a bonus track on the special edition).
Well, I’m off to do some work to promote all the great things happening here at the music blog. If you haven’t already, you should really check out the past couple days’ worth of posts — there is some great stuff, and much of it is FREE! There are live concert tracks, TNA pictures, and of course, great acoustic cover songs!
And, guess what?… Jeff Copperthite will be back tomorrow to post yet another all-new awesome acoustic cover, so don’t miss it…
For Beach Boys / Culture Club chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
The general public’s response to my video tonight will most likely be:
“Culture Club? Finally!”
Since I’ve been focusing so heavily on more recent music, I decided tonight to go back to one of the best bands of all time, the Beach Boys! (You might be thinking: “Wait, I thought he said ‘Culture Club,’ and you’d be right. Be patient; all will become clear soon…) For the past week, I’ve been listening back and forth to newer and older music. In the car, it’s been newer — Wilco and Marcy Playground — and in the house, it’s been older — Beach Boys and George Harrison. (I’m trying to iron out my George Harrison essentials playlist; I made the first selection of tracks months ago, but the recent release of the Let it Roll CD has inspired me to finally make the next set of cuts necessary to carve out the compilation.)
For tonight’s session, I’ve chosen to cover “Passing Friend,” a track from the Beach Boys’ self-titled release back in 1985. This song was penned by George O’Dowd — better known as Boy George — and Roy Hay of Culture Club. (So, I suppose, this technically isn’t a Culture Club song, but it’s as close as we’re going to come on this blog at least for now!) “Passing Friend” is generally considered to be a disposable track on what is often considered a disposable album in the Beach Boys catalog.
Nonsense!
Okay, so maybe “Passing Friend” is somewhat disposable. But let’s be very clear here that The Beach Boys (1985) is one of my favorite albums of all time. I think that I’m one of only two people who would give it that distinction, but it really is an enjoyable, versatile, all-around great album. “Passing Friend” isn’t one of the strongest songs on the album by any means, but it’s still a solid track. I was surprised by how easy and fun it was to learn, play, and record an acoustic cover of the over-produced studio version.
The story behind the song is based on members of the then-popular band Culture Club — singer Boy George and guitarist/keyboardist Roy Hay — writing a track for the Beach Boys to record. It seems that the Beach Boys were experimenting with new ways to regain some semblance of relevance in a musical climate that was drastically different from their 1960’s hey day. At the time, Culture Club had taken a break after touring England. Hay was involved in a new band (This Way Up) and Boy George was making the rounds on the club scene. Although they came together to write this song, Culture Club was destined to disband the following year due to tensions within the band and Boy George’s addiction to drugs.
Thus, we have “Passing Friend,” a deep track if I’ve ever heard one! I hope you enjoy this stripped down version. Maybe it will even encourage you to give The Beach Boys (1985) either a shot or a second chance…
To address old business, I had promised in last week’s cover song music video post that I would bring you a double header this week. Well, today was a tremendously busy day, so I decided to hold off, as I need just a little more time to focus and figure out the chords for the second of the two songs. I won’t give them away just yet, but suffice it to say that I’m presenting an all-new band to the blog. They are big time one hit wonders — probably for good reason — and I’ll be recording a video of their hit single, as well as the single from their most recent album. More on that next Monday…
But this is certainly NOT the last time you’ll be hearing from me this week. You can look forward to a very special post — one that is very near and dear to me — coming on Wednesday and then another post on either Saturday or Sunday.
I realize this is all very vague, but believe me: these posts promise to be well worth your time clicking back to the best acoustic cover song blog in the universe! (And we’re modest, too…) Just think: you’ve got Jim Fusco Tuesday tomorrow (maybe more Beach Boys cover songs?), then I’ll be back on Wednesday, Jeff Copperthite’s “Thumpin’ Thursday,” and at least one more post this weekend. Don’t miss any of the musical fun!
