Em D
Fill up your mind with all it can know;
G Em
Don’t forget that your body will let it all go.
Em D G
Fill up your mind with all it can know…
D Bm G D
What would we be without wishful thinking?
F#m Bm E G D G
D F#m
Chambers of chains with red plastic mouths,
Bm E
The inside of outside… No one has found
G D G
How to unring the bell, it’s just as well.
The turntable sizzles, the casting of spells,
The pressure devices… Hell in a nutshell.
Is any song worthy singing if it doesn’t help?
Fill up your mind with all it can know;
Don’t forget that your body will let it all go.
Fill up your mind with all it can know…
‘Cause what would love be without wishful thinking?
Open your arms as far as they will go.
Take off your dress; an embarrassing poem
Was written when I was alone in love with you.
I shook down these lines to shine up the streets,
I got up off my hands and knees to thank my luck stars
That you’re not me…
D Bm G D
What would we be without wishful thinking?
Am Em G D
What would we be without wishful thinking?
Am Em G D Bm
What would we be without wishful thinking?
Am Em G D F#m Bm E
** 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. **
To see how it’s played in the cover song music video, CLICK HERE!
“The Sound of Settling”
by Death Cab for Cutie
C#m B E F#m A C#m
I’ve got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots
C#m B E F#m A
that my tongue has tied off.
My brain’s repeating, “If you’ve got an impulse, LET IT OUT!”
But they never make it past my mouth…
E F#m B Asus2 E F#m B Asus2
Ba, ba… This is the sound of settling. Ba, ba. Ba, ba…
Ba, ba… This is the sound of settling. Ba, ba. Ba, ba…
Our youth is fleeting; old age is just around the bend,
and I can’t wait to go gray.
And I’ll sit and wonder of every love that could have been
If I’d only thought of something charming to say.
Ba, ba… This is the sound of settling. Ba, ba. Ba, ba…
Ba, ba… This is the sound of settling. Ba, ba. Ba, ba…
Ba, ba… This is the sound of settling. Ba, ba. Ba, ba…
Ba, ba… This is the sound of settling. Ba, ba. Ba, ba…
I’ve got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots.
** 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. **
Didn’t I already write a Weezer review this year? And last year? And the year before that?
Yes, on all three counts.
So, allow me to begin with the disclaimer that Death to False Metal, though it receives only a half star lower than the rating I granted Hurley, is not as cohesive an effort in comparison. The individual songs shine in places and come up short in others. It is, after all, a collection of songs that, for various reasons, didn’t make the cut on their previous studio albums.
What is fascinating about this release — and what grants credibility to Rivers Cuomo’s stance that this should be considered Weezer’s ninth studio album proper — is that the songs haven’t simply been culled from studio tapes, digitized, and hastily thrown together. As the official press release reads, “The album was created using the basic tracks of 10 previously unreleased recordings — nine never-before-heard songs plus one cover — to assemble a brand new and truly modern-sounding record.”
This is what is most striking about the album on first listen: that it sounds like an album. Considering that the tracks hail from periods as diverse as Pinkerton, Maladroit, Make Believe, and The Red Album, this could very easily have sounded like your typical “Greatest Misses” compilation. Some, like Bob Dylan, have pulled off this brand of release, largely due to the fact that their vaults are populated by excellent cuts. Most, however, release these compilations for the enjoyment of only the most fanatic segments of their audience.
On Death to False Metal, Cuomo and company have introduced a third option: remake the songs as one might restore a car, balancing a faithfulness to the original design with an attention to more contemporary sensibilities.
Death To False Metal (Weezer, 2010)
As could be expected, even with a band with as characteristic a sound and feel as Weezer, there is still a sense that these tracks have been compiled. The transition from the grunge of “Everyone” to the glittery pop/rock of “I’m a Robot” is particularly noticeable. What’s more, both of these tracks fall firmly under the “I-see-why-they-were-scratched” category. Still, there is an energy to them that is infectious, and if you enjoy this band’s style, you will find yourself turning up the sound. Although these two songs have the potential to become grating, they also clock in at well under three minutes each.
Elsewhere, the simplicity is appealing, as it is on “Trampoline” and “I Don’t Want Your Loving.” And “Turning Up the Radio” is yet one more reminder that, simple or not, Weezer are the kings of the epic chorus.
The decision to work from the basic tracks up is what sets this release apart and what makes it a solid album. If you want to split hairs about the quality of individual songs, even in comparison to other Weezer tunes, then you could lose yourself in the criticism and find, in the end, that you’d missed the point of the album.
The point, as supported by the opener, is to turn up the volume and enjoy a set of songs that have been filtered through the Weezer of 2010, which — contrary to what critics (myself included) were concluding as recently as a year ago — is actually saying a great deal.
The packaging itself is impressive as it so very rarely is with this band. Much of the obvious has been stated and restated as concerns the cover, but little has been noted about the presence of lyrics, pictures, drawings, and other elements of intelligent design within the booklet.
The fact that two staples were required for assembly is, in itself, pleasantly surprising.
So, if you’re tired of what passes for rock on mainstream radio, pick up a copy of Death to False Metal. It won’t change your life and it probably won’t make your end-of-year top ten list, but it will be an album you’ll crank up and enjoy over and over again. Even the Toni Braxton cover that concludes the disc is surprisingly consistent with the tenor of the previous tracks. And, if you manage to block out all memories of nineties radio and half-drunken karaoke nights at your local bar, then you might even think it’s a decent song.
After a questionable 2009, Weezer has returned with two of the most enjoyable and respectable releases of 2010. Death to False Metal may be an “odds and ends” album, to borrow the language of early band chatter, but it holds its own against the very strong Hurley.
It’s official: the Christmas season is upon us yet again! I, for one, found it difficult to concentrate on the work I brought home this weekend, choosing instead to listen to Christmas music — specifically that on Bob Dylan’s new 2009 holiday album Christmas in the Heart (see my review here!) — and playing some of my favorite seasonal songs on acoustic guitar. One of my new favorites is a song written by Hal Moore and Bill Fredricks titled “Must Be Santa.”
Now, before you get too excited, I should begin by making it very clear that tonight I am covering Bob Dylan’s rendition of “Must Be Santa” and NOT the performance “popularized” by Mr. Music and the Cool Kids Chorus.
Please don’t be disappointed…
Seriously, though, if you would like to hear that rocking version, you’ll just have to download it for yourself. Or the versions by Mitch Miller, Raffi, Point Sebago Resort, Glen Burtnik, Miss Lisa, Miss Molly, The Friel Brothers, The Angel Choir, The Holly Players Orchestra, The Hit Crew, Mary Lambert, Bob McGrath, Kids Sing’n, the Pokemon Christmas Bash band, or Lorne Greene with the Jimmy Joyce Children’s Choir — good luck finding that last one.
If you’re craving a good polka, then don’t miss out on the Brave Combo version (which, ironically, is the closest in style and arrangement to Dylan’s).
And who could forget the Kids Rap’n the Christmas Hits version?
These cover songs range from boring to funny to vomit-inducing and back again. This brings me to the Bob Dylan version, which is a breath of fresh air when played beside these other covers. Dylan’s “Must Be Santa” is a frantic, polka-inspired three minutes of Christmas spirit, accordions, and bright choral vocals built up around Dylan’s gruff lead. Recorded nearly half a century after Mitch Miller first recorded the song in 1961, it is interesting to see how our image of Santa and the general sound and style of Christmas music (i.e. both sets of chord changes as the song progresses a la so many other seasonal favorites) really haven’t changed much in all this time.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Dylan’s album — and his recent work in general — is an homage to a simpler time in American popular music.
That is perhaps why Dylan’s new album, time-ravaged vocals and all, has slipped in so quickly among my favorite Christmas albums of all time. Although it was recorded earlier this year, there is a sense of nostalgia and even timelessness in each of its tracks. Somehow, he has managed to record the songs in a style that seems very natural from his current studio band. Indeed, Dylan has seemingly reached further and further into the past for the styles of his past several albums. In this sense, 2009 was the ideal year for him to record an album of traditional favorites and holiday songs from earlier in the century.
I don’t think any music will ever usurp the positions that The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album and the Moody Blues’ December currently hold in my heart. The Barenaked Ladies’ Barenaked for the Holidays, Brian Wilson’s What I Really Want For Christmas, and America’s Harmony are certainly the next runners up. Some of my attachment to this music is admittedly due to my own personal memories, such as listening to the Beach Boys each year as my family decorated the tree and attending a Moody Blues Christmas concert with two of my dearest friends several years ago. That being said, there is also a universal element to the music on these records that I can’t imagine any fan of rock music being able to deny. Somehow, these aforementioned bands have managed to incorporate religious hymns, classic rock Christmas songs, and originals into unified works that I look forward to dusting off each and every year.
For now, I’m wading into the music of season via this new Dylan album. After all, this is the punchline of a joke I’ve been making for as many years as I’ve loved Bob Dylan — “Imagine if Dylan recorded a Christmas album!” My friends and I would laugh, but I was always privately jealous that their favorite bands — the Beach Boys, the Moody Blues, etc. — had recorded Christmas albums or at least a Christmas song or two.
Now, I have my secret wish, and I couldn’t be happier!
Yes, Dylan’s voice is rugged, and truth be told, I was a bit hesitant to embrace this album when I gave it one listen upon its release a month ago. However, it only took a second listen for me to get hooked.
Whatever music you may enjoy listening to at this time of the year, I hope you’re enjoying it, and I hope you’ll come back throughout the week for Jim’s music video tomorrow, a guest session(!) on Friday, and another installment of Weekend Review.
