With the most compelling lyrics since his last Wallflowers album, Jakob Dylan continues to putter along with his return-to-roots approach; there are some flashes of brilliance here, yet I simply have to expect more from a man I consider to be one of the most outstanding songwriters of all time.
Top Two Tracks:
“Holy Rollers for Love” & “Standing Eight Count”
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
I’m back after a short hiatus! Welcome to your special Friday edition of The Laptop Sessions.
Tonight’s song is the first Wallflowers cover in a long time. I have selected another song from their 2nd album “Breach”, and I planned on closing out my 2008 run w/ the Sessions with another song from this album (I did mention it in an earlier post which song it was going to be)
As you know by now, I am a huge Wallflowers fan. I enjoy all their albums and they are so easy to listen to at any time of the day. My wife enjoys this band as well. This cover is still a first for me though. Up until now, i’ve covered their upbeat songs, and this is the first that is among their slower, gentler tunes. It allows me to really sit back and play a nice, neat song with the cool writing of Jakob Dylan.
And yes, that is Bob Dylan’s son (in case you didn’t know).
We need not go into further detail, but know that we are committed to bringing you the best cover songs! Jim, Chris, and I will continue our dedication not just through this year, but into the next. We couldn’t wait to announce when you could look forward to more cover songs from the three of us!
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
I hope you enjoy seeing me with hair tonight, because as of Wednesday evening, it’s gone! That’s right — I’ve decided to shave it all off. Well, maybe “decided” is a strong word. One of my colleagues, one who offered a great deal of useful advice during my first year teaching, asked me if I would join an English department team for this year’s “St. Baldrick’s” event. I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to join in with my fellow English teachers, and as you may know, it isn’t all that often that someone asks me to join a team! So, off goes the hair in the name of raising money to fight children’s cancer. I’m currently at the bottom of the list of fundraisers on my team (listed online as $0, although I have raised about $65 from staff and students at school that will be added tomorrow).
If you’re interested in supporting this excellent cause, just CLICK HERE!
So, you may be wondering: what does this have to do with the Laptop Sessions? Well, the answer should be clear if you read the title of my song choice tonight. I thought “Will It Grow” would be a fitting question to ask on the eve of my head being shaved. Of course, Jakob Dylan isn’t referring to hair, but I was able to add a bit more emotion to my interpretation of this track all the same.
“Will It Grow” was released in 2008 on Dylan’s solo album Seeing Things. Since Jeff recorded “Something Good This Way Comes” prior to its release, I never felt the need to record a track from the album. To be honest, I wasn’t as impressed with this album as I could have been. Of all people, I should be able to appreciate a set of good acoustic performances. That being said, it’s difficult to listen to an all-acoustic album from the front man for the Wallflowers — they’re such an incredible rock band!
Now, almost two years removed, I came back to Seeing Things by chance and thought it was a shame that I had never covered one of the tracks. Not surprisingly, I found a set of chords online riddled with errors and transcribed for a capo. I love capos as much as the next guy — and probably more! — but if it’s not necessary, I can’t see a good reason to use the capo. Thus, I posted the chords here at the Laptop Sessions for those interested in a more straightforward, accurate description of how to play the song. I can certainly understand how the errors may have been made, as I found it a bit difficult to pick up all the chord changes over the intricate fingerpicking. Eventually though, I think I came to a fairly solid version of what Dylan originally intended. I hope so — Jakob Dylan is one of my all-time favorite songwriters, so I took it very seriously.
In other Laptop Sessions news, I recently went through all the music reviews I posted previous to “The Weekend Review” series and added a rating out of five stars. Why did I take the time to do this? Well, initially I felt that ratings were arbitrary and that I really wasn’t qualified to make those sorts of judgments on music. After all, I wouldn’t want someone assigning a low rating to the music I poured my heart into. Still, the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I realize how important the rating is to the review as a whole. After all, half the fun of reading reviews is agreeing or disagreeing with the author’s rating. Thus, how can I deny my readers (however few of them there are ;- ) the opportunity to think I’m right on, far off, or somewhere in between? It was fun going back to these albums; most reviews I wrote before the Weekend Review were based on albums I loved, so that didn’t hurt. And it reminded me of how much I enjoy holding to a weekly writing schedule. It may be difficult at the time to carve out an hour or so on a Sunday to write, but it gives me a good reason to skim through my CD rack on Friday or Saturday to choose an album to listen to throughout the weekend.
Other than shaving my head, this week should be pretty normal. I still have to get used to TNA Impact! being on Mondays. It’s a great way to kick off the week, a relaxing night with friends and comfort food and wonderfully mindless television entertainment, but I do miss being able to look forward to Thursday nights.
Finally, I thought the new Locksley album was supposed to be out tomorrow, but it wasn’t listed on the Newbury Comics newsletter today. Luckily, the White Stripes are releasing their first live CD this week — more and more, I’ve been growing fond of Jack White’s work, particularly with his side projects. So, I’ll give it a shot and let you know…
See you next session!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
F# B
There’s three ways out of every box:
Fall out the bottom, or you crawl out the top.
F# B F# B
There’s three ways out of every, every box.
B Bb B
But if you can’t find your way out,
Then you just burn it to the ground,
B Bbm – Abm B – Bbm – Abm F# B
Then you’ll disappear like smoke into the clouds.
There’s three ways off a merry-go-round:
You either jump, or you let it slow down.
There’s three ways off a merry-go, merry-go round.
But if you can’t put your foot down,
Then you just burn it to the ground.
Then you walk away real slow back into the crowd.
Abm B
There’s always somebody there for a laugh.
Then you’re the only one that’s left.
B Bbm F#
Now that’s what you get left behind in the wreck.
There’s three ways off a burning bridge:
You pray for rain or you learn how to swim.
There’s three ways off of every burning bridge.
But if you can’t find strength and you quit,
Then you can just burn up and sink.
Then you’ll drift away real slow down into the ground.
** 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. **
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
