Tag Archives: John Lennon Songs

“Can’t Buy Me Love” (The Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, another night and another one of our Beatles cover songs here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs video series!

Tonight, I bring you a big hit in “Can’t Buy Me Love”, one of my more energetic Laptop Sessions. Of course, I’ve known this song for probably all of my 24 years, and am very excited about this cover song video. I think I got in a pretty good groove. Plus, with a song this short (“watch it!“) it grabs the viewer’s interest and keeps it there without getting boring. That was a specialty of the Beatles in the early 60s. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were masters of creating short and catchy songs. This particular song, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, is a McCartney-penned tune, though it’s credited to both him and Lennon (as all of their songs were). I tend to lean towards John Lennon’s style of writing. I truly believe that he and Brian Wilson are the greatest rock songwriters of all time. But, every once in a while, Paul’s songs amaze me, like this one. His talent as a songwriter usually came out in the form of love songs and slower ballads. That’s why “Can’t Buy Me Love” is such a unique McCartney song, at least for early in his career. When I think of great Paul McCartney Beatles songs, I think of “I Will”, “Yesterday”, and “Golden Slumbers”. Those songs have a very different feels than the fast-paced pop feel of “Can’t Buy Me Love”.

One thing I didn’t realize about “Can’t Buy Me Love” is how high-pitched it is. I found it to be difficult to sing, especially when done acoustically. Paul had the luxury of double-tracking his lead vocals on the recorded version of this song. On my acoustic cover video, though, it’s just me and my guitar. For a faster-paced song like this one, I chose to go with my standard steel-stringed acoustic guitar instead of the nylon stringed guitar I normally use for “softer” music videos. One thing that surprises me is how Paul McCartney can still sing this song fairly well into his late 60s. I suppose practicing for 45 years helped him out a bit, but I can only hope to sound as good as he does when I’m his age!

I’m unfortunately running low (“oh, another one- giddy up Keckster!”) on my last glut of music videos, so I’ll be doing a new set very soon. But the good news is that I’ll be using my new setup, complete with a Zoom USB microphone and brighter, higher quality video. But of course, you know that the Laptop Sessions music video blog always brings you something new and improved!

Stay tuned here to the video blog, as Chris has been a posting machine lately- with new music reviews and posts about every WCJM Free Internet Radio show, amongst others. Plus, Jeff’s been cranking out solid Sessions, too. And me? Well, you KNOW I’ve been going crazy with the updates and enhancements here on the music blog. Until tomorrow’s Chris Moore Session, take care and enjoy “Can’t Buy Me Love” by the Beatles!

“A Hard Day’s Night” (The Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to my last contribution to “Title Track Week” here at The Laptop Sessions on https://guitarbucketlist.com !

Tonight, I bring you a CLASSIC Beatles cover song tune that everyone should be played as they’re coming out of the womb! 🙂 “A Hard Day’s Night” was reportedly a phrase coined by Ringo Starr. He kinda has that Yogi Berra thing going on where he says some great unique phrases and doesn’t even realize it.

This was a great Session for me because, again, I did it in one take. Actually, I recorded NINE videos last night, so I can finally focus on all the promotion we’ve been doing.

If you’re in the CT area, check out the Record-Journal newspaper on Sunday, June 1st for a feature article on The Laptop Sessions! It’s been rumored that we might even have a prestigious spot in the Sunday paper, but time will tell, I guess.

Come on back tomorrow for Chris’ final entry into “Title Track Week” and, as always, come to https://guitarbucketlist.com every single day in 2008 for a new video!

“Things We Said Today” (The Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Thursday edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog with me, Jim Fusco! I just reached 100 subscribers and I know it’ll only grow faster from here! I hope you’ll tell your friends about the music blog, too.

Anyway, now to today’s cover song video. Today, I give you another in our series of Beatles cover songs that I’ve loved for a long time, “Things We Said Today”.

Paul McCartney said that this song was about a girlfriend of his he met while in another country. They had such a great time together and made all those crazy young promises of “always waiting for you”, etc. So, he’s singing about remembering the things they said to each other while feeling alone and far away. What a great, heartfelt idea for a song!

One of the things I’ve always liked about “Things We Said Today” is the cool strumming pattern of the A-minor chord that starts the song.  For a song about such a melancholy feeling, the opening chords are so harsh.  Of course, that harsh feeling comes up again in the bridge of the song, where Paul gets a bit rougher with his singing style.  I think the middle-8 is one of the best that Paul McCartney ever wrote.  He flawlessly transitions his voice from sweet and mellow to biting.  It’s very impressive.

I guess the duality in “Things We Said Today” between the verses and middle sections is reflected in the lyrics of the song.  On the surface, you’ll notice that Paul is first saying how they’ve promised to “be the only one” for each other.  But, if you read into it a little bit, you’ll hear what he really means.  He knew, because of the distance between him and the girl he’s talking about, that the promises of “being the only one” were empty and could never be true.  He knew it was only a passing fling.  In the middle section, he says, “And though we may be blind, love is here to stay.”  He’s saying that in a new relationship like that, people tend to overlook obvious challenges like, you know, living thousands of miles away from each other.  And, in the minds of these naive folks that are newly in love, it’ll stay great forever!  Those of us who have been through that situation know the real eventual outcome.

On a funnier note, I had to relocate to my room for this song (good thing I have a Laptop!) because my parakeets would not stop chattering downstairs! But, I’m glad they’re getting along, even if it is to the detriment of my acoustic cover song videos.

I hope you enjoy today’s Beatles acoustic video- I’ll catch you on Sunday with an all-new Beach Boys song!

We have a NEW album out called Homestead’s Revenge (by Masters of the Universe- the band I’m in). You can buy the high quality mp3s or the CD version. Here’s the web address: http://jimfusco.com/albums.html.  PLEASE check it out and let me know what you think!  I hope you all enjoy today’s Session, and REALLY enjoy the new album- it’s two years in the making!

“And I Love Her” (Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Here on this edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog is a version I’m really proud of. My roommate and I did this version of the classic Beatles song “And I Love Her”. I think having two people perform the song (even though there’s only one vocal) really helps because it allowed me to play the solo and the little guitar riff at the beginning and end.

You know, I think “And I Love Her” would’ve been the perfect song to do on my “gut-string” (nylon, basically) guitar.  But, there’s no way the sound of the solo would’ve risen above the steel-string guitar we used for the rhythm part.  So, I was forced to use my steel-string acoustic guitar, as well.

One interesting aspect of “And I Love Her” is the key change in the middle.  It’s almost indiscernible because the key change happens during the guitar solo.  That made the second half of the song harder to play, of course.  I noticed this same phenomenon in the Beach Boys’ #1 Hit, “I Get Around”.  The same exact thing happens- the key changes in the song as soon as the guitar solo starts.  The only difference?  “And I Love Her” actually goes back to the original key at the end!  Now, that’s a good piece of songwriting there.

I love this Beatles song, it’s fun to sing, and really shows how great the Beatles were, even at the beginning of their popularity.  I know there are a lot of people that prefer the later Beatles work over their early stuff.  But for me, the early Beatles music was something magical.  These guys knew, from a very young age, exactly how to write a hit song.  And, even for songs that weren’t necessarily hits, like “And I Love Her”, they were able to write an impressive tune that was as good (or better) than anything else at the time.  In the Beach Boys, you had Brian Wilson writing all of the songs (Mike Love helped with lyrics, of course) for the first five or six years.  It was only later in 1968 that the rest of the band members (especially Dennis Wilson) started contributing and showing their own genius as songwriters.  But with the Beatles, you had both Paul McCartney and John Lennon at the top of their game right from Day One and that continued throughout the Beatles’ 8-year run.  It was only an added bonus to get classic songs by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in there.

One funny thing: In the Beatles, obviously Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the big-shots.  But, for me, post 1970, I prefer the solo music of George Harrison and Ringo Starr over almost anything that John and Paul did during their solo careers.  You know that old phrase, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”, right?  I think John and Paul were much better together than apart.  I think the same goes for the members of the Beach Boys, including Brian Wilson.

By the way, sorry I missed Original Wednesday this week- I’ll make sure to post TWO videos next Wednesday!  And stay tuned for more Beatles cover songs each and every week here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!