“Your Life is Now” (John Mellencamp Cover)

By Chris Moore:

And now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time once again to take a trip back to nineties pop radio…

Three days ago, Jim and I brought you the Sugar Ray single “Someday,” which was a favorite of mine back when I used to wake up early before school to listen to the morning show on Kiss 95.7.  Ross, Courtney, and Scott were the three voices I looked forward to hearing every morning — for a couple years, I was even lucky enough to have a bus driver that played that radio station on the way to school — and they were the ones who played the first songs that I really fell in love with.  Over time, some have faded from my memory and some have remained among my favorites when I listen to my iPod.  The song I’m bringing you tonight is one that had actually faded for quite a while.

Up until last weekend when I recorded this music video, it had literally been years since I had listened to John Mellencamp’s “Your Life is Now.”  It is on his 1998 self-titled album (he’s one of the few artists who have been able to release two different self-titled albums; I’m of course referring to the 1979 album when his name was John Cougar…) and although this is not my favorite track on the album, it is the single.  Thus, considering my penchant for deep tracks, I figured I’d stick to a relatively mainstream song for the first John Mellencamp cover on the Laptop Sessions website.  Unlike the aforementioned Sugar Ray tune (which hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100), this song never charted.  However, it did reach #15 on the US Rock Charts, which is probably why I heard it played on the radio so much that year.

And, I have to admit, I had a lot of fun these past couple sessions learning the songs that remind me of years ago, when music was all-new, unknown, and simply exciting for me.  I definitely plan to revisit my pop radio roots for future sessions.  (Tune in next time, though, as I’ll be dusting off a Jim Croce single for the first time on this, the best acoustic cover song blog on the Internet!)

Finally, before I go back to reading for school tomorrow — I’m reading a great mystery by Tana French called In the Woods for those of you mystery fans among us — I have to comment on tonight’s episode of TNA Impact!  It was, without a doubt, one of the best episodes probably in months.  It pretty much had everyone and everything you could want in a two-hour wrestling program, with the exception of Christian Cage, one of my all-time favorite wrestlers who was not on tonight’s show.  (As Jim mentioned, though, Samoa Joe wasn’t there, which was a nice trade-off…  Sorry, is that mean?  Well, he’s not the “champ” anymore, so…)  But, seriously, aside from being incredibly disappointed in the way that the Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan ended (I wanted Morgan to win, even though I knew he wasn’t going to!!), it was a great show.

Probably the most shocking segment was when Kevin Nash — after demolishing Consequences Creed, or as Nash referred to him, “Unconscious Creed” — completely amped up his ego, proclaiming himself to be the smartest, largest wrestler and a man that women lust for and that men wish they could be.  He actually mocked the men in the audience who brough wives and girlfriends, warning them that their women were thinking only of what it would be like to spend the night with him.

Now, while I in no way, shape, or form would endorse this kind of pompous behavior and I generally dislike anyone whose personality remotely leans in that direction, I have to share this funny moment I had tonight:

Jim:  Chris, now are you such a big fan of Kevin Nash?

Chris:  Well, to be honest, I sometimes do wish I could be seven feet tall, incredibly muscular, and have the nickname “Big Sexy!”

I realize that this all has little to do with acoustic covers, but I really just had to share…

Thanks for reading, watching, and/or listening — I look forward to possibly seeing you back here in three days for yet another all-new acoustic cover music video and a review of the America concert I’m going to see at the Mohegan Sun on Saturday!

See you next session!

Bob Dylan Summer 2009 SET LIST – New Britain Stadium: Wednesday, 7/15/09

The SET LIST is below…

For a detailed review, CLICK HERE!

Well, a year sure did go by quickly! Here I am with my girlfriend, Nicole, at what has become an important and fun annual event – the local Bob Dylan concert!

This year, Dylan’s summer 2009 tour has stopped at Rock Cats Stadium in New Britain as part of his ballpark series with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp.

Somewhat surprisingly, Nelson is opening and is playing as I type — songs like “On the Road Again” and “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.” Why so soon for the veteran country western singer? Earliest bed time of the bunch? Somehow, I doubt it! Anyway, I’m not a big fan, but his band is very solid and he sounds fantastic!

Okay, it’s back to the music for me, but I’ll be back with up to the minute Dylan set list updates as they come. I may need Nicole’s help to decipher the arrangements of the older songs, but I think she’s up to the task.

Mellencamp’s out now, and thanks to the graciousness of a somewhat tipsy fellow fan, we have much better seats (see above). The outdoor ballpark concerts really are nice, but you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature; thankfully, she was kind today.

Mellencamp opened with a song that we both know – “Ain’t That America.” I find his lyrical content a bit campy for my style, but I plan to reserve judgement until the concert is over. So far, so rockin’!

Upcoming: The Dylan Set List

BOB DYLAN SET LIST – 7/15/2009:

1.) “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”
2.) “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”
3.) “The Levee’s Gonna Break”
4.) “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” – LAPTOP SESSION – CLICK HERE!
5.) “High Water (For Charley Patton)” – LAPTOP SESSION – CLICK HERE!
6.) “I Feel a Change Comin’ On”
7.) “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum”
8.) “When the Deal Goes Down”
9.) “Highway 61 Revisited”
10.) “Ballad of a Thin Man”
11.) “Thunder on the Mountain”

ENCORE:

12) “Like a Rolling Stone” – LAPTOP SESSION – CLICK HERE!
13) “Jolene”
14) “All Along the Watchtower” – LAPTOP SESSION – CLICK HERE!