Acoustic cover of “Eleanor Rigby” from the Revolver album (1966). I didn’t have any orchestra, so I find my way to play this song with my acoustic guitar only.
** EDITOR’S NOTE: **
Go ahead and check out this stellar solo version of the Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby.” I, for one, wish I could fingerpick and sing at the same time like Federico can — I would have gotten a lot less comments on my “Just Breathe” (Pearl Jam) video, I can tell you that much!
The Laptop Sessions all began with Jim’s first Beatles cover song music video of “Here, There, and Everywhere,” and it’s always exciting to be able to induct a new, interesting cover into the Beatles category. Thanks, Federico, for another great contribution to the Guest Sessions!
You know, it is time to ask the age-old question that I have asked multiple times this year. I think i’ve lost count just how many times.
Any idea what it is?
Ok, here it goes.
“Why does Youtube feel like it’s time to have a maintenance only when it is my night to post for the day?”
Yes that’s right. Youtube will be undergoing scheduled maintenance in a short while – probably after I finish typing this post.
But thankfully, I have uploaded the video already! Ha! And it’s a good one too. It’s “Like bashing in the head of whomever schedules the time for Youtube maintenance so badly he looks at you and vows never to do it again and you force feed him various videos involving Mister Ed and movies with Paul Reiser until his eyeballs can’t take it anymore and he screams for mercy” good.
But seriously, it’s Original Wednesday – the BEST day of the week! Where you get to hear another original tune from the library of yours truly.
The song I have chosen for tonight, ironically, is my own self-declared “Most Depressing Song i’ve ever written”.
From the 2003 Quilt album Expressions, the song is “Unexplained”. There was a time towards the end of my senior year in college where I suddenly realized how “aware” I was of the world. It’s what my teachers talked about throughout my years of school that “you’ll have to grow up and realize you aren’t invincible, there’s people around you, etc.” It’s really a kind of awakening. But that sudden awareness of things around you includes the positive…and the dreadfully negative. I wrote this song after a period of questions that are embedded in the lyrics of this song.
It’s weird though. Nowadays I tend to think about that subject matter at night as I drift off to sleep. It’s discomforting for sure. Funny thing is if you saw me at any point of the day where I was awake, you’d think I was the happiest person alive.
Well, I am quite happy. I’ve got a great job, great wife, great condo, and an overall great life (my wife wants me to put “wife” first, but she doesn’t understand the literary prose that is at work here). I even wrote in the liner notes of this album that the lyrics do not reflect my true overall state of thinking.
I decided to throw in some fingerpicking into this song, despite the recorded version having all normal picking. The recorded version is also a bit slower than this one. Also, 5 years later, I have more insights of how to sing songs properly. I’m really pleased with the quality of this video!
Now, you know that tomorrow is Thumpin’ Thursday. I’m still mad at my voice for supplanting my previous Thursday. However, Jim “Like three octaves of pure unadulaterated BAM for your ears Good” Fusco will be here to show us his 2nd consecutive Thumpin’ entry. It’s going to be that good.
I’ll see you in 3 days!
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 original 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!
“New Pony”
Bob Dylan (Covered by the Dead Weather)
A
I had a pony; her name was Lucifer.
I had a pony; her name was Lucifer.
A E
She broke her leg and needed shooting;
E A
I swear it hurt me more than it could’ve hurted her.
Sometimes I wonder what’s going on with Miss X.
Sometimes I wonder what’s going on with Miss X.
She got such as sweet disposition;
I never know what the poor girl’s gonna do to me next.
I got a new pony; she knows how to fox trot, lope, and pace.
I got a new pony; she knows how to fox trot, lope, and pace.
She got great big hind legs;
Long big shiny hair hanging in her face.
SOLO
Everybody says you’re using voodoo; I’ve seen your feet walk by themselves.
Everybody says you’re using voodoo; I’ve seen your feet walk by themselves.
Oh baby, but that god that you’ve been praying to
Gonna give you back what you wishing on someone else.
Come over here, pony; I wanna climb up one time on you.
Come over here, pony; I wanna climb up one time on you.
You oh so nasty and you’re so bad,
But I swear I love you, yes, I do.
Hello and welcome to the final Monday post of 2009! It’s been quite a year, and certainly a year of changes and improvements here at the best cover song music video blog in the universe. For starters, we came up with a weekly schedule of new material that did NOT involve each of us recording a video once every three days.
The “session-a-day” concept may not have been the brightest idea I ever had…
I started the year playing a simple, pretty little Big Star song called “Thirteen,” covers of which I had heard performed by Elliott Smith and Wilco. In much the same way, I wanted to end the year with another simple but catchy song. I chose the Wilco track “Far, Far Away,” an acoustic song that incorporates harmonica — another definite plus! Over the past year and a third, I’ve recorded Wilco songs from all of their studio albums (including both Mermaid Avenue releases) except for two. Since this song was originally on the 1996 double album Being There, I now only have one uncovered album to select from in the future.
Thanks to the Christmas break, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to sit back and play this song over the past five days. By the time I hit “Record with iSight” on my iMovie earlier today, this song felt like second nature. It’s one of those songs that is deceptively simple, and I respect the original Wilco version even more now, especially the way Tweedy’s vocals resonate throughout. I was also fortunate enough to be in the right groove and managed to arrange and record my session for next week. Because it will be my first session of the new year, I wanted to pick a thematically relevant song. The track I picked is fairly simple, but I initially had difficulty translating it to an acoustic performance. Overall, I am very pleased with my recording, and I can’t wait to post it next year.
Um, I mean next week.
Outside of these songs, I’ve been thinking a lot about my top thirty rock albums of the decade list. I’m due to post it in less than a week now, so the pressure’s on. I’ve had the list ready for weeks, but I keep listening to more of the albums again and, consequently, the positions of many of them have been fluctuating. For instance, I’ve been agonizing over my decision to make Maroon number five instead of number four. So, especially after conversations with Nicole and with Mike and Alb tonight, I’ve decided I need to spend some more time reconsidering my options, and then finalize this thing. After all, the reason I’m doing this in the first place is to (a) have a reason to revisit some of my favorite albums of the past ten years and think about them all over again, and (b) spark conversation with my friends and share opinions, engage in debates, and explain justifications for the rankings. Just tonight, Mike made a great argument for Snacktime being one of the best albums of the decade.
One more to consider…
Outside of music, I haven’t been getting any grading done yet this break, but I have been reading. I’m one chapter into The Wilco Book, a book I’ve been excited about reading since I first got into Wilco over a year ago. It was the perfect gift, as I could never bring myself to buy it. I’ve also been reading Revolution in the Air, a book by my favorite “Dylanologist,” Clinton Heylin. Heylin has somehow managed to compile a list of 600 original Dylan compositions written between 1957 and 2006 and organized them by when they were written (that’s right — when they were written, not recorded). The story behind each song is explained, and even though I’m only forty pages in, it’s a fascinating read. Just when I thought I had read all there was of interest about Bob Dylan, this book comes along…
Finally, I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie last night. Because I teach several Holmes stories to my Mystery class, I was hesitant about enjoying the action-packed previews. Fortunately, the movie is excellent: Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law perfectly play their parts as Holmes and Watson, and the film manages to balance action and an interesting mystery. It was so much fun, that I’ve finally set off on a goal I’ve had for some time but never followed through with: to read all 56 Holmes stories penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Nicole and I have taken turns reading the first seven “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” to each other, the most recent being “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.” If you know what a carbuncle is, then you are probably just as confused by the title as I originally was. Let’s just say that the story centers around a different kind of carbuncle than the common meaning of the word.
And, on that side note, I’m about ready to get some sleep. Before I go to bed, I’m going to finish watching Live Free or Die Hard, sort through the rest of my old bills and records (shredding whatever I can before moving), and continue to write and organize the poems I’m compiling for an upcoming poetry collection. In fact, there’s one poem I’ve had nearly finished in my head since I was washing my hands before dinner yesterday, so I better write that one down before I lose it…
