On tonight’s edition of “Ask the Musician”, I have a YouTube email from Todd:
Hi, Could you please send me the tabs of “San Francisco”? Thanks a lot, you are a great musician.
Thanks, Todd- with me, flattery gets you everywhere! I don’t have the tabs (don’t really need them for this song), but here are the chords and lyrics:
Start on G
Em C G D
If you're going to San Francisco,
Em C G D
be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
Em G C G
If you're going to San Francisco,
G Bm Em D
you're gonna meet some gentle people there.
Em C G D
For those who come to San Francisco
Em C G D
Summer-time will be a love-in there.
Em G C G
In the streets of San Francisco,
G Bm Em D
gentle people with flowers in their hair.
F
All across the nation,
F G
such a strange vibration, People in motion...
F
There's a whole generation,
F G D
with a new explanation, People in motion, people in motion.
Em Am C G D
For those who come to San Francisco,
Em C G D
be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
Em G C G
If you come to San Francisco,
G Bm Em G
Summer-time will be a love-in there.
Em F#m A D A
If you come to San Francisco
A C#m F#m A F#m A
Summertime will be a love-in there
______________________________________
Thanks again for the comment, Todd, and happy playing!
Em D Bm G
When something’s dark, lemme shed a little light on it
When something’s cold, lemme put a little fire on it
If something’s old, I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When something’s gone, I wanna fight to get it back again
Em D G
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah — fight to get it back again.
Em D
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah.
When something’s broke, I wanna put a bit of fixing on it
If something’s bored, I wanna put a little exciting on it
When something’s low, I wanna put a little high on it
When something’s lost, I wanna fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah — fight to get it back again.
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah.
When signals cross, I wanna put a little straight on it
If there’s no love… I wanna try to love again.
C Eb Bm
I’ll say your prayers; I’ll take your side.
Bm A
I’ll find us a way to make light.
I’ll dig your grave; we’ll dance and sing.
What say, could be our last lifetime!
(Repeat INTRO)
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah — fight to get it back again.
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah — fight to get it back again.
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Fight to get it back again… (yeah’s & fadeout)
** 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. **
Welcome to Thumpin’ Thursday! I’ve got a great alternative song that I had completely forgotten about up until recently.
Two weeks ago my wife & I bought a Nintendo Wii after a long time of debating whether we wanted it enough to buy it. Well, thankfully that answer is yes. We bought a few games we knew we’d like, which included the line of “Wii” games (including the Wii fit, which i’m happy to report is actually quite effective), and I also bought Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero: Metallica.
Well, next week I hope that I can actually…cover a Metallica song! An acoustic cover? You bet! I’m sure those that are reading this will probably narrow the possibilities down to about 3 songs.
But the reason I mention Guitar Hero: Metallica (besides the fact that I love it and am currently working on 5-starring all the songs on Hard) is because today’s song is in this game. It helped to remind me that it existed, and that it would make a great session entry.
So today I bring you “No Excuses” by Alice in Chains from their 1994 album “Jar of Flies”. This song always sounded like it’d be more difficult than it actually is. The lyrics and song always made me sing along throughout my teenage years. I love the chorus that fits right in to the mood.
The song is very easy to play. Tune the guitar down 1/2 step, and play a standard A barre chord, but only press down on the low E string with your index finger, leaving the B and high E string open the entire song. Slide that up to the 7th fret, and back again for the verse. For the chorus, bring it down to G, then A, B, A, G, A, then E in standard position (I use my middle, ring, and pinky to play the chord so it allows me to return to the barre position for the verse).
I tried to use a slightly different position today, facing the sound hole from the guitar towards the camera. It seemed to work for “Hello, it’s Late” from last month.
I hope you enjoy today’s entry, and next week perhaps I’ll see you for another great session! TTFN!
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!
The best part about contributing to this blog is that, every so often, all the pieces fall together at just the right time. For example, I still have the remnants of a cough that just doesn’t seem to want to leave me entirely, yet I really wanted to record a new video for tonight. Meanwhile, over the weekend, I was listening to Jack Johnson on shuffle when this song — “Broken” from his Sing-a-Longs and Lullabies from Curious George soundtrack CD — and immediately felt the urge to learn and record it.
Fortunately, the register is fairly low and the chords are very simple, so this was a joy to lay down as a session.
Of course, every cover song music video is not without its challenges when it involves me…
The only difficult aspect of this song is that, although I’ve heard it dozens of times and could sing along to the chorus in my sleep, I really don’t know the verse. Thus, I put “Broken” on repeat in my car on the way home. After listening to it seven or eight times straight, I didn’t seem to be much closer to nailing the lyrics. Still, I soldiered on — I typed up the lyrics from the booklet and practiced a few times to the music. Finally, I practiced a few times on my own before I hit the “record” button.
And, a few takes later, you have a session to watch!
The reason I was listening to Jack Johnson in the first place was that Mike showed Jim and I his copy of En Concert, the new live CD/DVD, this past Thursday at wrestling. Based on my disappointment at his last record, I hadn’t purchased the CD myself, but Mike had nothing but great things to say about it, so it’s only a matter of time before I find my way back to the “J” section of my local Newbury Comics store…
Speaking of new music, I am wildly curious about tomorrow’s new Weezer release. The title alone has caused some controversy. Based on a recommendation from The Office actor Rainn Wilson (who plays Dwight Schrute), Rivers Cuomo and company titled their latest studio album Raditude. I’ve heard the first track, “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” and it may be cheesy, but it sounds great and it’s fun to listen to. That being said, the other titles on the album alone are enough to make one question what Raditude will be like — tracks like “I’m Your Daddy” and “Girl Got Hot.”
All I will say for now is that TheRed Album seemed very weird at first, and it quickly grew on me. I was just listening to it this weekend, in fact, and realizing that it is truly one of my favorite Weezer releases. I can’t imagine that this new album will be up to that level, but I have promised myself that I will reserve judgment until after I’ve heard it a few times. Based on their incredible catalog alone, Weezer really does deserve the benefit of the doubt.
More on that next time…
And that about does it for me, at least for now. This week is crazy for me, as my grades are due this Friday. In addition, I have meetings today and now Thursday, a full day of professional development (i.e. no time to grade) tomorrow, and I’m monitoring the selling of tickets at the drama production on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Add in some wrestling on Thursday night and a whole lot a gradin’ goin’ on, and I’ve got one busy week! I am looking forward to the weekend, as I’ll be completing a swap with my former student Geoff — some Ben Folds for some Tom Waits. It’s bound to give me some more interesting listening and perhaps some more interesting Laptop Sessions songs…
