This song was done on the first take with the help of my bro Big Fusc, which was a lot of fun to do on the fly. I heard this catchy pop song first in the Meriden Mall shopping and it was after I was into BNL, but before I realized “Wow, this song was THEM!” And I cracked up at the line “I could hide out under there… I just made you say underwear”, which, comically enough, Jim JUST got this joke on Sunday night. (how many years??? haha make sure to give him grief over that!) This is from the album Maroon, a great album, and this song captures how I’m feeling right now… Not necessarily bad or down, actually very upbeat.
But, I still feel like I’m walking around in a state of disbelief. (so, Pinch Me!) I hope you enjoy this acoustic cover me and my brother whipped up for the guitarbucketlist.com blog!
Hey all! Well, it’s been such a big week for me and for news in my world, and I guess people cope in different ways. Much like comfort food, there are certain songs and albums that act as “comfort music”, and take me back to a time or place. My acoustic cover song selection for today is a song by “The Calling” that almost everyone knows (and usually likes). I discovered it and the album (Camino Palmero) in high school, and it was one of the first I listened to when I first got my license. That time of life and love and discovery and loss all seem to give me answers for things that happen modern day. This is a song about believing in something and maybe knowing when to let go, and when to hold on.
Im just troubled by a lot of stuff in the news- new war in Georgia from Russia (without love, apparently)… Bernie Macs death, a kid in my town at my middle school who died in a fight, and the brutal destruction of Jim, Chris, and our friend Alberto in Monopoly this evening (in which I won!) We did our home run derby radio show the other day, and that resulted in a major win for yours truly as well… What do you know! I’m trading in some accumulated good karma, and I will buy myself a lottery ticket tomorrow (and if I win, I’ll be posting from my own mac laptop, instead of Jim’s like today!)
I really love this song and I hope my quick take on it is enjoyable, and reminds you that you only have to answer to one person every night- Your heart. So you better live each day right so you don’t have any ‘splainin to do! (Luuuucy!)
Welcome to my first Original Wednesday original acoustic song music video for the year 2009! It’s Jim Fusco here with a great song that we chose to kick-off our (and by “our”, I mean the band Masters of the Universe, or MoU) second album, “Homestead’s Revenge”. The song is “Only A Dream” and it’s a chorus I wrote the tune to, but never did anything else with.
I remember the day very vividly. It was one of our band songwriting sessions and I remember finally fleshing-out the chorus with the help of Chris, Mike, Becky, and Cliff. Then, I ran over to the piano and started to work out chord progressions for the verses. I came up with the very interesting Em7 to Bm chord progression and I really love the tune that goes along with it. I remember sitting there working and hearing Becky and Chris deciding on words to go into the chorus of the song.
I took my ideas over to the rest of the band and we worked out the words. We came up with this image of a man in a jail cell. The conversation went something like this: “How about a man locked in a jail cell that’s dreaming about getting out?” “Oh yeah- like he’s locked in there!” “Okay, let’s see- ‘Locked in solitary confinement…'” “No, that doesn’t work with the tune…” “Locked in solidarity…” “That doesn’t make sense, though.” “Oh, but it does! The guy is locked up AND he’s all alone!” “Perfect!”
And that’s how the writing session went- we scrutinized everything but were able to paint a very realistic image of the idea we were getting across. Why don’t you just listen and find out what that message is?
I also remember Mike returning from the back room, playing his middle-8. I love that part of the song and it leads right back into the chorus very well. He did that on “These Streets” from the same album. The lyrics are great on the middle-8 to “These Streets”- we were thinking about that kind of great fast-paced life you think you have in high school and threw in, “Live like it’s 1999,” because I was a freshman/sophomore in 1999.
Also, I was very excited when we all did the vocals. On the original (which you can hear by going to MoU’s Official Website), you’ll hear double-tracked vocals from each of the five members of the band on the choruses and backgrounds, PLUS the lead vocals.
Some fun facts: Chris, Cliff, Mike, and I recorded our vocals together and we dubbed Becky’s much softer voice later on two other tracks so I could handle it better in the mix. It isn’t easy blending a female voice into four other male voices. But, my voice must not be too far off from a female’s voice, which made it easier to mix. Why do I say that? Well, on the middle-8, you’ll hear the backing vocals come in. I love that part. Well, on that section, Becky doesn’t sing- it’s just Mike’s lead, then Mike, Chris, Cliff, and I on backing vocals. I sang the high part (doing my best Becky impression) because we seamlessly wove the backing vocals around Mike’s lead, allowing us to use only four other backing vocal harmony parts. I remember doing those backing vocals that night with the boys and we were all so incredibly excited. After we finished each good take, we’d get so stoked about it. The greatest backing vocals I think I’ve ever heard are during the second half of the second verse. The way that some of the vocals move around and some stay the same…it’s really a stroke of genius on my part! 🙂 Want to hear just the vocals-only section? Click HERE and you’ll go to the Albums page on the MoU website. The clip of only the vocals from that section will play in the background. Click around to the other pages on the site and you’ll hear more rare vocals-only clips from the album!
Well, I hope you enjoy this great original song. It was truly a collaborative effort- a great, catchy song- that was the perfect album-starter. Until next Tuesday, I hope you have a great week. Make sure to come back tomorrow for your Jeff Copperthite Thumpin’ Thursday acoustic cover song music video!
Congratulations to Mike Fusco for his first Laptop Session!
It’s been a few months since we started the Laptop Sessions acoustic rock cover songs video blog. And that entire time, we’ve been trying to get my brother Mike Fusco into the mix, no pun intended. You may remember Mike Fusco as the famous voice and mind behind Dr. K. on WCJM free internet radio. You may also remember Mike as the “self-proclaimed teen heartthrob.” But here on the Laptop Sessions, he’s simply Mike Fusco- singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and fellow mater of the cover song art.
Tonight, I graciously gave Mike my normal spot in the cover song rotation (in other words, “YES! I get a day off- thank you Mike!), but don’t worry, I’ll be back on Tuesday with another great cover song from another artist we haven’t covered yet here on the music blog.
Mike begins his tenue with the Laptop Sessions with his emotional cover of Elvis Presley’s classic love song, “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” Mike did a great job with this, giving the song extra meaning, considering the situation he was in. I’m happy that instead of just sulking, he turned his emotions into a great cover of this classic song.
We hope to get a Mike song on the video blog once a week. He has our full support here and we hope you’ll help welcome Mike to the Laptop Sessions!
