D G
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Em A
Turn off the lights and the telephone?
Bm E
Me in my house alone —
G A D
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Who says I can’t be free
From all of the things that I used to be?
Rewrite my history —
Who says I can’t be free?
D G D A
It’s been a long night in New York City;
A G D A
It’s been a long night in Baton Rouge.
G D F#m Bm
I don’t remember you looking any better,
Bm E A
But then again I don’t remember you…
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Call up a girl that I used to know?
Fake love for an hour or so —
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Who says I can’t take time,
Meet all the girls in the county line?
Wait on fate to send a sign —
Who says I can’t take time?
It’s been a long night in New York City;
It’s been a long night in Austin too.
I don’t remember you looking any better,
But then again I don’t remember you…
INSTRUMENTAL
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Plan a trip to Japan alone?
Doesn’t matter if I even go —
Who says I can’t get stoned?
It’s been a long night in New York City;
It’s been a long time since twenty-two.
I don’t remember you looking any better,
But then again I don’t remember, don’t remember you…
Outro: D
** 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. **
For the acoustic cover song music video, CLICK HERE!
“Solitaire”
Wilco
(Capo I)
Intro: E F#m7 E F#m7 E
E
Once I thought the world was crazy,
F#m7
Everyone was sad and chasing
Happiness and love and
I was the only one above it.
Once I thought, without a doubt,
I had it all figured out.
Universe with hands unseen;
I was cold as gasoline.
E G F#m7
Took too long to see
F#m7 C F#m7 E F#m7 E F#m7 E
I was wrong to believe in me only…
Once my life was a game so unfair
It beat me down and kept me there.
Unaware of my naysaying,
F#m7 E
Solitaire was all I was playing.
INSTRUMENTAL: G F#m7 C F#m7 (x3)
Took too long to see
I was wrong to believe in me only…
** 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. **
And welcome one, welcome all to my Laptop Session for this very special Original Wednesday here at your source for the best acoustic cover and original song music videos available on the internet today! (That’s a mouthful…)
You may be wondering, why is this day so special?
Well, for one, this is the birthday of Laptop Sessions series creator Jim Fusco. On behalf of the other contributors and the loyal viewers of this blog, I’d like to wish him a very happy 25th birthday! Only a quarter century in, and he’s accumulated quite a back catalog of music, writing, and side projects. If you haven’t already, you should head on over to jimfusco.com.
Take it from me: the best gift you can get Jim this year is to spend a measely $10 on his brand new album Halfway There. Go ahead, check out the album in streaming audio at his official website, or use the search function at the top of this page to listen to Laptop Sessions of many of the Halfway There tracks, read a full review, and see the beautiful, custom artwork he used for the cover.
Okay, that’s enough plugging for one post.
Tonight’s session is based on a song that I never recorded for an album. “Keep On Going” is an early track, as you will most likely be able to tell! Although the words are straightforward and the chord progression is simple, I’ve always liked this little tune. I originally wrote this song as a direct statement to my best friend (Jim, if you haven’t made the connection yet), assuring him after a rough week that things really will turn out all right, even though people — particularly high school aged people — can be cruel. I hope he’s seen that to be true, as he’s moved on to college, made many lifelong friends, and become engaged to Becky Daly. For all you former Pine Loft faithfuls: yes, this is indeed the same Becky Daly of Chris, Jim, and Becky fame!
I still sing “Keep On Going” when I feel stressed out or begin to think something — a relationship, a professional endeavor, etc. — won’t work out. I hope you like it.
As a final note, stepping back into the present, I just started listening to the new Bob Dylan album, Together Through Life. In case you’re questioning my devotion, there’s only one reason why I didn’t start listening yesterday: I pre-ordered the album on Amazon.com and didn’t spring for any more than Free Super Saver Shipping. So, I’m cheap. What do you want??? 🙂
Did I mention I’m loving the album? As I type, it’s blaring through my room and probably throughout the condo complex. I may even get a letter in the mail from the condo association condemning me for noise pollution or disturbing the peace or some other such nonsense, but it will be worth it! I spent the day at school today wearing the Best Buy exclusive Together Through Life t-shirt that Mike so graciously passed along to me from his purchase of the album (thanks again, Fusc!!). I made certain to wear a white button down shirt today and a narrow tie, so as to have the Dylan t-shirt show through. Thanks to at least one inquisitive student in each class I taught, I got to talk about the new album at least once every 82 minutes today!
I’ll save my commentary on Together Through Life for the review that will most certainly come, but allow me to share a couple comments. First, this is not what I was expecting after Love & Theft and Modern Times. Then again, that’s pretty much what Dylan himself suggested, so I’m not really surprised. My favorite line thus far is the chorus to track three: “Hell is my wife’s home town.” As if there’s any question as to whether Dylan’s dry sense of humor is still intact, just listen for his chuckling — yes, his chuckling — in the outro of that song. Finally, although it’s a slow album to start, just wait for “Jolene” and “Shake Shake Mama” to really get your foot tapping.
And, with that taste of this new Dylan album, I’ll emphatically suggest you need to buy both Halfway There and Together Through Life and be on my merry way.
It was definitely one of those “clouds parting” kind of Chris Moore Mondays for me.
First of all, I should clarify that “Chris Moore Mondays” is the title we use around here to remind you all that it’s my job to post a great cover song music video for you each and every Monday evening. Next, I should explain the “clouds parting” aspect. Well, I woke up around 5:30 this morning and was having serious difficulty getting myself out of bed. Then, I noticed I had an email from bobdylan.com.
Long story short, I had woken up to find the link to a free download of the new, unreleased Bob Dylan track “Beyond Here Lies Nothin.’” It will be track one on his upcoming album, Together Through Life, to be released on Tuesday, April 28th. Sorry, Jim — this means that your birthday the following day is going to be something of an anti-climax. 😉
In all seriousness, this is an exciting bit of New Music Tuesday news. After all, there were five years of separation between 2001’s Love and Theft and 2006’s Modern Times. Now, it’s been less than three years and there’s a new release. Based on the first track alone, I couldn’t be more excited. It’s a pretty simple song — only three chords and a basic verse, chorus, repeat structure with a few instrumental breaks thrown in and a classic Dylan chorus style in which the lines in each chorus are slightly different. I wasn’t sure what to think of the lyrics at first, but they’ve really grown on me today as I’ve listened to the song repeatedly and learned to play it. I’m still not sure what to think of lines like “The whole world is my throne” or “And every window’s made of glass.”
The conclusion I’ve come to is that this is a deceptively simple song. In the beginning of the song, Dylan sings of a lover in terms that express fairly standard love-song mentalities. Still, by the end of the track, he compares himself to a ship in harbor with the sails up. This implies that the ship is about to leave harbor, or perhaps that he is ready to move on to something — or someone — new. And yet he goes on to tell his lover that she should lay her hand upon his head. In typical Dylan fashion, even a love song has darker overtones, as played out in the chorus lines. The choral sections really are my favorite lines. “Beyond here lies nothin,’” he sings, “But the mountains of the past” or “Nothin’ done and nothin’ said.” There is simply nowhere else he would rather be than where he is, as he acknowledges that there is nothing “beyond here.” The questions, of course, are 1) where is “here”? and 2) does he really want to be “here” or are there simply no better options?
As I mentioned, it’s a fairly simple song. Even I was able to figure it out in short order. It’s three chords — Am, Dm, and E — easily within my register with an uptempo beat. It’s actually caused a bit of a debate among Dylan fans who have disagreed over the use of accordion in the song and the state of Dylan’s vocal abilities. As far as I’m concerned, the instrumentation is excellent, raw and loose but very intentional and fitting, accordion or no accordion. As for Dylan’s voice, I read one user’s take on the fansite expectingrain.com. He essentially said that Dylan’s vocals have deteriorated even more than they had on Modern Times. My reaction is simple:
Really?
I mean, if you’ve followed Dylan over the past decade and enjoyed Time Out of Mind or the aforementioned two albums, then you know that his gritty vocals are fitting. He may not stand a chance on American Idol, but I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing! Another post that I read made a great deal of sense. This user basically argued that Dylan’s vocals on studio recordings and during live performances should be weighed separately. I agree with this — while his vocals may be a bit difficult to understand and follow in concerts at times, his studio recordings haven’t failed to impress me — including vocals, instruments, etc.
Needless to say, I hope you enjoy my take on this brand new Dylan song. If you’re a guitarist, you should check out my chords and lyrics (see the link above) and have fun playing it yourself. And, without further ado, I wish you a good night and a great week…
