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“Indecision” by Steven Page – Chords & How to Play

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“Indecision”
Steven Page & Stephen Duffy

Riff: G F C D (x4)

Gm C
I’ve always been a creature of habit,
Am D Gm
But another way I’m addicted to you.
I’m predisposed to have it,
Happiest when I don’t know what to do.
I wanna settle down like my father;
I wanna run away like my mother ought to.

G F C D
Be prepared for indecision; it might make me disappear.
Then again, my addiction to indecision keeps me here.

Riff (x4)

I was born between the tracks.
I left home, I turned around and came back.
One day you and I will be intertwined,
If I can only make up my mind.

Be prepared for indecision; it might make me disappear.
Then again, my addiction to indecision keeps me here.

Riff (x2)

Eb F G
Leave decisions up to fate
Eb F D
Nothing comes to those who wait

Come see the view from on top of the fence.
We’ll watch the world unfold its events.
Some days when I am nearly awake,
I can almost hear the decisions I’ll make.

Be prepared for indecision; it might make me disappear.
Then again, my addiction to indecision keeps me here.
Be prepared for indecision; it might make me disappear.
Then again, my addiction to indecision keeps me here.

Riff (x2)

End on G

** 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. **

“Shoe Box” (Barenaked Ladies Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Tonight, another event in my ongoing tribute entitled, “Steven Page, we hardly knew ye.”  Steven Page leaving Barenaked Ladies has been traumatic for me, musically.  It’s like if John left the Beatles and the band went on without him.  They’d still be a great band with three songwriters, singers, and musicians, but you would always wonder if they’ll ever get back together, etc…

At first, I likened Steven Page leaving Barenaked Ladies after 20 years to Brian Wilson taking a self-inflicted leave from the Beach Boys starting in late 1967.  But, I then realized that Page leaving BNL is much worse in a way, but better in another.

You see, when Brian Wilson stopped making music with the Beach Boys on a regular basis (and being the producer), the other Boys (Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, and Bruce) hadn’t really been accomplished songwriters yet.  I mean, it took them until 1968 to really put together an album and it definitely sounds like a first effort in many ways.  We were all just lucky to discover five brilliant songwriters behind Brian Wilson.  In many ways, for me, Brian recessing in the Beach Boys contributes to my love of the band because, well, they really became a band after that.  You had five songwriting members that played instruments and sang and went out and played concerts- that incarnation of the Beach Boys is almost unsurpassed, for me.

With Steven Page, he leaves the band with three accomplished songwriters (especially Ed Robertson, with a #1 single in “One Week” under his belt) and some fine singers, to boot.  So, BNL has a bit of a head-start.  In fact, there shouldn’t be too much of a hiccup, other than Page’s recent flurry of depressing songs and over-the-top oparetta vocals.

The thing that makes Page’s absence worse is that, at least for the forseeable future, it’s permanent.  With the Beach Boys, Brian was always still around in some form.  He always contributed at least one song to every album, even if they had to dig it up and force him to complete it.  Fans would always hope for the next Brian Wilson gem and it was comforting to know he was there, readying himself for a possible comeback that never really came.  Of course, I say this like I was there- I wasn’t even alive until after Brian’s amazingly talented brother Dennis died- I’m just speaking from what I’ve read in the past.

So, after that whole explanation, I’m really trying to say that I’m having a hard time getting over the restructuring of my second-all-time favorite band.  Tonight’s video is a little tribute to Steven Page.

“Shoe Box” (which I always thought was “Shoebox”) was a single and had its own EP (with includes a decent song in “Trust Me’) and served as a bridge between the style of the first three albums and the albums to follow (starting with “Stunt”).  The song was also on “Born On A Pirate Ship” in a much more subdued tone, much to that version’s detriment.  The rockin’ single version is my choice, and that’s what I did my video after.  How can you tell them apart?  Well, the album verison just starts off with the instruments and vocals at the same time.  The single goes through the chord progression before Steven Page starts in.

Listen to the words closely on this one- a very interesting message to it.  Also, you may have to look up the words, as it took Chris and I about five years to realize that he’s not saying, “And Rumplestiltskin side my shoe box!” and is in fact saying, “When talk turns to single malts and Stilton and my shoe box!”  Who would’ve thought?

Okay- a long post tonight to make up for last week.  Tomorrow night, I have a BIG announcement about my new album and that just means more work for me.  So, you’ll have to stay tuned until another all-new Original Wednesday comes your way!  Have a great night and I’ll catch you all tomorrow!

Steven Page leaves the Barenaked Ladies!

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By Chris Moore:

In a post Wednesday on the official Barenaked Ladies website (titled simply as “A Message from Barenaked Ladies”), it was announced that Steven Page has officially left the band after two decades of writing, recording, and performing together with his bandmates.  The first paragraph of the message is as follows:

“By mutual agreement, Steven Page will be parting company with the remaining members of Barenaked Ladies. Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will continue recording and touring together as Barenaked Ladies. Steven Page will pursue solo projects including theatrical opportunities while the band enters the studio in April 2009, and hits the road in the fall.”

For a band that is world-renowned for their candor and lightheartedness, this is quite the sanitized message!  It feels very formal, politic, and purposeful — for instance, the remaining band members are arranged alphabetically.  It seems that the natural response has been to wonder how much of this departure was precipitated by Page’s arrest for drug-related charges in July.  According to the Toronto branch of the AP, Ed Robertson has admitted that it was a “huge event” in their lives, but that Page’s departure “isn’t about that.”

While it isn’t entirely clear what it is about, his split from the band comes at a sad time, just as they were about to go back into the studio to release their first album since BnL turned twenty.  Fortunately for Barenaked Ladies fans, the AP also reported that the remaining members of the band — Ed, Kevin, Jim, and Tyler — will indeed be back in the studio in April to work on a new record. As for Steven Page?  “Solo projects including theatrical opportunities.”

It stands to be noted that the Barenaked Ladies are one of — if not the most — universally loved band around here at the Laptop Sessions, as if this wasn’t already made obvious by the fact that Jim, Chris, Mike, Becky, and Cliff have all participated in BnL cover song music videos over the past couple years — more than any other covered artist! (This record may be tied with the Beach Boys, but I’ll have to check…)

I was struck this morning by just how many of my favorite bands have been split by solo projects recently.  All my favorite nineties bands, to be certain — Rob Thomas first went the way of the solo artist, promising that Matchbox Twenty had not officially broken up and will return to the studio (although Thomas worked in 2008 on his second solo album, there are rumors of a 2009 Matchbox Twenty release!).

Rivers Cuomo released his home recordings under his name, but has continued to write, record, and perform with Weezer.

One by one, personnel change after departure, Jakob Dylan (although there still is officially a Wallflowers band) struck out on his own last year with his debut album Seeing Things.  Apparently Rami Jaffee (the only other original original member aside from Dylan) has still interacted with the band, as evidenced by the recent Rusty Truck performance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, which featured both Jaffee and longtime Wallflowers bassist Greg Richling.  Jimmy Kimmel mentioned that Dylan had appeared on the Rusty Truck studio recording.  So, they’re still playing together, just not in the Wallflowers…

Over the past few years, other bands have been interrupted by solo projects.  Those projects include this year’s Dan Auerbach album (he’s one half of the blues rock group the Black Keys), as well as last year’s second Raconteurs CD (staffed by, among others, Jack White of the White Stripes).  While these projects have not broken up their main bands, the formation of Jack’s Mannequin in 2004 by Andrew McMahon led to his other band (Something Corporate) to officially go “on hiatus.”

So, interstingly enough, at a time when many people are clinging to their current jobs during a time of economic distress, popular musicians continue to branch out and make music on their own, either separating permanently or temporarily from their bands to work independently.

As Ed Robertson stated in the official message on the BnL website, “It’s the start of a new chapter for all of us. Here’s to the future!”

“New Kid On The Block” (Barenaked Ladies Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hey HEY!  Welcome to your, as Jeff put it, Fantastic Friday edition of the Laptop Sessions here with me, Jim Fusco!  Glad to be here today, but I’ve been incredibly sick the past few days.  I have the worst head cold…  I’ve already lost two nights’ sleep to it.  I was actually saving this video because we Mike did a BNL song recently, but I put this one first because I’m not sure how well I’ll be by Monday when we’ll be doing “New Bands Week” here.  I have a new band video already recorded and ready to go, so I bought myself until Thursday when I have to record another video.  I can only assume I’ll be better by then!  Actually, I have literally sixteen or seventeen songs ready to record.  I’ve been practicing like mad over the past month and these videos, once recorded, will provide me with almost two full months worth of videos.  In that pool of songs, there’s also TEN new bands!  So, I’m working hard every day to bring fresh viewers to the music video blog and to keep all the regular viewers excited.

Today, I bring you a song that I really love called “New Kid On The Block”.  What perfect timing, too, as the “classic” early 90s band “New Kids on the Block” is in the middle of their “anticipated” reunion.  They have a new album out and everything.  This song is literally about being a member of the band.  Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies wrote this song for their first album, “Gordon”.  What a great satire.  At the time (1992), the New Kids were both “new” and “kids”…well, not really, as you’ll hear in the lyrics of the song.  But, they were popular, nonetheless, and Page must’ve thought it would be funny to write a song from the point of view of one of the band members.

Some of my favorite all-time BNL lines are in this song, including “Well we may not write the songs we sing, but look at Elvis, he sold his soul and you crowned him King.”  The New Kids are pretty much everything I hate in a band, and BNL is truly everything I love in a band.  That’s why this song is just about perfect in my eyes.

One of the other parts of the song I love is at the end with the inclusion of a few New Kids on the Block songs.  I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to incorporate those parts into my solo acoustic cover version here, and all on the first try!

Enjoy today’s video and stay tuned for New Bands Week here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover and original songs music video blog starting on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!