Tag Archives: words

“Words” (Acoustic Original Song by Songwriter Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

Welcome to my all-new edition of Original Wednesday here at the Laptop Sessions. This week, I have chosen “Words,” a song I’ve recorded twice over the years — once for my album Looking For You (I recorded the title track for my last Original Wednesday video blog) and again on the Chris, Jim, & Becky debut album Live in the Studio. After recording a new cover song music video every three days, it’s always a lot of fun to turn to my own catalog of songs and revisit songs I haven’t played in years or ones I play all the time on my own. That’s the concept behind the Original Wednesday tradition — allow the members of Fusco-Moore Productions to showcase our pride and joy, our own music.

“Words” inspired the early sketches for a script and some unscripted scenes filmed while Jim and I were on vacation in Massachusetts. The basic premise of the movie was two characters on a journey who disagree on the essential question, what is a more important/effective form of communication — music and sound or words and written forms? For those who know me, it won’t come as a surprise that my character (the Eli mentioned in this song) believes in the power of words to express that which we as humans are simply unable to communicate to each other. Jim’s character (named Brian, if my memory serves me well…) believed less in the ability of mere words to convey the complex emotions we have. Nothing ever or probably ever will come of it, but it was great fun to revisit the song and the concepts.

I’ve written very little about Eli as a character — really only these lyrics — but I’ve always liked him. I hope you do too! As a songwriter, I always wished I could have written more into the song or additional songs, but I think this says enough on its own.

Well, I hope you enjoy this one.

See you next session!

 



Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

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“Three Ways” by the Wallflowers – Chords & How to Play

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“Three Ways”
The Wallflowers (Jakob Dylan)

F#                                     B
There’s three ways out of every box:
Fall out the bottom, or you crawl out the top.
F#                                     B                  F#                   B
There’s three ways out of every, every box.
B              Bb                          B
But if you can’t find your way out,
Then you just burn it to the ground,
B                           Bbm – Abm       B – Bbm – Abm                    F#         B
Then you’ll disappear              like smoke                   into the clouds.

There’s three ways off a merry-go-round:
You either jump, or you let it slow down.
There’s three ways off a merry-go, merry-go round.
But if you can’t put your foot down,
Then you just burn it to the ground.
Then you walk away real slow back into the crowd.

Abm                           B
There’s always somebody there for a laugh.
Then you’re the only one that’s left.
B                                 Bbm                        F#
Now that’s what you get left behind in the wreck.

There’s three ways off a burning bridge:
You pray for rain or you learn how to swim.
There’s three ways off of every burning bridge.
But if you can’t find strength and you quit,
Then you can just burn up and sink.
Then you’ll drift away real slow down into the ground.

** 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. **

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

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“Off He Goes” by Pearl Jam – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play

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“Off He Goes”
Pearl Jam

F – Am   F – Am   F – C   F – C

F – C                       F – C                                          Am
…     Know a man…        His face seems pulled and tense…
Am          F – C           F   –   C                 F      C      Am
Like he’s riding on a motorbike… in the strongest winds…
Am    F                     C      F                  C
So I approach with tact… suggest that he should relax…
C    F                  C         G             F
But he’s always moving much too fast…

F                                      Am         F                      Am
Said he’ll see me on the flipside… of this trip he’s taken for a ride.
Am            F – C     F      –     C      F   –   C
He’s been takin’… too much on… off he goes
C           F   –   C     F – C – Am           F            C
with his perfectly… unkept clothes… there he goes…

C       F – C – Am

Am   F                 C         F – C
He’s yet to come back…   but I see his picture…
F – C            F  –  C                      Am      F                 C
Doesn’t look the same up on the rack… We go way back…

C  F                     Am         F                                     Am
I wonder bout his insides… it’s like his thoughts are too big for his size…
Am           F – C      F                     C          F        C
He’s been taken… where?  I don’t know… off he goes
C           F   –   C     F – C – Am       F            C
with his perfectly… unkept hope… there he goes…

C              F          C        F         C
And now I rub my eyes… for he has returned
F – C                F – C                          F     –     C       –      Am
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned…
Am  F        C                   F           C
For he still smiles… and he’s still strong…
F              C                             F              C            F  –  C  –  Am
Nothing’s changed but the surrounding bullshit… that has grown…

Am  F             C        F             C
And now he’s home and we’re laughing…
F     –     C           F     –     C                F  –  C  –  Am
Like we always did… my same old… same old friend…

Am     F              C     F               C
Until a quarter to ten… I saw the strain creep in…
C   F            C                      F              C                       F  –  C  –  Am
He seemed distracted and I know just what is going to happen next…

Am      F    –    C         F   –   C
Before his first step… He is off again…

C                    F – C – Am
[F – C] x 4       F – C – Am
[F – C] x 3
F – C (strum; end on C)

** 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. **

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“Sex and Candy” (Marcy Playground Cover)

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For Marcy Playground chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

After both technical difficulties and more than my share of human error for the night, my “Chris Moore Monday” post is here!  Not only am I posting a video tonight for the best acoustic cover song music video blog known to man — and humble, too! — but this is actually the first of a double header.  Since Jim is away for one more “Jim Fusco Tuesday,” I didn’t want to see anyone go without new material for even a day more.

Tonight’s song is one that would have made me blush in 1997, and to be honest, it still does.  Back in late ’97 and early 1998, Marcy Playground’s “Sex and Candy” was everywhere, particularly if you listened to a modern rock radio station.  (CT locals may remember the alternative station Rock 104’s hey day in the nineties.)  At the time, this song broke the record for most consecutive weeks at number one on the modern rock charts — 15 weeks, to be specific.  Meanwhile, this song catapulted Marcy Playground to one hit wonder status, peaking at a solid number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

To this day, I’m not exactly sure why this song was such a big hit at the time.  Structurally, it’s a very simple song, and the vocals are very straightforward.  I think the song’s success can be attributed to its provocative lyrics and John Wozniak’s distinct vocals.  Fortunately for me, “Woz” as he refers to himself has a vocal range that is well within my own, at least on this song!

There are two reasons I’ve chosen this particular song for tonight’s session.  The first is that it reminds me of a time when I was first becoming interested in music, listening to the radio and just beginning to buy CDs at the overpriced Sam Goody’s store in the mall.

You know, another sign that this song was successful is that “Weird” Al included the chorus of “Sex and Candy” in his “Polka Power!” polka medley.  If only I, too, could one day have a song parodied by the man, then I would truly know I had earned success.  But, until then, I’ll just have to enjoy the new “Weird” Al video for his new song, “CNR.”  It’s a style parody of the White Stripes and the video was produced by JibJab, so it’s all the more hilarious.  While I thought the “Skipper Dan” video a couple weeks ago was enjoyable, this one is truly great — it made me laugh out loud a couple times and want to watch it again.

Okay, so that’s it for me for now.  I’ll see you back here, same Laptop Sessions time, same Laptop Sessions channel.

See you next session!

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