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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by James McCormick
Hello TrP6 SeNile - the site shows they have the chords, but you must be registered user to access their listings:
<a href="http://www.countrytabs.com/bands.asp?id=128" target="_blank">http://www.countrytabs.com/bands.asp?id=128</a>
Hope this gets you going . . .
Here's one that's old (60's) and one that's older (1920's):
Come Together (Youngbloods)
<a href="http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/www.beavertabs.com/index.php?ident=13544569" target="_blank"> http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/www.b … om/index.p hp?ident=13544569</a>
Blue Moon (Traditional)
<a href="http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere?url=http://www.pjandphil.utvinternet.com/OLDSTUFF/BLUEMOON.TXT&songbook=source&owner=James%20McCormick" target="_blank"> http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere?url=h … jandphil.u tvinternet.com/OLDSTUFF/BLUEMOON.TXT&songbook=source& ;owner=James%20McCormick</a>
Method? That implies some rational, linear process - like a factory that is designed to efficiently churn out widgets. I wish I knew of an efficent step 1, step2, etc method that would gaurantee quality results.
My 'method' is perhaps not particulary efficient, but it suits my purposes. Here is how I would characterize my rather chaotic process:
Observe & Listen - ideas are everywhere, big & small. Open your eyes, ears, and mind and notice things.
Scribble - ideas are fleeting, jot alot.
Petri Dish - any idea can be the germ for a song. Pick one, let it grow - just like the way they culture germs or mold in a petri dish in a biology lab. Ponder your chosen idea, see what else comes to mind (scribble, scribble, scribble), let it blossom and take more form in your mind.
A flower, not a forest - a song is a small thing, just a few words and some notes. Don't try to grow a whole forest, just one little flower. Keep it simple - you are writing a song, not an encyclopedia.
Hope this is helpful . . . good topic. But if I think about how to do it too much, then I'm not actually doing it.
I don't have grandkids yet, but I hope to sing this song to them when I do - - - however, it might traumatize them slightly! The song has much the same feel and bounce as "Grandpa Was a Carpenter" by the one-and-only John Prine.
Today is Elvis' birthday and this is my tribute.
[SONG]
{t:Quite the Catch}
{st:by; James McCormick, January 8 2007 (dedicated to Elvis)}
Well [C]way back when, when I had hair
and [F]Elvis was the King . . .
Your [G]grandma was really quite the babe
She could definitely shake that [C]thing.
Yeah the [C]way she walked was poetry
and it [F]took my breath away . . .
So to [G]woo her I got this cheap guitar,
and I taught myself to [C]play.
{soc}
You know your [F]grandma, she was quite the catch,
She was [C]hot man she was bold.
You know your [F]grandma she was quite the catch,
And she's [G]still got it now that [G7]she's even bolder.
{eoc}
There were [C]lots of guys that tried to win her,
her [F]nickname was 'Wet Dream'.
And to im-[G]press her they came up with lots of crazy little
strutting macho [C]schemes.
But their [C]feats of strength and dominance,
they [F]failed to impress . . .
'Cause I [G]wrote her a song straight from my heart
and you know all the [C]rest!
{soc}
You know your [F]grandma she's still quite the catch,
So I [C]woo still a little every day.
You know your [F]grandma she's still quite the catch,
She wouldn't [G]tolerate to have in [G7]any other way.
{eoc}
Well we e-[C]loped together when we were kids,
and we [F]tied the knot that day.
"It'll [G]never last a minute!" is what
folks were heard to [C]say.
Well [C]through the years we've stuck it out,
We've [F]had out better and worse . . .
Some [G]times were sweet and some times were sour
But we found our married [C]bliss.
{soc}
You know your [F]grandma she was quite the catch
In her [C]poodle skirt and little bobby socks.
You know your [F]grandma she's still quite the catch
After [G]all these years kiddo [G7]she still rocks.
{eoc}
Well [C]way back then, then we didn't know
Just [F]what we were gettin' into.
But if I [G]had it to do it all over again
Well I know just what I'd [C]do.
Yeah I'd [C]buy myself a cheap guitar
And I'd [F]learn a chord or two
Yeah I'd [G]use my wits and write a song for her
And I'd pitch some serious [C]woo.
{soc}
You know your [F]grandma she is quite the catch
She's a [C]saucy little wench it's true.
You know your [F]grandma she is quite the catch
That's why your [G]grandpa don't need those [G7]little pills of blue.
{eoc}
Well [C]way back when, when I had hair
And [F]Elvis was the King . . .
Your [G]grandma was really hot to trot
She inspired me to [F]sing.
Well the [C]way she moved was poetry
It was a good [F]posture symphony . . .
So I [G]bought a guitar and I learned to play
And the rest is [C]history!
{soc}
You know your [F]grandma she is quite the catch,
I still [C]woo her each and every day.
You know your [F]grandma she's still quite the catch,
She wouldn't [G]tolerate to have it [F]any other [C]way!
{eoc}
[/SONG]
Yes- songwriting shouldn't be a chore, but I only achieve results when I invest some deliberate effort and energy into the process. If I don't consciously work at transforming my raw ideas into something useful, then all I have is bunch of raw ideas that sit around and rot.
For me, it is an enjoyable task to try and cobble few notes and words together into something new. I do it a little each day - not every day is productive. But without the regular effort, I don't think my little "Aha!" moments would occur. Those "Aha!" moments are wonderful and well worth all the effort and energy invested in the process.
Yes - songs do eventually somehow come together (or not) - but it only happens for me when I apply some steady push to the material.
Anthony - tremendous stuff with a very lovely lyric. Unusual tunings must tickle your muse! Keep the hits a-comin' . . .
I agree with butterbeang - keep ideas in a notebook or somewhere. Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. Ideas can be words, ryhthms, melodies, or anything.
Also, don't try to hit a home run each time . . . write short, simple songs to start with - keep them simple . . .
Hello highwayman61 - there is certainly no lack of vivid imagery in your lyric! I doubt if you had Valentine's day in mind when you penned this one . . . I've played through it and can see where this would lend itself to lots of thrashing and slashing -
It's great to see somebody else posting formatted songs to this forum! Even though there is no melody indicated, it is still possible to get a sense of the song. Hope to see more of your stuff posted up here.
I am determined to start finishing songs - I have lots of bits of 'started' songs and fragmentary ideas - so now I'm going to start finishing at least one song a week.
Consequently, I anticipate posting something here fairly regularly. Would be great if other folks also started posting their stuff on a regular basis.
Hello manitou - I just went to the song and made some changes/corrections. The 'extra' lines were from unnecessary coding that is usually ignored by chordie's formatting wizard. I should print nicely now . . .
After you have made editing changes to a song, use the 'save' button under to edit pane. Then use the 'return to song' button to get out of the editing mode.
I also 'fixed' a couple of other minor things I saw in the layout. The title was in all lower case (so I capitalized first letters). Also, each line of text had eight spaces to the left of the first word (I deleted the spaces). Also, the chords were set with a space between the chord and the text it went along with (generally, it is best for the chords to go right up against the corresponding word) - like this:
[G]Twinkle twinkle [C]little [G]star
[C]How I [G]wonder [D]what you [G]are
[G]Up a-[D]bove the [C]world so [D]high
[C]Like a [G]diamond [D]in the [G]sky
[G]Twinkle twinkle [C]little [G]star
[C]How I [G]wonder [D]what you [G]are
Notice that where a word is split by the chord change that I put in a dash preceding the chord brackets. This helps to make it clear that the chord change occurs within the word and not at the start of the word.
Happy playing - although with a song like this one you're working on (all about death), I guess I should say something less upbeat?
When writing songs, it really doesn't matter where you start - just start anywhere whether it be with words, ryhthm, sounds, melody, a title, a phrase, some chords - who cares where you start . . . just start! You can always go back and change anything (or everything) later.
Don't get bogged down thinking that any particular idea is too precious - sometimes I get stymied trying to make progress on an idea that is just not ready to progress yet. So, I try to have several ideas that I can work on - I have a notebook that has all sorts of stuff in it along with scraps of paper and napkins and junk.
I can always thumb through my notebook to find raw ideas - some of them are actually 'good' ideas, but most of them are probably not so good.
I'm no expert, but I enjoy the chaos of the process. For me, the process takes effort and trial & error and sometimes it takes looking at some creations and admitting that they just aren't so good - but hey, so what . . . there's always more ideas to play with. Like anything else, the more you do it the better you will get at it.
If you want to write songs - just start doing it. Don't expect each effort to be great and don't fool yourself into thinking it should be an easy thing to do.
I read somewhere that a typical song on the radio has only 53 words in it (on average and not counting repeated verses or refrains) - - - that's really not very many. So, don't think you have to write a novel when writing a song - it's just a few words strung together with some simple chords and a melody.
Thanks & glad that you like it - you're right, there are alot of chords in this song, but since I chose to model it on a pre-existing song I didn't really have alot of choice in the matter.
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is from way back in the heyday of Tin Pan Alley songwriting. In those days, they composed primarily for piano, orchestra, and big band combos . . . this 12-chord voicing for the song is actually a tremendous simplification of the original score. I love those old Tin Pan Alley songs - beautifully crafted lyrics and masterful musical compositions.
Studying those lovely old compositions makes me appreciate why many people in the 1950's were mystified and horrified when popular music suddenly became dominated by primitive 3-chord rock&roll songs.
Of course, a couple of decades later the 'serious' rock&roll types were horrified and mystified in the 1970's when complex and conceptual (& rather pretensious) art rock was suddenly displaced by simplistic punk and new wave bands.
At any rate, I'm glad you like my little Festivus ditty - I can't wait till next holiday season to sing at a Festivus celebration . . .
Here's a slightly-twisted little holiday number for slightly-bent fellow Festivus celebrators.
By the way, it is Elvis's birthday this weekend - sing one of his many great songs in tribute.
Cheers, James
[SONG]
{t:A Poignant Festivus}
{st:by, James McCormick, 1/5/2007}
{c:To the tune of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"}
Let's [C]have our-[Am]selves a [Dm]poignant Festi-[G7]vus
[C] Erect the [Am]metal [Dm]pole [G7]
Ad-[C]mire it's [Am]high [Dm]strength to weight [G7]ra-t--[E7]--io [A7] [D7] [G7]
. . . .
[C]Have your-[Am]self a [Dm]poignant Festi-[G7]vus
[C] The pole stands [Am]all a-[Dm]lone [G7]
[C]There's no [Am]need for [Dm]tinsel, gifts, or [G7]pretty [E7]bows [A7] [D7] [G7]
. . . .
[C]Gather [Am]'round let's [Dm]share a noisy [G7]meal
[C] Talk and [Am]laugh at [Dm]length [G7]
[C]Later [Am]on we'll [Dm]all engage in [G7]feats of [E7]strength [A7] [D7] [G7]
{sob}
[F]Festivus comes just [Em]once a year
That is [Dm]why we're [G7]here once [Cmaj7]more
It's a [Am]golden oppor-[B7]tunity to air our
[Em]grie-[G]van-[Am]ces ga-[Dm]lore [G7]
{eob}
[C]Festi-[Am]vus might [Dm]last until the [G7]wee hours
[C] Let's have a-[Am]nother [Dm]toast [G7]
[C]Some one [Am]will e-[Dm]ventually pin [G7]our [E7]host [A7] [D7] [G7]
So let's [F]have ourselves a [Dm]poignant little [G7]Festi-[C]vus
[/SONG]
Hello bergert2. Great song - Great album - Great artist . . . . but, I can't find any tabs or chords for "My Baby Needs A Shepherd". Perhaps an ELH fan club or newsgroup might be your best bet. Are you familiar with the story behind this hauntingly lovely song?
5 words: Found this hope it helps:
<a href="http://www.voes.be/tab/johnfogerty_walkinginahurricane.html" target="_blank">http://www.voes.be/tab/johnfogerty_walkinginahurricane.html</a>
Greetings gladizh! Try this link:
<a href="http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/john_fogerty/walking_in_a_hurricane.html" target="_blank"> http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/john_ … king_in_a_ hurricane.html</a>
Here is a something that may be of interest to other music theory wonks - follow this link to a 'chord building grid'. This offers an interesting perspective on the basic composition of any chord:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_building_grid" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_building_grid</a>
hello theStandards - try this link to a very nice resource that includes a 'reverse chord finder'. You indicate which frets on what string and the gizmo tells you what the chord is called. This site also has resources for mandolin, banjo, ukulele, bass, and other instruments. The 'reverse chord finder' is on the bottom left of this page:
<a href="http://chordfind.com/" target="_blank">http://chordfind.com/</a>
Thanks for the encouragement, Ken! Glad you like the song - I'm still fussing with the lyric trying to incorporate more verses honoring other women from way way back when looks was the only thing I was looking for in a woman.
Also need to weave into the fabric of the song the fact that in those days I was a little looney myself - mostly just too full of hormones to use my brain.
Hey - any party with 3 solid days of playing had to be great fun and a wonerful way to welcome the new year. I have spent several days gutting and repairing a bathroom at our house - yuck.
Greetings gitarplaya1 and welcome to chordie! Go the 'Resources' tab (next to the Forum tab) above and read the "Adding songs to the index" bit along with some of the other items there. Hope this helps . . .
Your poem is quite a manifesto fraught with lots of stuff . . . there might be some song material within all the many many lines. Since you posted it to the songwriting forum, I assume you wanted some feedback - - so, here goes;
First off . . . if this poem is actually about what is going on in your life currently, then run around the block several times as fast as you can. Next, take a very long and very hot shower. Then, eat a delicious meal and get some sleep. Hopefully, you will wake up with the realization that life is good and there ain't nobody truly worth the emotional wringer you are putting yourself through. The poem make's you seem like a very needy puppy . . . get happy, get healthy, and get laid.
Next, isolate a couple of your favorite lines in the poem. Work on honing them into a small song - maybe a verse or two and a chorus. Don't try to say everything about anything in one song - just narrow your focus to one managable idea and work with that.
Seems to me that your poem is like a big load of ore - you can process it down with lots of heat and hammering and refine some precious metals from the pile.
The new year got me to reminiscing about some of the more 'interesting' women I dated way way back in my single days. Here is a little ditty that pays homage to their allure (and my gullability). Happy New Year!
[SONG]
{t:Dreaming About You}
{st:by, James McCormick, 1/1/2007}
{c:In 3/4 Time, a Dysfunctional Waltz of Love}
I was [C]dreaming about [Dm]you and [F]your silly [G]grin,
The [C]way that you [F]laugh when I [G]tickle your skin.
I was [C]dreaming about [Dm]you and the [F]sway of your [G]hips,
Your [C]sparkling [F]eyes and your [G]ten fingertips.
I was [F]dreaming about [C]you [F]dreaming about [C]me,
[F]Dreaming about [C]how [G]happy [G7]we'll [C]be.
. . . .
I was [C]wondering about [Dm]you and your [F]strange little [G]jokes,
The [C]way that you [F]really [G]freaked out my folks.
I was [C]wondering about [Dm]you and those [F]pills that you [G]take,
Are they [C]vitamins or [F]more for your [G]sanity's sake?
I was [F]wondering about [C]you [F]wondering about [C]me,
[F]Wondering about [C]how [G]happy [G7]we'll [C]be.
. . . .
I was [C]thinking about [Dm]you and the [F]way that you [G]sleep,
All the [C]thrashing and [F]moaning and [G]mumbling so deep.
I was [C]thinking about [Dm]you and your [F]sweet little [G]screams,
Every [C]night when you [F]have those [G]recurring dreams.
I was [F]thinking about [C]you [F]thinking about [C]me,
[F]Thinking about [C]how [G]happy [G7]we'll [C]be.
. . . .
I was [C]pondering the [Dm]night when [F]we first did [G]meet,
And the [C]way that I [F]swept you [G]right off of your feet.
I was [C]pondering [Dm]how a [F]geek such as [G]me,
Could [C]attract such a [F]tigress so [G]wild and so free.
I was [F]pondering about [C]you [F]pondering about [C]me,
[F]Pondering about [C]how [G]happy [G7]we'll [C]be.
. . . .
I was [C]dreaming about [Dm]you and our [F]first little [G]glance,
How it [C]led to a [F]fantasy [G]whirlwind romance.
I was [C]dreaming about [Dm]you and the [F]games that we [G]play,
And I'm [C]hoping these [F]marks will [G]soon start to fade.
I was [F]dreaming about [C]you [F]dreaming about [C]me,
[F]Dreaming about [C]how [G]happy [G7]we'll [C]be.
[/SONG]
Hello Papa Tom and others on this thread - I believe the future of chordie and other such sites is good. The reason for the litigation is not that 'they' want to shut the sites down . . . rather, 'they' want a cut of any revenues generated by such sites. My guess is that sites such as chordie may eventually have to pay some sort of licensing fee to mollify the music publishing industry. The irony of all the litigation is that 'they' seem to think that we amateur musicians have money - - - 'they' should know better!
Papa Tom (and others) - here is a link to a resource that you will truly enjoy. A digitized collection of sheet music that spans from the 1850's through the 1930's. Ragtime, Blues, Tin Pan Alley, etc. Tons of music from the era when civilized people entertained themselves and others by playing and singing in their parlor (what a radical concept).
<a href="http://library.msstate.edu/content/templates/?a=1030" target="_blank">http://library.msstate.edu/content/templates/?a=1030</a>
The Templeton Collection is an amazing bunch of stuff. Thousands of pieces of sheet music plus instruments and early phonographs and other gizmos. All lovingly collected by a fellow who donated it all to Mississippi State University after his death. The sheet music collection is vast and they are steadily digitizing more selections. Take a look - you're bound to find some stuff perfectly suited to your ukulele and your tastes.
I'll have to specify two favorites - one secular and one sacred. My favorite secular Christmas song is "The Christmas Song" by Bob Wells and Mel Torme (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire). The melody is gorgeous and the lyric is full of lovely images. As far as religiously-themed songs, my favorite is "Lo, How a Rose Eer Blooming". Again, the melody is lovely and the lyric is wonderful.
Both of these tunes are a joy to sing - although 'Chestnuts' is probably better suited to piano accompaniament rather than guitar. 'Lo How a Rose' is an ancient tune and is probably most authentically sung by a lute player clad in a codpiece. . .
hello rodders56 - here is a link to "Mona Lisa" with chords and lyrics - seems to me that a verse or two might be missing . . . can't vouch for accuracy of the chords.
<a href="http://www.e-chords.com/guitartab/idmusica/80200.htm" target="_blank">http://www.e-chords.com/guitartab/idmusica/80200.htm</a>
full lyrics for the song are easy to find - just Google up
mona lisa nat king cole lyrics
Hello pat 33 - On the chordie mainpage, go to the 'Public Books' tab. There you will find a couple of categories that have just you seek: 'Absolute Beginer' and 'Easy Songs'. If you browse though some of the collections other users have assembled, you might locate a few songs that tickle your fancy. Check the other categories as well because there are many songbooks with great (and simple) stuff.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by James McCormick
