sounds like a hit. i did (try) to write songs in my teenage years the theme is there but I wasn't as highbrow as your writing! mine would have been a lot simpler and more mundane. I'd love to hear how it goes as I couldn't pick out the rhythm.     

I LIKE IT!   and the progression is basic!  heck my song Standing over my grave is primarily  E D and C built something close to this.

I defiantly am going to have a go at this! Not this weekend,  I'm one tracking on my song,, but this is gonna be good!     

maybe try it this way and see how ya like it? Its what Im gonna play with. (WE SHALL METALIZE IT)

I LIKE IT!   and the progression is basic!  heck my song Standing over my grave is primarily  E D and C built something close to this.

I defiantly am going to have a go at this! Not this weekend,  I'm one tracking on my song,, but this is gonna be good!     

Play it in power chords and Root 5. Dial in some dirt

A5   x 0 2 x x x
E5    0 2 x x x x
B7  x 2 4 2 4 2
Maybe see if the b7M would give it a nice  sound?
Bm7  x x x 4 3 5  or 7 5 7 7 x x
Or just play the root 5
x 2 4 x x x

This is heavy rock and roll palm muting and some chugging/chunking.  (see you tube if you don’t know how to do this)

WOW! Excellent work Jim

Yeah that's the hardest part for me - never the lyrics - always the music.

At the songwriting seminars I've attended they say lyrics are the hardest part of making a good song but you have a natural gift for it.  I'm also one who struggles with the music - trying to find a melody/rhythm/progression that works with the lyrics. As I read your lyrics though, there was a chord progression and melody that got stuck in my head. Do you mind if I give it a try?

Ken     

Jim, you said you played your song in a fast, bluesy style. When I read the lyrics I envisioned it as sort of a "Youth Anthem".  Here's my rendition. I apologize  for changing a few words to fit my style. I used a simple chord progression - just D and G for the verses with an A thrown in at the end of the last line. For the Chorus it was just a walk-down to Em and A.  It's just me and an acoustic and a little reverb. I'm sure some of the more talented chordians could do a better job of showcasing what you've written. It's a fabulous song.

https://soundcloud.com/user-198880521/j … -my-dreams

Ken
Thank you so much, that is really fantastic.
It's amazing how someone can turn the way a song is written
into something quite different that what they thought it was going to be.

It happens more often than we think.  There are many versions of songs we know and love.
While I had this song in my head as a country rock, or bluesy type song, I was amazed how nice it sounded and flowed the way you did it.

It's funny too, a couple of the lyric changes you made were exactly how I had written them but had changed them for some reason.

I know that Graham had said he might do a copy of it when his voice gets better which would be a true blues version that he is really good at.

I can't wait for Beamer to give his rendition as a " Metalized" version. Should be quite a contrast 

This kind of reminds me of how we used to have the FSOTM (Featured Song of the Month) here on chordie where someone would choose a song and a lot of members would do their own version.  It was quite fantastic

I always encourage any of our members to use my songs and make any changes necessary.

Phill is a Godsend here on chordie for many of us - he has had such a terrific way of helping me with my songs ( and others) .
I probably would have stopped writing a long time ago if not for him.

That's what makes Chordie so great.  What a collection of superb musicians (except for me    ) and composers of so many various genres - yet all support and encourage each other.  If only the world operated the same way.

Thanks again Ken.

Jim

P.S.  and I agree with Peatle - it really does have that John Denver feel to it. 
It didn't occur to me at first, but after Peatle pointed that out and I listened again, I certainly got it.

Jim,
I'm curious about your hook/title  "Chasing My Dreams, Hope I Never Get Caught" and why you chose that phrase.  The last line in the first verse states: "Let's hope it happens 'fore we all get old", so I would have expected the hook to be "Chasing My Dreams, Hope They'll Soon Be Caught".  Is there something you were trying to convey that I'm missing?     

Ken,

Good question, and Phill got it exactly right. ( at least in my head. )

I can think of many instances of people that never got the chance to achieve their dreams b/c some establishment type obstacle thwarted them.
Two that comes to mind right away were Robert Kennedy and Martin L. King, Jr, in their cases, by  an assassin's bullet.
I think many young African American Musicians in the early years of the music industry who were robbed of their songs and $.
People that have spoken out on civil rights issues, whose ideas somehow get buried in the media or social prison ( I think of the women's rights movement)
Or more commonly, just a teenager that wants their own identity, wanting to break away from the authority of their parents, school rules, or other social norms. 
(I know that there were many times I did stuff that I hoped and prayed that my Mom never found out about.   )
Try to understand the kid that doesn't want to work the farm, or go to college, but wants to follow there dream of being an artist or musician.
( or someone telling Beamer to only play classical music, instead of METAL    )
So this song just comes down to basically a young person being rebellious, and not wanting to be stifled in what they wanted to do or say.

As for that the last line in the first verse, it means ( at least in my head) that the young person would achieve that freedom before they get old and change-
and end up being part of the establishment. Thus the line before it - want to break the mold.  (I think Pete Townsend wrote those famous words - " Hope I die before I get old! ")
The world would never have progress if there weren't dreamers that break tradition.
(Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly come to mind, musically) 

My brother told me a story once about a little girl who was watching her mom cook a roast beef.  The mother cut the ends off the beef and threw them away  and then proceeded to cook it. The little girl asked why she did that.   The mom said because that's the way her mother did it and it always tastes great.   The next week the little girl visited her grandmother and told her what her mother said, and asked her why she cut the ends off the roast beef.  Grandmother replied, b/c that's the way my mother did it and it always tasted great. The next week the little girl got to visit her great grandma. Sure enough she asked her, " Great grandma, My mommy and her mommy both cut the ends of the roast beef before they cook it and throw them away. They said it's b/c that's the way you did it. Can you tell me why ?  " 
Grandma smiled at her great granddaughter and said , " Sure, it wouldn't fit in the only pan I had".
 

This is just another reaffirmation that a song can be interpreted many ways.

Thanks for all the interest and the way you performed it. Hope this clears it up.

Jim

or early on Sunday morning?