Guitar songs

If I played guitar and if I were more inspired to write, I would write a song about playing guitar, something like this:

Sometimes I wonder where you are,
drinking down whiskey, playing guitar

 

Dear Life

I almost forgot about this little ditty I wrote.  It’s really short and is based on Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 1 and was written to be included in a documentary short I co-directed/wrote, part of the Playing It Safe Project I was in a few years ago.  It’s also the first song I ever wrote on guitar, and it was difficult to record, even though there are only a few chords in the entire piece.  The lyrics came to me really quickly, possibly because I was just looking for something quick to write, but I didn’t end up changing them very much because I felt that they fit with the film and the message I was trying to convey.

As of now, I don’t have any recording of it up on youtube although you can hear it two ways:

1.  It’s uploaded on my myspace music page here: www.myspace.com/aaronjchan

2.  Watch the film!  A Dose of Life is personally my favourite film I was able to make with Lulu Gurney as part of the Playing It Safe Project (and I think that’s saying a lot too).  However, I don’t think the full version of the song is in the film (it definitely is on myspace).  http://playing-it-safe.nfb.ca/youth-filmmakers.php?youth=20&film=74

3.  Do both!  I recommend this one.  🙂

Dear Life

Will I ever get off this ride of rushes?
The choice seems clear but I can’t decide,
I’m aimless.

Life extends its hand towards me.
Should I take it?
And as the moment passes me by,
I hang on for dear life.

Dear life…

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 3: A song that makes you happy

You may or not have noticed but I don’t really have a giant collection of happy music to pick from mainly because I don’t stop to listen to happy music when I’m happy, so I spent some time rifling through my CDs.  Eventually, I picked Jeremy Fisher’s “Scar that Never Heals” though I think I’ve posted it in a previous post.  Anyway, I don’t have much to say about this except that I love Jeremy Fisher.  And he’s a Vancouverite too!  🙂

“Hallelujah” — Rufus Wainwright/k.d. lang

As much as I want to repost “Sweet Surrender” because it’s the song for me at the moment, I know I probably shouldn’t.  I’ve been practicing “Hallelujah” for a fundraiser that I’ll be performing next week on Wednesday, which I’m slightly nervous about because I’ve never sang it before in public and I only remember 2 and a half of the 5 verses.  I do have the sheet for it though, and I’ve always really liked the song.  Like most people, I had only heard either the Jeff Buckley version or the Rufus Wainwright version, both made popular by Shrek.

I realize it seems like I’m only posting covers done by queer people but quite frankly I think Jeff Buckley gets enough attention with his rendition (and Rufus too, although to a lesser extent).  After the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, I saw and heard k.d. lang’s version and thought it was pretty darn fantastic so I’m posting it here too.

My pen pal in Australia told me once that “Hallelujah” is one of those songs that always makes him cry when he hears it, and for me, it’s one of those… truly sad — and strangely happy at the same time — songs written in a major key that makes it all the more sad.  One of the things I learned after listening to some sad songs in my life is that I’ve found sad songs are even sadder in a major key.  I’m not sure why, but it’s almost like it makes the pain all the more real and stronger.

Here are two live versions of the song.  Now excuse me while I crawl into bed and weep.

Double music post

I’m sure you’re all dying to know what happens in the last part of The Meaning of Life, but why not create more suspense and post something else instead!  It just happened that I had one of those days where a seemingly (good) random song gets stuck in your headand you just go around singing it all day long but not too loud on the street so that people give you weird looks?  Yup, that happened today, mainly the first song/vid: Jeremy Fisher’s “Scar That Never Heals”. Everything this guy plays is golden.   Seriously, he can never go wrong in my books and the fact that he’s Canadian is beyond awesome.

The second song/vid is from Vanessa Carlton, who, as many of my friends know, I am an uber fan of.  I’m surprised I haven’t already posted a link to one of her songs already but this is certainly one of her best.  I played it earlier this evening on my piano and it made me tear up a bit because of the notion behind the song — that if we were to declare we only needed one or two things in this instant, we would, in theory, be happy and satisfied.  We wouldn’t need anything more than this.  Here’s “More Than This”.