Sunday, November 22, 2009

Van Morrison "Streets of Arklow" chords & lyrics

I had a very poignant request yesterday from Roscoe in Idaho, for this song. Roscoe has been fighting a long battle against cancer for some years, and takes great strength from listening to and playing music.

He particularly wanted to be able to play Van Morrison's "Streets of Arklow", from Van Morrison's 1974 "Veedon Fleece" album.

I did used to own the LP version of this great album, but it was one of many vinyl casualties of a house move some years ago.

I searched YouTube for an official version of the song with no luck, and my own recollection of the song was too vague to be sure of working out a reasonably accurate version.

So I owe a debt to 'Kefera' on YouTube, who had recorded a cover of the song, which on listening sounded true to the memory of the song I had in mind.

I worked out my chords & lyrics version based on this video, and have posted it to my Van Morrison guitar chords page, at the link below:

Guitar Chords and Lyrics to "Streets of Arklow" by Van Morrison"



Chords are as easy as you would wish - just C major and E minor, using hammer-on and -off on both chords for stronger effect. Play along with the great cover version of "Streets of Arklow" if you want to get the feel and rythm of the song just right.

I know you will join with me in wishing Roscoe success in his long-term battle against his illness, I hope there is truth in the power of combined prayer and well-wishing. I hope also that Roscoe doesn't mind that I have dedicated this post to him, and requested your combined wishes for his recovery. He is bearing his burden with strength and dignity, but I really hope that directing the positivity of the music community to his fight will be a force in aiding his recovery.



Enjoy your music, and let it be a source of strength to you, whatever your struggles may be.

P.J. Murphy
webmaster: PJ's Guitar Chords & Lyrics - http://www.guitarsongs.info/

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Monday, November 16, 2009

The Smiths "Cemetry Gates" guitar chords & lyrics

"The Queen is Dead" is widely recognized as the finest Smiths album, it's certainly my favourite!

The Smiths were one of very few bands and artists - Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Madness, Nirvana - who sustained me through the 80's. Morrissey's quirky lyrics and compelling voice and Johnny Marr's acrobatic guitar playing were a real breath of fresh air.

I've already posted a few of the songs from the album to my Smiths guitar chords page, including "Frankly Mr. Shankly", "Bigmouth", "There is a light that never goes out" (great, great song!), I've now added "Cemetry Gates" (original spelling) to the list.

Quite easy chords (for The Smiths!) - just G, C, D, Em and Bm, with a Gmaj7 thrown in for the opening and closing riffs. Obviously you're not gonna recreate the Smiths sound just playing chords, but you can still have a lot of fun with this song. Check out the chords and lyrics at the link below:

Guitar Chords and Lyrics to Cemetry Gates by The Smiths



If you'd like to play along to get the feel of the song, listen to the video above. This is the YouTube link: Smiths "Cemetry Gates"


If you aspire to becoming a better guitar player, check out my list of cool and useful guitarist resources on my Online Guitarist Resources page


Enjoy your music!

P.J. Murphy
webmaster: PJ's Guitar Chords & Lyrics - http://www.guitarsongs.info/


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Semisonic "(It's) Closing Time" guitar chords & lyrics

Heard this one on the radio recently - I remembered the song but couldn't be sure who was singing it.

So I searched around, and the first information I got was that it was Greenday. I searched YouTube, and sure enough it came up as a Greenday song. I worked out the chords and lyrics, and posted them to my Greenday guitar chords page.

But, I was pretty sure that it wasn't Billie Joe Armstrong singing the song, even tho' the overall song structure was very 'Greenday-like', rock ballad chords building up to crunchy power chords. Searched again and found an equal number of 'yes it is / no it isn't Greenday', or it's a Greenday cover of a Semisonic Song, or it's Dan Wilson doing guest vocals for Greenday.

I've always found Wikipedia to be pretty reliable in these matters: "'Closing Time' is a song by Semisonic from their album Feeling Strangely Fine. It is sometimes misattributed to Green Day".

From the guitarists point of view, it's just a great song to learn and play. For the non-believers, I've left on on my Greenday song chords page, but have now added it to my Rock songs guitar chords page, at the link below:

Guitar chords and lyrics for 'Closing Time' by Semisonic Chords are nice & simple, just G, D, Am, C throughout, with an A major and a Dsus2 ( x00230 ) as the bridge.



I always recommend that you play along with the song (above) or on the YouTube video




The official Semisonic website is at http://www.semisonic.com/

Go to CDUniverse to browse all of the Semisonic albums and singles: Semisonic music at CD Universe

If you're looking to improve your guitar playing, check out my list of cool and useful guitarist resources on my Online Guitarist Resources page

Enjoy your music!

P.J. Murphy
webmaster: PJ's Guitar Chords & Lyrics - http://www.guitarsongs.info/

Guitar Chords Blog: http://www.guitar-chords.blogspot.com/
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Thursday, November 05, 2009

Jack Johnson "Hope" guitar chords & lyrics

When I heard about the impending release of Jack Johnson's new album 'En Concert', it reminded me how great the 2008 'Sleep Through the Static" album was, and how few songs I'd worked out from it. The last Jack Johnson song chords I posted to the site were for "If I had eyes".

So I've had a listen through the album again, and picked "Hope" as a great song, both to listen to and to play, as my next song to work out playable chords and lyrics for. I've posted them to my Jack Johnson page, at the link below:

Jack Johnson guitar chords and lyrics I know you'll have fun playing this one! It has the typical Jack Johnson bubbly calypso sound, and very easy chords - G, Am, and C - pretty much the first three chords most learning guitarists get to grips with.



Play along with the video above or on YouTube.


My own guitar playing is still coming along in leaps and bounds using the brilliant lessons course at Amazing Guitar Secrets. Check it out at Amazing-Guitar-Secrets.Com


Enjoy your music,

P.J. Murphy
webmaster: PJ's Guitar Chords & Lyrics - http://www.guitarsongs.info

Guitar Chords Blog: http://www.guitar-chords.blogspot.com
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