Silent Running

Silent Running was originally performed by Mike & the Mechanics.

For reasons I don't quite understand, this was my reaction to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, to learn this song.

My husband said it is because it feels like this is where we are. Calling out into the night, and no one is listening.

Sometimes When We Touch

This is my rendition of Sometimes When We Touch.

 

Queen of Hearts

 My version of Queen of Hearts.

Hurt

My version of Hurt.

 

Just a Little Jam Session

 This is just a little jam session I held with myself. The song is China Grove, by The Doobie Brothers, in case you don't recognize it. I got off a bit on the rhythm in one spot, but that's the way it goes.

 

You may have noticed that I prefer to play rhythm guitar over lead guitar, generally speaking. I always have preferred to be the background noise and not the lead. Sometimes a lick or two of lead is required in rhythm guitar. I also do something odd in that I am playing the electric guitar frequently with fingerstyle instead of with a guitar pick. It's just my preference.

 

The Meadow

This is a guitar arrangement that I first started when I was a teenager. Since I have had laryngitis for most of August, I pulled it out and worked on it some to share here.

I call it "The Meadow." I've never played it for anyone before, although my brother may remember it from when I still lived at home. Well, my husband's heard me practicing it. But this is its public debut.

Hallelujah

I really have no business even attempting this song, but here it is anyway.

This is Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. I recorded it two weeks ago.

Talking to My Angel

This is called "Talking to My Angel," by Melissa Etheridge. I changed a wording where it is supposed to say "under the mid-west sky" to "under Virginia skies" because I'm from Virginia.

Please Mr. Please

Here's my version of Please Mr. Please, by Olivia Newton-John.

I made it to the end of the song before I realized I hadn't worked out how to end it. So there's a little note to that effect in the video. Keepin' it real, I guess.

Fire and Rain

This is my version of Fire and Rain, by James Taylor. The music strumming pattern is much different than what you would hear on the record; it's my own arrangement. The sound is off a little in this video, too.

Suprise!

I call this song, Away. I wrote it about 30 years ago (music and words). I have never played it for anyone other than my husband.

At the time, we were struggling with infertility issues, and I reached the conclusion that I would never have children long before the doctors or even my husband did. I wrote this song around then. I had many things to be concerned about - not having a child when I wanted one, how my husband would react when he finally realized he would never be a father. This is what came out of that myriad of emotions.




Here are the words:

Away
By Anita Firebaugh

There's a photo of you on my wall that I don't recall hanging.
But it doesn't mean nothing at all. It's just my heart filled with longing.

Chorus:

Since you went away, I've spent hours staring into the flames.
People call me, I have nothing to say, except that I'm okay.
And they go away.


I sit around and I wait on your calls. But that phone's never ringing.
So here I am feeling lonely and small while my heart keeps on breaking.

Chorus

In the morning's light, I sit staring at the edge of the night.
Wishing you were here to hold me tight, what wasn't right?
Why did you go away?

I see your face in the back of my mind and my soul starts to quiver.
People say I'll forget you in time, but my heart's crying, "Never!"

Chorus

Won't you come back and stay?

I Will Never Be the Same

My version of I Will Never Be the Same, by Melissa Etheridge

Home

This is Home by Sheryl Crow.

Another Song

This is a video that I made using new software, and somehow I lost the ending of the song. Oh well.

Someone let me know if you can't see it.

Angel From Montgomery

My version of Angel From Montgomery, by John Prine

Do the Ocarina

My brother is very good at picking out presents. (My husband would do well to consult him for special occasions, really!)

For my birthday this year, he gave me an ocarina. I had never heard of this ancient wind instrument. It dates back about 12,000 years.

The instrument is like a recorder or whistle flute. It is about as big as a large potato.

According to the Hal Leonard book my brother gave me, the instrument has been discovered in meso-America, Central Africa, India, and China. Some were clay, others were made from animal horns. Apparently numerous cultures independently developed the instrument.

In 1853, Giuseppe Donati in Budrio, Italy, created the first concert-tuned ocarina. The instrument then traveled all over the world. In the 1900s, it came to the United States and was known as the "Sweet Potato" instrument. Soldiers took the ocarina with them during WWI, and the government issued them to soldiers in WWII. 

In 1928, Takashi Aketagawa of Japan further improved the instrument by making it 12-holed and capable of playing three more semitones.

In the 1960s, John Taylor of England invented the pendant cross fingering system, creating an entirely new standard fingering system for the ocarina.

The ocarina was used in the 1985 Japanese documentary The Great Yellow River, which created a resurgence of interest in the instrument. Nintendo helped this along by incorporating it into the Legend of Zelda series of videogames. This has inspired a new generation of players.

So far I have managed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Happy Birthday. We'll see how I get along with it.

Thank you, my brother, for such an intriguing gift!

Here is a youtube video of someone playing the ocarina who knows how to play it:

I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado

My rendition of "I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado" by John Denver

My Elusive Dreams

This song is called My Elusive Dreams. It was written by Curly Putman and Billy Sherrill, and released in 1967. It has been covered by several country artists, including Roger Miller and Tammy Wynette and George Jones. My daddy used to sing this song and I think it is actually his version I remember.

 I have always liked this song.

The May Song Quiz

Joining up with Kwizgiver for the last of the song list.

A song that:

• makes me think about life would be American Pie, by Don McLean.
• has many meanings to me would be Nowhere to Go, by Melissa Etheridge.
• has a person's name in the title would be Aubrey, by Bread.
• moves me forward would be Unwritten, by Natasha Bedingfield.
• I think everybody should listen to is Where Have All the Flowers Gone, by Peter, Paul, and Mary.
• is by a band I wish was still together is Money for Nothing, by Dire Straits
• I like by an artist no longer living is We've Only Just Begun, by the Carpenters.
• makes me want to fall in love is Killing Me Softly With His Song, by Roberta Flack
• breaks my heart is Seasons in the Sun, by Terry Jacks.
• is by an artist whose voice I love is I Will Always Love You, by Whitney Houston.
• I remember from my childhood is Coat of Many Colors, by Dolly Parton.
• reminds me of myself is All By Myself, by Eric Carmen.
• I love to sing loudly is Band on the Run, by Paul McCartney & Wings.

Play Me

The song Play Me, by Neil Diamond, performed by me.