Category: Folk Song Covers

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Arts & Entertainment children Climate Crisis environment Folk Song Covers music songwriting

Environmental Concerns In The Song ‘Where Do the Children Play?’


Many of Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ songs convey underlying messages about childhood and the relationships between children and adults, such as ‘Father & Son’ and ‘Oh Very Young,’ to name a few. “Where Do the Children Play?” is no exception. It becomes increasingly timely with each passing day, given the environmental crisis we are facing.

The song refers to the destruction of natural spaces caused by overdevelopment and industrialization. It asks a fundamental question: What future awaits our children when the spaces where they play are increasingly paved over and polluted? 

“Where Do The Children Play” prompts us to consider the inherent features of the ‘progress’ we are making, as well as Humanity’s impact on planet Earth. Essentially, this beautiful and simple song begs for a balanced relationship between Human Beings and nature.

Typical of a Cat Stevens song, the rhythm is quite unique. Here’s my cover.
 

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Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music Folk Song Covers inspiration songwriting

Exploring Life’s Meaning in Cat Stevens’ Lyrics


Far from old age, Cat Stevens wrote “Oh Very Young” when he was twenty-five. The wisdom in the song surpasses Stevens’ chronology with lines like, “You’re only dancin’ on this Earth for a short while.” Stevens contracted tuberculosis when he was nineteen, and it almost killed him. After that experience, Stevens kept an eye on the Big Picture.

Always the explorer, Stevens sought the meaning and purpose of life, as illustrated in his songs like “On the Road to Find Out.” He eventually converted to Islam in 1977. Around the same time, he permanently left the world stage as a singer and songwriter. In his relatively short career, Cat Stevens left us with a body of music that is still relevant today and, to millions around the world, extremely enjoyable.

Originally, I played this song using a picking method, and then I switched to strumming. I watched a video of Stevens performing the song with a strumming method. I thought, I’ll never be able to play it that fast. To my amazement, I wound up playing the song as fast as Stevens when I strummed it. Interesting. Here’s my cover.

In case you’re interested, here’s the finger-picked version.

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acoustic guitar artist profiles Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music Folk Song Covers music

An Insight Into Jackson Brown’s Unique Music


Jackson Browne’s guitar techniques, lyrics, and melodies stand apart from the crowd. What he says through his music is sometimes searing, sad, and occasionally, happy. However, all of Browne’s songs have something in common: an incredible sensitivity and beauty.

Browne wrote “These Days” when he was only sixteen years old. Despite his youth, Browne demonstrated a keen sense of heartbreak. I’m not sure how a sixteen-year-old could feel the depth of emotion and remorse expressed in this song. If we assume Jackson experienced and gave voice to the words and tone of “These Days,” then he was wise beyond his years and deeply rooted in himself from early on.

The song had its first release when a protégé of Andy Warhol named Nico picked it up on her “Chelsea Girl” album. Brown played acoustic guitar in the background. “These Days” gained wider recognition when several artists subsequently covered it.

Brown eventually released his version of the song in 1973 on the album “For Everyman.” He rewrote “These Days” to make it more optimistic. In his own words, Jackson remembers, “Over the rest of my teenage years and into my 20s, I developed a kind of optimism, a kind of resoluteness, so I changed [one verse] to: ‘I’ll keep on moving, keep improving.’ That’s more to me what life is made of, the idea that I’ll get through this, I’ll continue looking.”

I’ve always wanted to play this song the way Jackson Browne does. Thanks to my friend Jerry Lambert, I can now do it. Here’s my cover.

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acoustic guitar Arts & Entertainment Folk Song Covers inspiration profiles

The Magic of Moonshadow: Embracing Life’s Moments


In a 2009 interview, Cat Stevens (by then Yusuf Islam) is quoted as saying: “I was on holiday in Spain. I was a kid from the West End [of London]- bright lights, etc. I never got to see the moon on its own. In the dark, there were always streetlamps. So there I was on the edge of the water on a beautiful night with the moon glowing, and suddenly I looked down and saw my shadow. I thought that was so cool; I’d never seen it before.”

The song is about finding hope in any situation, of being present and joyful. With the simplicity and joy of a child, Stevens writes about seeing life as it is in the moment and not comparing it to others’ lives or other times in an individual’s life.

Moonshaw is a beautiful song expressing the idea that every moment in life is rich and unique. Whether we are aware of it or not, Stevens is saying, we are always “leaping and hopping on a Moonshadow” every second of our existence. He cautions against being too wrapped up in our worries and concerns about what could be or what has been, and consequently missing the richness of life as it is.

Here’s my cover played in the artist’s style.

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artists Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music Folk Song Covers

Tom Paxton: An Emergent Folk Music Icon


Tom Paxton released “The Last Thing On My Mind” in 1964 on his album, Ramblin’ Boy.” The inspiration for the song came from Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan’s versions of “He Was A Friend of Mine.” This lost love ballad became one of Paxton’s biggest hits. He is also known for his protest songs against the Vietnam War and other social injustices. (What Did You Learn In School Today?)

“The Last Thing On My Mind” was one of the first songs I learned some forty years ago when I started playing the guitar. This is the first time I’ve released my cover publicly. The themes of the song include friendship, loss, and the passage of time.

Here’s my cover.

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acoustic guitar Arts & Entertainment folk music Folk Song Covers music Videos

Nanci Griffith: A 1980s Singer/Songwriter Legacy


Nanci Griffith was a popular singer/songwriter who came to prominence in the 1980s. I bought one of her albums recorded in 1988 and then tracked back to discover more and more of her music. She wrote and performed her first song at the age of twelve.

Griffith was the daughter of musical parents, and she spent her childhood involved with theater and literature as well as music. She began playing clubs around Austin at the tender age of 14 and continued to perform during her college years at the University of Texas, as well as during her stint as a kindergarten teacher in the mid-’70s. Nanci finally decided to make music her full-time ambition in 1977.

One observer said of Nanci, “She found it easier to deal with the cowboys in bars at night than she did with her kindergarten students during the day.”

Nanci Griffith’s world tours are now the stuff of memories and YouTube videos, but her heart and soul will endure for years to come. She recorded and released more than twenty albums during her brilliant career. The video above features me playing one of Nanci’s rousing  songs titled “Say It Isn’t So.”

David Gittlin has written three feature-length screenplays, produced two short films, and published three novels. Before quitting his day job, he spent more than thirty years as a marketing director, building expertise in advertising, copywriting, corporate communications, collateral sales materials, website content/design, and online marketing. He plays guitar as a hobby.