Willie Simpson, I Threw it All Away

Posted in Bob Dylan, Willie's Live Youtube Performances on April 16th, 2011 by Willie

This will be the last Dylan song I perform for a while.  In my experiments with recording myself for youtube this week, Bob just offered the perfect songs for me to play with.  This one, I Threw it All Away, from his Nashville Skyline record, I just couldn’t pass up.  It is one of my all time favorite songs of any artist.  It’s a golden flower of a song.  The words are perfect, etched in eternal ice with no superfluous imagery, and no sentiment anyone could possibly disagree with.  His melody and phrasing with the song are some of his best ever, driving his message strait to your soul.  It is worth checking out his performance of it on the Johnny Cash Show, which lucky for you I am posting, to of course foolishly shatter my own soft performance, but fuck it, lets just celebrate the song, and not me being a jackass.  Enjoy.

 

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Paul McCartney, For No One

Posted in Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Youtube Favs on April 4th, 2011 by Willie

In part 28 of my youtube countdown, I present a 40 something Paul McCartney playing his Beatle classic, For No One, from the Revolver album.  There are so many things I love about this performance.  First of all, he’s playing one of his most gorgeous piano ballads on acoustic guitar, and its brilliant.  I love how he musically clears his throat in the first 5 seconds when he starts singing.  There is something very real and charming about that.  I love how he starts his French Horn solo, announces it midway through, and jibbers his way through it.  And lastly, I love every other second of this.  He sings the song absolutely beautifully, providing wonderful little melodic twists not found in the original, and he sings the song with total soul.  This is just one his greatest breakup songs.  A universal anthem for guys who find themselves in the moment when they realize their girlfriends don’t love them anymore.  I’m sure the song has other layered meanings for girls, but for me, I take it quite literally. Ladies, feel free to let me know how you interpret this song. Enjoy.

 

 

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