Perennial Beginner (F-Chord Song)
(Mark Cohen)
I first took up guitar when I was just a kid in high school
All my hippie friends told me it was the thing to do,
Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, Dylan, Donovan and Denver
One day I hoped I'd learn to play the F-chord like they do...
cho: I sit down to play a song
I'm always hitting some notes wrong.
I can't control my fingers, they just want to stick together
And I don't think I'll ever learn that F-chord any better.
So I bought some songbooks --- Judy Collins, Peter Paul and Mary
And I played the ones in G and D. Now, there were quite a few.
But F was just to much for me, my fingers futile failures
I'll never learn to play that lousy F-chord like they do..
And then I went to college where I mostly went to parties
Where we'd talk about reality and smoke a thing or two;
There were talented guitarists who attracted all the women
And I'd try and try and TRY to play the F-chord like they do..
The years went by, and I was mostly stuck in pattern picking
While my friends were playing up the neck, with real hot solos too;
So at all the folkie parties I would cower in the corner
Wishing I could only learn to play the F-chord like they do...
I've tried classes, books and lessons. I went broke attending
workshops
I've done finger exercises till my hands were black and blue
Now I've given up guitar and found an instrument I'm good at
And I'll never have to play an F-chord now --- on my kazoo!
tune: A Conversation with Mother (Berryman and Berryman)
words Copyright Mark Cohen
RG
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!