“Moment” (Chris Moore Original) – The Laptop Sessions

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

For Chris Moore chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Good evening and welcome to what has become a Christmas tradition for me here at the Laptop Sessions.  Each year since 2007, I have posted one yuletide original during the month of December.  Last year, I wrote and recorded a song on Christmas eve, so this year I wanted to post another on the last Original Wednesday before Christmas Eve.

This year’s selection is one I wrote years ago and was first included on the Chris, Jim, and Mike holiday album Our Christmas Gift to You.  To be honest, I don’t remember exactly when I wrote this song, but I certainly remember my first recording.  I had never recorded using a multi-track mixer, so Mike lent me one that he had inherited from a local photographer.  In its day, it had been a really nice system.  Unfortunately, some of the controls were off and there were certain tracks that would become spliced together — I’m not sure how else to describe this.  Essentially, I couldn’t lower or raise the volume on one track without another following it.

That being said, it felt like Mike was handing me a portable professional studio!

I rushed home late from Mike and Jim’s house that night, quietly snuck into my house (my parents were fast asleep), and set up in the small bathroom in the basement.  After about twenty minutes of silent trips up to my bedroom, the mixer had been set up on the toilet, the microphone stands near the shower, the keyboard by the towel rack, and I was sitting on my stool with my back against the sink.

And yes, I am holding myself back from making the obvious stool/bathroom pun here…

The version I recorded that night was quiet and a bit sloppy, but it really wasn’t as sloppy as it should have been for my first recording.  To be certain, many songs that I would record later on more reliable equipment seemed, at least to me, to be inferior to the overall feel of my first “Moment.”

The next version that I recorded was for the November 25, 2004 release of Our Christmas Gift to You.  I felt very much like the rawer, indie cousin of my future bandmates, as my two songs weren’t as fully produced as Jim and Mike’s were.  Still, it felt — and still feels! — exciting and, to be honest, like an honor to hear “Christmas Cards” and “Moment” alongside some of my all-time favorite Christmas originals, like “The First Snow” and “Christmas Evening.”

Although “Moment” sounds very quirky and I salivate just thinking about a day in the future when I might re-record it with a minimalist drum kit keeping time, I always liked it (and, of course, I’ll always have the MoU Christmas Concert 2006 CD to hold me over…).  “Moment” is one of those songs that makes me feel something when I listen to it.  Even now, years and years after writing it, I remember exactly how I felt the day I wrote it.  It’s like being able to pick up a guitar or put on a CD and go back in time to the end of high school/beginning of college.  As you’ll hear, it’s a song about a person who has just learned that the love of his life is returning to town after being away for a year, ostensibly as a journalist overseas.  The narrator hasn’t heard from the person, only rumors, and is frustrated that no one seems to understand how important this news is to him.  As the song continues, we get some flashbacks to the previous Christmas and a vague but satisfying real-time encounter set during a Christmas eve church service.  The final line explains the title: “Hay was all they had in the manger — hay was all that Mary had; but that didn’t matter none to Mary ’cause Mary had Joseph to share each and every moment…”

If you’ve ever found yourself at Christmastime, connected to what used to be close friends merely by rumor and third-hand report, then you’ll understand where this song is coming from.  For this recording, I tried to harken back to my first off-the-cuff, essentially one-take recording by staying in my pajamas and simply playing it once to rehearse it before hitting the “record” button.

The result?  My third Original Wednesday post on the eve of Christmas.

The problem?  I’m fresh out of original Christmas songs for next year…

I’ll just have to hope inspiration strikes before then!

Merry Christmas, and I’ll see you next session!

“Moment” by Chris Moore – Chords, Tabs, & How to Play

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

“Moment”
Chris Moore

F
They say you’re coming around to this cold New England town.
Well, that don’t mean much to them, but that sure means a lot to me.
G
You’ve seen many parts of the world, reporting on the Vietnamese.
All I want to see today is you in your red and green Christmas fleece.

G
Strange things have happened to me on these snowy Christmas eves…

They say you’re coming around, but they don’t say anything else.
Don’t leave me here in the dark; please lead me out in the cold.
Let me know that you’re coming for sure. (I’d wait forever for her.)
By now, you know that you’re the type of a girl who rocks the world
of a guy in a rural town.

Strange things are happening to me on this snowy Christmas eve…

E                                       D
You don’t need a blanket, and you don’t need a bed.
E                                                                     G
If all you’ve got’s my shoulder, baby, you can rest your head.

G                                        C
Remember last Christmas, building the tree,
G                                       C7
Lying under the branches, just you and me?
We were talking about Jesus, defining the Holy Ghost,
Wondering where our senses of humor went when we needed them most.

You don’t need a blanket, and you don’t need a bed.
If all you’ve got’s my shoulder, baby, you can rest your head.

I attended a Thursday mass in the center of town.
Looking out for your big, bright cathedral eyes.
I was always the one who tries, and you were the one.
And I in my sport coat, and you in your dress — we knew it was best…

INSTRUMENTAL (over G – C – G – C7)

G
Hay was all they had in the manger,

E
Hay was all that Mary had.
But that didn’t matter none to Mary ’cause

C
Mary had Joseph to share each and every

Cmin
Moment…

“Here Comes Santa Claus” (Gene Autry acoustic rock cover song) – The Laptop Sessions

Monday, December 21st, 2009

For Gene Autry chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the final Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions before Christmas Day!  There’s been a lot of Christmas music being posted this month, and it’s hard to believe that this season is almost coming to a close.

Regardless, it’s an honor to kick off Christmas week here at the best cover song music video blog in the universe.

(And the most modest, too…)

“Here Comes Santa Claus” is a track from MoU’s expanded Christmas chord book.  It fits all the criteria for an enjoyable live song — easy to play, upbeat, instantly recognizable, and just plain fun.  There have been so many versions of this song recorded since Gene Autry’s original.  He himself re-recorded it not once, but twice.  In addition, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan have all recorded their own versions over the years.

In fact, in my favorite music/TV crossover this year, Dylan’s version was used as the opening song in the first few minutes of a Bones episode a couple weeks ago.  Of course, it faded out just as a bank robbery and a bombing were about to occur, but somehow I think Dylan must have enjoyed this macabre twist on the season for peace on earth and good will toward men.

That is, if he watches television.  I’m not entirely convinced he’s moved on from the radio…

It’s not only difficult to believe that Christmas will be this Friday, but that the new year is also just around the corner.  You should know that you have a special Guest Session to look forward to this Friday, with new sessions regular Jeremy Hammond bringing yet another all-new artist’s material to the blog.  It’ll be one of those “how have we not included a song from this guy” moments, I promise.  Being that it’s the end of the decade as well, there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.  To celebrate the decade’s best albums, The Weekend Review is in the middle of a Top Five Albums of the Decade, 2000-2009 countdown, with number 3 having been revealed yesterday in Ben Folds’ 2001 release Rockin’ the Suburbs.

On a side note, yesterday’s review brings me within one review of my twenty-six review commitment for the year, as suggested by Jim back in February of this year.  I hope he’ll be happy to hear that, in the spirit of continual progress, I’ll be committing to one review a week this year for a grand total of fifty-two!  Because I’ll be reviewing albums on a very regular basis, I’ll be able to really vary the type of reviews that I do.  For instance, I tend to review the albums I like most because I’ve always figured, why waste my time on the music I’m not crazy about?

Well, no more.

This will be a year of exercising my critical abilities as I review new 2010 releases, revisit the classic hits and infamous misses of the past, as well as continue my Deep Racks Report series (for which I already have five albums lined up — I’ve featured albums that begin with A, B, and C, so you maybe you can imagine where I’m going with this…). And I’ll be continuing the five star rating system I introduced a couple of weeks ago. While I’m still hesitant to comfortably box an album into a fraction like that, I really like the feel of the five star rating system.

In other end-of-the-year highlights, the Laptop Sessions will be featuring some great lists, including the Weekend Review’s take on the following:

“The Top Thirty Rock Albums of the Decade”

“The Top Ten Rock Albums of 2009″

“Yes, No, or Maybe So: One Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums”

“The Top Ten Rock Songs of 2009″

“The Best Packaging of the Year”

“The Best Deluxe Edition Features of the Year”

As a final note, I would like to call on Jim and Jeff to share their thoughts for the best music of the decade.  We all have our overlapping areas of mutual appreciation, but we certainly have room for debate.  Considerable room, at times.

I know what my picks are for the best albums and songs of the decade, but I would love to be reminded or learn of Jim and Jeff’s picks.

With that, I’m done for tonight.  As I sign off, I wish a merry Christmas to all those out there eagerly awaiting a Christmas Eve service or the pitter-patter of eight tiny reindeer overhead.  As for me, I’m going back to the MoU 2006 Christmas Concert CD for a stroll down memory — and also Santa Claus — lane.

See you next session!

“Here Comes Santa Claus” by Gene Autry & Oakley Haldeman – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

“Here Comes Santa Claus”
Gene Autry & Oakley Haldeman

F
Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
C7
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer are
F
pulling on the reins.
Bb                       F
Bells are ringing, children singing;
Gm7                  F
All is merry and bright.
Bb                                     D7
Hang your stockings, and say your prayers,
D7        C7                              F
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He’s got a bag that is filled with toys for the
boys and girls again.
Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle,
What a beautiful sight.
Jump in bed, cover up your head,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, for he
Loves you just the same.
Santa knows that we’re God’s children,
That makes everything right.
Fill your hearts with Christmas cheer,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He’ll come around when the chimes ring out; it’s
Christmas morn’ again.
Peace on Earth will come to all if
We just follow the light…
Let’s give thanks to the Lord above,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.