Guy And A Guitar

Dedicated to all the street buskers out there, playing and singing for short money and the love of it.  And to all the musician singer songwriter entrepreneurs plugging away trying to make it... against the odds of success.  Folks like @ElvisNash .  Keep picking and singing brother.

Check out the guitar player at the end.

https://youtu.be/3FITPS0vIDI?si=EwAwtfm8adZSM1eF

 Ooo ooo no more wishin on stars 

I don’t work in the rain

Don’t push keys in a bank

Got my back to the clock 

Gave up wishin on stars

Just to be...a guy and a guitar


strum my stories ya’ll

Sing you a song for a dollar or a quater

The life of a man on the edge

Chords and notes and a holler  


Sit and play on the street or a corner

Sing out and look at the show

Laughing faces white and rosa

While I sing my stories away


No I don’t work in the rain

Don’t push keys in a bank

Got my back to the clock 

Gave up wishin on stars

Now I’m Just ...a guy and a guitar 

 

Break 


Bringing songs to life

From a life on the road

No real home or a wife

No happy tales to be told  


Could be someday soon

People stop singing tunes

And some kind of man machine

Sit here and sing you a stream

Of songs from an artificial dream

                     

Turn around

I’ve been hearing for a long time

Can’t you see this is nowhere

Songs about your past mistakes

Songs about the hard roads you take 


But hell I won’t work in the rain

Won’t push keys in a bank

Keepin my back to the clock 

Gave up wishin on stars

All I wana be...just a guy and a guitar


On a street corner... or a corner in a bar

That’s where he’s at... guy and a guitar

 Ooo ooo no more wishin on stars 

Comments

  • I like this, but I think your key line: "All I wanna be...just a guy and a guitar" needs to be more singable for an average listener. It's a bit downbeat and clipped. Doesn't sound bad, it's just hard to join in.

    Nice guitar riffs in there, enjoyed that! And the overall theme is a good one.

    Seems like the narrator is stepping away from things more than heading towards something. But life can be like that. Comes across as a bit jaded. Reinforced by bookending the song with:

    " Ooo ooo no more wishin' on stars "

  • Hardtwistmusic
    Hardtwistmusic Salem, Oregon

    The subject and the tone of this take me back to 1967 or so to the song "Bottle of Wine" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs. That's a complimentary comparison. I heard what Owen suggested, and also think it could be sung with an uptick at the end of that line instead of a downtick. As far as heading away from something instead of toward something, I suspect that's consistent with a huge minority of people, or a small majority of people. Great song I.M.O.

  • Sounds good man

  • StoneFlowers
    StoneFlowers Cape Cod MA

    Some great deep comments thanks ya'll:

    @RainyDayMan Like many of my tunes this one went through about ten tweaked renditions. At one point it was bit more up beat as you're suggesting. But as I continued I felt a more melancholy feel slip into the song. Our hero is out there making or supplementing a living on the streets playing and singing...kind of a sad situation.

    @Hardtwistmusic Bottle of wine fruit of the vine when you gonna let me get sober...love the song used to sing it a lot. Yeah a bit melancholy on this one.

    @ElvisNash Wish you lived near by and we could get together and just jam man

  • Arts_Tunes
    Arts_Tunes Atlanta, GA, USA

    Great voice! I think it's making me think of Van Morrison. Somebody notable from the early `70's.

    I'm trying to figure out which one of these pictures might be you. I'm going with the Kurt Cobain-looking guy in the ball cap against the spray painted wall. It sounds like what I think that guy would sound like.

    With the first verse I'm not putting together where this character worked. He doesn't work in the rain, or push keys in a bank. What if he compromised and worked in a bank? Then he would be out of the rain. OR, he could take a job in the great outdoors and not have to deal with the customers in the bank. Or just quit it all and play in the park! He has three options.

    You've got a leg up having a good voice. You can't imagine.

  • StoneFlowers
    StoneFlowers Cape Cod MA

    Yeah man like you said "Or just quit it all and play in the park!" Thanks for the kind words buddy.

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