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I've been meaning to learn this song ever since the Target Lesson appeared, and managed to learn it today as my wife, for Valentines Day, took the kids to their various activities to let me play guitar all day. So I've spend the better part of the day on this. It's not exactly as Neil teaches in the lesson, but it's close enough. A sad song, to be sure. I still can't sing and play concurrently, so I used the PIP technique. I used AVS to create the video, and this had a learning curve of its own. As always, I'd love to hear any suggestions as far as improvement.



Four and twenty years ago, I come into this life
The son of a woman and a man who lived in strife
He was tired of being poor
And he wasn't into selling door to door
And he worked like the devil to be more

A different kind of poverty now upsets me so
Night after sleepless night, I walk the floor and I want to know
Why am I so alone?
Where is my woman can I bring her home?
Have I driven her away? Is she gone?

Morning comes the sunrise and I'm driven to my bed
I see that it is empty and there's devils in my head
I embrace the many colored beast
I grow weary of the torment, can there be no peace
And I find myself just wishing that my life would simply cease

Below is an update, with the emphasis on simultaneous playing and singing. There are some audio issues that I have not yet figured out, but I was most interested in demonstrating an effort to sing and play at the same time. It's been pointed out before that it's not easy, and I agree with that sentiment.

Jay,

That was great. Really great. From someone who is trying to get this song down, you make that look easy. That was a fantastic Valentines Day gift you got.

Well done. I always like watching your videos. It gives me something to strive for.


MarkM

wow...............wow.................wow

Jay that was amazing...............this picture in picture thing is working out great.I understand the singing and picking thing..for me its not working so much. Funny I guess it will come just like the strumin and singing thing did for me but for now I just can't see it happening anytime soon. You are a really good player.......Pretty sure pizza is on its way.


Tammy

Jay,

You say you just learned that today. Excellent job. PIP is picture in Picture right? Did you sing first and then play along to yourself? In any case I thought you did a great job. Thanks for posting it.

Bob

Jay, That was really good! Enjoyed it alot!

Lisa

Jay- great job! Can I ask why you didn't just sing and play it together? Clearly, you've got both parts down pat. You could/should play them together!

But your pickng was spot on and your singing sounded great so what can I say except well done?

Thanks for sharing! :cheer:

I'm not sure why I can't sing and play at the same time, other than the obvious reason that I get distracted and lose my line of thought in terms of next chord, note, or whatever. I'm sure it's just a matter of practice, but at this point, I'm still not there yet. Bob, I played the guitar portion first, then sang along subsequently, making a separate video of the singing portion. As for how long it took me to learn this, as I said, I started this morning and was pleasantly surpised that it came to me more easily than usual, mostly, I think, because it's similar in some ways to Dear Prudence, with which I spent alot of time a few months ago. In general, it takes me a long time to learn a new song. Today was a bit of an aberation.

Jay,

That was AWESOME! Really good- and a great idea to sing along with your own guitar track, for those of us who still haven't mastered strumming/picking and singing at the same time.

Awesome Jay! You really have finger picking down well. I like the ghost of yourself singing over your shoulder. I'd say you got a pretty awesome Valentine's Day present.

Brilliant Jay well done , good use of technology. DOn't know the song well enought o comment but for one day wow, tempo sounded very consistent throughout.

Good on ya mate.