Ramblin' Man

Note - I didn't find this out until after the song, but apparently the Allman Brothers' Band has a song called "Ramblin' Man." It's apparently pretty famous too...but this song is of no relation.



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Chorus -

Ramblin' Man
Ramblin' Man
I will wonder this earth
For as long as I can

The Lyrics -

Please don't come a lookin'
'Cuz I promise you won't find
Me beneath the covers
Of my worn and weary mind
I've been searchin' high and low
Waste away the time
Spent it all on promises
I just can't leave behind

[chorus]

No man on this earth
Can turn away the tide
For every one that's walked this land
A thousand more have died
If the wind starts callin' you
Don't reach your hands up high
For no matter what you do
You'll never hold the sky

[chorus]

I'm wonderin' on
Catch me if you can.

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The Story -

There's been more than a few times in my life that I've wanted to be someone else. There've been times when I wanted to wander, and not look back. There've been times when I knew, without a doubt, that I could leave everything I've had behind. This song, then, is two things. It's a musical manifestation of that feeling, and in some sense, it's my attempt to exorcise that feeling.

I've been focusing on keeping my songs short (or at least on the short side), interesting, and emotionally packed. I dunno if this means my sound is more "main-stream" or what-have-you, but at the very least, I can say that I'm relatively satisfied with how this song came out. I pushed the song through production, and I think the levels are pretty bad, but that's something I might go back and look at later (i.e. remaster the song).

Recently I've had this really bad habit of coming up with a riff, or the start of a song, or an intro, and not following through on the idea. Part of that has to do with my class schedule, and part of it has to do with a slight lack of motivation on my part. All I can say is this - I'm working on it. Once school lets out for a few days between Summer Sessions, I'll see if I can pump out another song or two (or three, or whatever).

Interesting quote of the moment -

"God made me atheist. Who are you to judge his wisdom?"

Wayfaring Stranger (Cover)

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The Lyrics

I'M JUST A POOR
WAYFARING STRANGER
TRAVELING THROUGH
HIS WORLD BELOW
THERE IS NO SICKNESS
NO TOIL, NOR DANGER
IN THAT BRIGHT LAND
TO WHICH I GO

I'M GOING THERE
TO SEE MY FATHER
AND ALL MY LOVED ONES
WHO'VE GONE ON
I'M JUST GOING OVER JORDAN
I'M JUST GOING OVER HOME

I KNOW DARK CLOUDS
WILL GATHER ROUND ME
I KNOW MY WAY
IS HARD AND STEEP
BUT BEAUTEOUS FIELDS
ARISE BEFORE ME
WHERE GOD REDEEMS
THEIR VIGALS KEEP

I'M GOING BACK
TO SEE MY MOTHER
SHE SAID SHE'D MEET ME
WHEN I COME
SO I'M JUST GOING OVER JORDAN
I'M JUST GOING OVER HOME
I'M JUST GOING OVER JORDAN

(I didn't mean for the lyrics to be in all caps - the website I copied and pasted from sort of exploded.)

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Some Thoughts -

This is a cover version of "Wayfaring Stranger," by Johnny Cash. Though this is actually an American folk song, I attribute it to Johnny Cash because his version was the one that inspired me to do this in the first place. I try to match his phrasing and vocal styles to some degree, but I know I don't compare.

There are a lot of reasons to do cover songs - but the reasons that I chose to cover this song is are pretty straight-forward. First, it can be a simple song, meaning it was within my abilities to play. Second, I really liked the melody and the overall message of the song. I have strong feelings that coincide fairly well with the song, and that proved to be a very strong motivation to perform it.

I'd like to think that the song is haunting, but I'm not really holding my breath. The stripped-down nature of the performance is due more to my musical (in)abilities than anything else. Sometimes covers really improve on an original song, but I was more interested in manifesting my emotions.

One final note: the song is sung almost word for word from the Johnny Cash version. There were one or two changes. Some of them were significant, some of them were not. I'm just left to wonder what genre of music I should call this...probably country.