# Just me and my guitar....namea song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939 "2006-01-28T01:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/1 "2006-01-28T01:36:00Z")
OK so I am sitting here trying to think of what songs I’d like to learn next on the guitar. What songs do you like to hear with just a singer and his guitar? Do you play? What are your fave songs to play? I will respond with a few later myself. Until then, inspire me… ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/2 "2006-01-28T02:14:15Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > OK so I am sitting here trying to think of what songs I’d like to learn next on the guitar. What songs do you like to hear with just a singer and his guitar? Do you play? What are your fave songs to play? > > I will respond with a few later myself. Until then, inspire me… Masters of War by Dylan Boots of Spanish Leather by Dylan Norwegian Wood by The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/3 "2006-01-28T03:05:37Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > Masters of War by Dylan > Boots of Spanish Leather by Dylan > Norwegian Wood by The Beatles See that’s what I am talking about! Three songs I don’t know, but pro’lly should! ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/4 "2006-01-28T03:07:18Z")
check out elliott smith ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/5 "2006-01-28T03:33:18Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > Masters of War by Dylan wow…I downloaded it…mighty hard to sing (for me) ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/6 "2006-01-28T03:36:56Z")
> [@MessyPaint](#): > > check out elliott smith …anything in particular? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/7 "2006-01-28T03:49:48Z")
The two songs Elliott Smith has on the _Good Will Hunting_ soundtrack are quite pretty, in a melacholy sort of way. The titles are “Say Yes” and “Angeles”. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/8 "2006-01-28T04:12:41Z")
One of my friends does “Cocaine” (maybe I should rephrase that). One of my friends plays the Jackson Browne version (not the JJ Cale via Clapton) of “Cocaine”. A different friend plays “Seagull” by Bad Company. Both are be pretty tasty. (The songs. I wouldn’t know about the friends, them being male and me being straight and all.) The first guy is a really good guitarist, but learned the song pretty early on. The second guy has a great voice, especially for that song. The first one also does another song, something about Oreo Cookie Blues, that is probably a real song, but not with the words he sings (different every time and usually not suitable for mixed company). ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/9 "2006-01-28T04:48:31Z")
R.E.M.'s “Driver 8” is good on solo guitar. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/10 "2006-01-28T04:53:59Z")
Don’t be afraid to try stuff that might not sound that great on one guitar. Sometimes that makes the most striking impact. I, for instance, do Walking in Memphis. It took a while to get the right feel for the piano intro, and I had to drop it 3 or 4 half-steps to make it fit my vocal range, but it’s really cool, an nobody else (that I’ve ever heard) does it on solo acoustic. So try crazy stuff, like…I dunno…Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, or something by Emerson, Lake and Palmer–don’t try to copy the keyboard parts, just get the chords, change the key and sing it. It might be cool to do some Green Day–again, not the acoustic stuff but rearrange the nasty punk tunes. Yeah, that’s it! ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/11 "2006-01-28T04:56:44Z")
I’ve found that a lot of the songs from David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars work well acoustically. Not so much his later stuff like, say, Station to Station. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/12 "2006-01-28T12:50:24Z")
Back in the dim mists of antiquity, when I was first learning to operate a guitar, I enjoyed trying to emulate Josh White, both for technique and for song choice. His records ought to be available still. They were a neat hybrid of blues, folk, “jazz” and other styles. A favorite was his version of \* Saint James Infirmary \* which I can still do pretty much the way I learned it. Richie Havens also had some funky tunes. Hard to get the fire he had, but the technique(s) still bring(s) chills to hear done well. Also listen to some Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, Kenny Rankin and Leo Kottke. My favorite Kingston Trio song was/is _Scotch and Soda_. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/13 "2006-01-28T14:39:02Z")
I fundamentally agree with **NoCoolUserName** - play what you like and find _what’s essential_ about the song and adapt that for acoustic guitar. That’s what I do - I make it a point to really listen to a song and extract what I think makes that song sound like, well, _that_ song. Then I try to interpret it on my guitar. Pride and Joy by SRV - if you play it the right way, which is very hard - sounds wonderful on acoustic Tears of a Clown by Smokie Robinson is a great song to play, too. What I Like About You by the Romantics gets me goin’ Is She Really Going Out with Him by Joe Jackson is fun. Use Me by Bill Withers is a funked-up joy to play… It’s all good… ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/14 "2006-01-28T15:10:22Z")
**God’s Own Drunk** ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/15 "2006-01-28T17:46:54Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > …anything in particular? sweet adeline is a lot of fun to play ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/16 "2006-01-29T02:22:04Z")
‘Fire and Rain’ by James Taylor. 🆒 This always moved me - then I read the story behind the lyrics and now I get emotional every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/17 "2006-01-29T02:29:35Z")
> [@glee](#): > > ‘Fire and Rain’ by James Taylor. 🆒 > > This always moved me - then I read the story behind the lyrics and now I get emotional every time I hear it. Pardon me - in case anyone wants to know the story: [http://www.james-taylor.com/albums/firerain.shtml](http://www.james-taylor.com/albums/firerain.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/18 "2006-01-29T04:19:50Z")
[stoner]Duuude, can you like, play Stairway to Heaven, man? It’s like sooo totally awesome. [/stoner] :rolleyes: Seriously though: I remember hearing my brother practice for hours to get the opening lines of Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zepplin down on his guitar. When he did, he was a bit more nimble with the frets. If you want to adapt something, how about Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. It’s a challenge and unique (to me anyway). The measures alternate 3/4 and 4/4 time. Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/19 "2006-01-29T06:09:27Z")
It would help to know a few things. What types of music do you like? What types are you open to exploring? What types do you dislike? What do you do with the guitar? Chords? Single-note picking? Both? Are you primarily a singer, with guitar accomaniment; or mainly a guitarist who also sings? What type of guitar – acoustic, electric, etc.? Do you get into, or are you open to, songs with 10+ different chords? Less common chords (e.g. 6th, major 7th, diminished, 9th, etc.)? Among my favorites are Since I Fell for You, Blues in the Night, If I Fell, Someday Soon, Can’t Help Falling, and Five O’Clock World. And that’s just scratching the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939/20 "2006-01-29T14:39:58Z")
“Farewell Angelina” and “Satisfied Mind” - Joan Baez “Not a Pretty Girl” - Ani DiFranco\* “Aamu” - Värttinä “Tu Bella” - Alessandra Belloni “La Llorona” - Lila Downs \*who am I kidding, Ani plays those crazy acoustic guitar licks at supersonic speed, so fast and light you can’t even hear all the notes. I want to know what she strings her axe with. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-me-and-my-guitar-namea-song/341939.md?page=2)