Songs for learning and performing... (Sarah McLachlan & Simon and Garfunkel)

In my typical, overexcited, joyful exuberance, I have overextended myself. I am learning to play guitar. I love it and am excited to find that as I learn (at a very, very slow snail’s pace), I find it all that much more exciting and fun. Instead of focusing my full attention there, I decided that I also need to learn how to sing. I thought that the two would neatly fit together and fill my life with music. I love both things, but it’s a lot more work than I had considered. My fingers are torn up and my abs are killing me... in a sort of awesome, badass way. My picks this week are the songs that I’m currently working on.
Sarah McLachlan – Blackbird

This has got to be one of Paul McCartney’s most beautiful songs. It sounds simple, yet it is still musically complex. I’m working on this for my vocal lessons and would have picked The Beatles version, but the silence and singing birds really throw me off when trying to sing. Plus, I read somewhere that McCartney said that this song was perfect for McLachlan.


Simon and Garfunkel – I Am A Rock

Growing up, my friend Michael was so obsessed with this song. We’d have long discussions about music and he’d always tell me how he thought that this was the most miserable, dark, and lonely song and then he’d constantly play it. It shouldn’t make me laugh, but it reminds me of days helping him write songs (by picking random chords) via ICQ when he was away at college, and that one night he caught me singing along to Counting Crows and told me that I can really sing. So for me, it has a bit of a sweeter meaning and I like to think that maybe it’s more of a call for help and less about shutting everyone else out.