What is it that makes us who we are? What defines us as a person? Is it our nature or something that we learn that determines who we are? Are we who we think we are, or are we who people perceive us to be? Does it matter? I mean, who cares?
Several months ago I attended my high school graduation and I couldn’t help but notice that the essential thing that made each person who they are was still there. As I talked to person after person I was struck how the themness, the core thing, that made them them had not seemed to change. I’m not sure I can define it either. It’s very elusive, difficult to define and difficult to describe
In this episode we’re back to our original format. We’ll listen to three songs about character and what it is that makes us who we are. We’ll look at a song about one of my defining characteristics, a song about an old character in my life, and, finally, a song about what makes us, us.
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[Intro]
[Intro Theme – Motor]
What is it that makes us who we are? What defines us as a person? Is it our nature or something that we learn that determines who we are? Are we who we think we are, or are we who people perceive us to be? Does it matter? I mean, who cares?
Several months ago I attended my high school graduation and I couldn’t help but notice that the essential thing that made each person who they are was still there. As I talked to person after person I was struck how the themness, the core thing, that made them them had not seemed to change. I’m not sure I can define it either. It’s very elusive, difficult to define and difficult to describe.
I can describe the phenomenon easily enough, but putting my finger on what makes up their fundamental character was very difficult. And it wasn’t the same for each person. For some it was voice. For others it was how they constructed their sentences. For others it was how they interacted with me and with others. Maybe it’s something subconscious that I’m not in touch with, like the way they smell or some kind of subtle clue or transmission.
In any event, I was drawn to these people and felt a comfortable, warm familiarity when I was with them. I was happy to be in their presence.
In this episode well listen and discuss three songs about character..
[Pod Lick]
Hi. I’m Tim Rose and this is the Tim Tunes pod cast. In this episode we’re back to our original format. We’ll listen to three songs about character and what it is that makes us who we are. We’ll look at a song about one of my defining characteristics, a song about an old character in my life, and, finally, a song about what makes us, us. So here we go!
[Pod Lick – Big D]
[Don’t Hate Me]
I was sitting around with Marcy, my wife, when I told her the title of the new song I was working on, “Don’t Hate Me for Being Happy”. She looks at me and says, “Sounds like our marriage”. Well, I laughed, as I think she was making a joke. But, this is a general description of one of my basic characteristics. I’m a glass half-full kind of guy. I recognize this fact and tend to make friends with glass half-empty types. I think there must be some kind of natural instinct to seek these people out, so I don’t go off the deep end. I do have some other glass half full friends and I cherish their company. But I do recognize the value of my less than half full friends and I frequently seek their wisdom and guidance.
I don’t know if this happiness characteristic is a product of genetics or how I was raised. I do remember my mom always saying, “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all”. A southern sentiment if ever there was one. I just generally have a positive outlook on things.
[Podlick]
When I started writing this song, I thought it was going to be a light and easy sort of little ballad. I decided to write a jazzy little tune using jazz chords and chord substitution. I started off with a very basic chopping wood type of guitar part. This little walking up line at the end of the phrase has become kind of the hook of the piece. I really like the bridge where I have this descending line that goes back and forth from Major7 chords to minor 7th chords. Listen for this section when I sing “Some people try to bring me down” right after the instrumental verse.
The instrumental verse features a Flugelhorn instrument patch. I tried a trumpet, but the flugelhorn isn’t as brash as the trumpet and delivers the mellow sound I was looking for. I had written the entire song out in a 4/4 time signature. But as I started writing the melody out for the flugelhorn solo, I realized that the song was really in 12/8 time. 12/8 lets me use a triplet feel throughout. This gives the whole piece much more of a swing feel. So, I rewrote the entire piece in 12/8 time. I like 12/8 time it really let’s me swing the piece without having to put in triplets everywhere. I count it out like 1-2-3, 2-2-3, 3-2-3, 4-2-3. You can get the feel just from the counting. I also use this time signature in the song “Lazy Love” which you can hear in season 1 episode 7 “Romantic Love”
To really jazz it up I used a drum set that uses brushes and I used a Rhodes piano sound with a little bit of tremolo for the piano sound. I went around and around with the melody, finally settling on a baritone register. I think that this might have contributed to the outcome. When I listen to the song, it sounds like I’m sad about being happy, or at least sad about people not liking that I’m happy. Anyway, here is the song written and recorded in February of 2023 in my home studio in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
[Play Don’t Hate Me]
E7 Walk up to INTRO
Amaj7 Dmaj7 CHORUS 1
Don’t hate me for being happy,
Amaj7 Dmaj7
It’s just the way that I am.
C#m7 F#m7 B9 E7
I was born this way, so just go away.
F#m7 B9 E7 Walk up to
Don’t disturb my delusion my friend.
Dmaj7 C#m7 VERSE 1
You can hate me for being a slob
Bm7 Amaj7 Walk up to
Or forgetting a date or two or three or four or more or
Dmaj7 G7 F#7
You can hate me for being a snob
Bm7 B9 E7 Walk up to
I mean, what else are friends for, three, two, buuut
Amaj7 Dmaj7 CHORUS 2
Don’t hate me for being happy,
Amaj7 Dmaj7
It’s just the way that I am.
C#m7 F#m7 B9 E7
I was born this way, so just go away.
F#m7 B9 E7 Walk up to
Don’t disturb my delusion my friend.
Dmaj7 C#m7 VERSE 2
Some people like to drink coffee
Bm7 Amaj7 Walk up to
And some people like to drink tea
Dmaj7 G7 F#7
Some say I’m sappy for being so happy
Bm7 B9 E7 Walk up to
What would it take to make them leave me be.
Instrumental Verse
Em7 A13 Dmaj7 BRIDGE
Sometimes people try to bring me down,
Dm7 G13 Cmaj7
By mentioning current events.
Cm7 F13 Bbmaj7
I just la-la in my head
Bm7 B9 E7 Walk up to
And that goes something like this.
Amaj7 D9 LA-LA CHORUS
Did you see Putin – la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Amaj7 D9
I heard Trump -la-la-la-la-la-la-la
C#m7 F#m7 B9 E7
So Biden said la-la-la-la
C#m7 F#m7 B9 E7 Walk up to
La-la-la-la…
Amaj7 Dmaj7 ENDING CHORUS
Don’t hate me for being happy,
Amaj7 Dmaj7
It’s just the way that I am.
C#m7 F#m7 B9 E7
I was born this way, so just go away.
C#m7 F#m7 B9 E7
I get sad sometimes but not today
Dmaj7 G13 F#13
What the heck do you care anyway
Bm7 B9 E7 STOP!
Please don’t hate me
Tacet Amaj9
For being happy!
[Podlick]
[Man That Nobody Owned]
I had the honor of getting to know my great-grand father when I was very young. He was retired by the time I was around him and was sick most of the time. My Big Popaw, as we called him, was a retired railroad worker and union organizer. He spent much of his career travelling around the country organizing the carmen’s union. This union was for the people who manufactured the passenger and sleeper train cars as opposed to the people who rode with and worked on the trains. He was also renowned for his drinking and driving and his stubborn streak. After totaling his car on a telephone pole, he told the police to just turn it over and he would drive it home.
When I met him, he was always sitting in his chair reading the paper or watching TV or watching us play on the floor in front of him. As mentioned in the song, we really did sit out on the front porch and talk and watch the world go by. This song is based on my experience as a child and on my perspective as an adult.
[Podlick]
This song is a mash up of two different recordings made sometime in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. Originally recorded on my Teac 8 track. The two different versions were then digitized and mixed together around 2003. You may notice a few variations in the melody here and there. Here is “Man That Nobody Owned”
[Play song – Man That Nobody Owned]
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7 VERSE 1
Who'd ever have thought I'd be sitting here singing
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
About an old man I knew twenty years ago
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7
But he taught me how to be my own man
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
How to chase my dreams and not to let them go.
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7 CHORUS 1
He was a man that no - body owned
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
A man that no - body owned
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7
He was a little bit crazy and a little over blown
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He was a man that no - body owned.
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7 VERSE 2
We'd sit out on the front porch in the old swing
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He'd drink his beer and he’d feel bumps on my head
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7
He’d say, "Tim, you're gonna’ grow up stubborn, just like your old Paw-Paw,"
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
Are the few words i remember that he said.
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7 CHORUS 2
He was a man that no - body owned
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
A man that no - body owned
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7
He was a little bit crazy and a little over blown
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He was a man that no - body owned.
Instrumental Verse
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7 VERSE 3
They say that in his day he was a fighter
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He built a union for the carmen on the trains
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7
Fighting for the good life for his fellow man,
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He rode the rails from Florida to Maine.
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7 CHORUS 3 & ENDING
He was a man that no - body owned
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
A man that no - body owned
D D/C# D/B D/A G G/F# Em7
He was a little bit crazy and a little over blown
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He was a man that no - body owned.
A7 G/B A7/C# G/B D
He was a man that no - body owned.
[Pod Lick]
[The You of You]
I’ve written quite a few songs trying to describe different people I’ve known over my life. Some of my best songs are about this. Dottie Lou, Alma Mae, Catbird, Fallen Angel, by my count about a quarter of my songs are based around unique aspects of a person’s character. While I have descriptions of people in my songs, they never really describe a person completely. You couldn’t recognize that person based on my description. There really is no substitute for being in the actual presence of a person.
Maybe it was because my High School reunion was the first big event I went to after COVID and I was especially attuned to other people. But I whatever the reason, it compelled me to write the next song titled, “The You of You”. So, I’ve abandoned the attempt to understand what is going on and instead I’ve focused on the feelings and the joy of being with these old familiar souls.
[Podlick]
When I set about writing this song it only took me about ½ hour to create the essential core of the song. I’d been thinking about it for several days and when I finally put pen to paper, or rather typed it in to my computer, it just sort of all came rushing out of me. In fact, this song inspired the topic for this podcast. After I made my initial pass at writing this song the song, “Don’t Hate Me”, popped into my head and demanded my attention. So, both “Don’t Hate Me” and “The You of You” were written and recorded in the time since my last podcast. I feel like I may have rushed them a bit. Let me know what you think.
This song is a very straightforward celebration of whatever that thing that makes you, you is. Recorded in the beginning of March 2023 in my home studio in Chelmsford, Massachusetts here is “The You of You”.
[Play The You of You]
G C D INTRO
G D C G CHORUS 1
It’s the you of you that I’m talking to
G C D
The you that makes you you.
G D C G
It never goes away, never strays
C D G D C D G
no matter what you do
Em D/F# G VERSE 1
Maybe it’s your soul, I don’t know
C D
It’s probably just the way you’re made
C G D/F# Em
It’s that kind of thing that makes you whole
Am C D
And moves you along your way
G D C G CHORUS 2
It’s the you of you yeah that’s who I’m talking to
G C D
The you that makes you you
G D C G
It always stays and never goes away
C D G D C D G
no matter what you do
Em D/F# G VERSE 2
Doesn’t matter how long since we last met
C D
A part of you stays the same
C G
Doesn’t matter should we agree or not
Am C D
Because the core of you remains
G D C G CHORUS 3
It’s the you of you that makes you you
G C D
It’s the you of you that I see
G D C G
It’s the you of you that sets you above
C D G D C D G
And helps me to be me
Em D/F# G VERSE 3
It’s in the way you speak and the way you move
C D
It’s the way that you hold your head
C G D/F# Em
It’s how you feel as you share your heart
Am C D
With every single word that you’ve said
G D C G G C D INSTRUMENT
G D C G C D G D C D G CHORUS
Em G BRIDGE
Doesn’t matter if you’re wrinkled and gray
C D
Time doesn’t seem to pass
Am C D
I see you. I know you, and I know I always will.
E7 Esus6 E7
I guess that’s why I love you still
A E D A MODIFIED CHORUS 4 & END
It’s the you of you. There’s no hiding
A E D A
It’s the you of you. I see you through and through
A E D A
And I hope to heaven that you never change
D E A E D E A A/G#
The you of you that’s you
F#m A A/G# F#
It’s not like you can change it, af-ter all
D E A
The you of you that’s you.
D E A E D E A
The you of you that’s you.
[Podcast]
[Outro]
It looks like we’ve wrung those rags and squeezed out all of the character they have to offer.
There, you have it. Please feel free to send me comments on this episode via Facebook at the Tim Tunes Podcast group or email me at timtunespodcast@gmail.com or via twitter @rimtoes or if you are a Patreon subscriber you can send me messages via Patreon.
Speaking of Patreon. Thanks so much to all my donors it means the world to me and helps to keep the lights on and the podcast going. If you’d like to donate you can do so at my Patreon site at patreon.com/timtunes. Or you can send a donation via PayPal to @rimtoes. It’s an anagram of Tim Rose, you’ll figure it out. I’d like to give a special shout out to David Press for his recent donation. Thanks, David, your support really means a lot to me.
If you can’t donate, I get it. Times are hard. You can also help out the podcast by writing a review on whatever podcast tool you use or by liking us on Facebook or iTunes. That will go a long way towards increasing my reach. Also, you can support the show just by listening to some of my songs on your favorite music streaming service.
How ever, you choose to support the show, I appreciate you.
Thanks for listening. Adios until next time…
[Outro Pod Lick, [After Outro Pod Lick ends]
[Play Intro to Solitude]