Well, this is different.

I first wrote and recorded “Only Trying to Say What Comes to Me,” this week last year and knew I had a pretty good song when I wrote it. Was one of those that took about 25 minutes to completely finish, music and all. One of those you don’t have to work at really at all.

The version I put on my full-length album is pretty much the exact same as the original recording, which you can listen to here.

So, it was kind of difficult to try and rewrite this thing. What direction do I go? I tried blues and I tried a waltz and I tried starting with the repeating line.

None of that worked. So I just rewrote the song completely.

Now, I’m not sure you can rewrite a song if you use all the same words. I bet, though, that every folk musician from Woody Guthrie on down would probably disagree, but also wouldn’t want to let out their secret.

Anyway.

The music is completely different. Sounds like a a pop tune from a Romantic Comedy movie or something. And the words, while sort of retaining some similarity to the original, really end up changing the entire direction of what the song can be about. Or is about. Or should be about.

One of the great things about the original recording is that it has a bunch of different meanings. Anyone could think anything about it.

I knew what I wrote it about (sort of) when I wrote it. But, of course, after I sang it a few times and recorded it I realized it was about 4 or 5 completely different things.

This new version I’m not sure has that kind of depth. I guess I don’t really know, though, since I just redid it last night and really only listened to it a couple times. It’s more or less a love song now. Or that’s how I see it. It’s someone for someone else and that’s it. I think.

The original version wasn’t that.

Anyway. Have fun listening. Let me know what you think and come back tomorrow to hear the original recording.

Okay, here’s the new version of the song from this week last year. I cut out a lot of the excess that was getting in the way. I think that’s what was always wrong with this song to me. Too many words. So I chopped em right out. What’s left is a beginning to something else.

The original version (which you can listen to here) was really about 5 or 6 different songs anyway. Kinda a collection of starts and finishes to a bunch of different tunes. That’s probably why I couldn’t ever make it into one whole song.

So this is how it ended up. If anyone wants to take it and finish it off, go for it. I don’t think I’ve got any more to put into this one. The music and melody just kinda turned into what all my other songs are starting to sound like anyway.

And don’t forget to come out to Cafe Mustache tonight for the show I’m playing. Al Scorch‘ll be there shoutin’ and hollerin’. Music starts at 7:30pm and goes until 10:30pm. It’s absolutely free.

No better way to get warm on a cold cold night than a hot cup of coffee.

See ya there.

Here we go with another Replay Thursday. This week, last year I wrote and recorded and released “Pray to Your Lord.” It was a blues tune based on the song “Step It Up and Go” as performed by Blind Boy Fuller. I also put it on my album “Andrew Francis,” that came out in August. That album version is very closely similar to the original recording. Listen to the original here.

So this new recording is a lot different. It’s not in any way a blues tune anymore. And I rearranged most all of the words.

Well, wait. I just listened to it again. It’s still a blues tune. It’s just not a historical country blues tune. Doesn’t have that easy lazy flow to it. Sounds more like a song that I’d write out of the blue rather than when I steal the melody from some other song.

Anyway.

Here we go. Another Replay Thursday. This week last year I wrote, recorded and released “Take It, or Leave It;” another tune that made it onto my “Andrew Francis” album that I put out in August. The original recording is, again, pretty much the same as the album version. You can listen to it here.

Anyway. This new version is somewhat different. Other than it being a whole lot slower than the 2010 version, it’s also more of a ballad-type song instead of a blues-type song. There’s no repeating lines. It’s just all kinda stream-of-conscious, here-it-is-and-there-it-goes. Kinda rolls along real easy. Not frantic and worried like the original.

What do YOU think?

It’s Replay Thursday again, folks. This week last year I wrote this song, “Lawd Almighty.” I was deep into some serious James Baldwin novels at the time. Specifically, “Go Tell It on a Mountain.”

Anyway, that’s where this song came from. It also made it onto my full-length album that came out in August. You can hear the original version from 2010 right here. If you’ve heard me play out live over the past 6 months you’ve probably heard this one. It’s definitely one of my favorites to perform. And one of my favorites to play around the house for kicks.

The new version, for today, is a bit different. I rearranged the word order and the musical accompaniment a tad. So it’s got an altered feel. I’d say it’s more traditional Gospel tune and the original is more like a field howl. Both get a similar idea across, though.

In other news. Did you know the Barehand Jugband is playing tonight at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn? No? Well, you better get over there at 8pm. It’s only 5 dollars and there’s no better place in Chicagoland to see country music. Jon Williams Swing Group plays first, so we’ll go on about 9pm, probably. See ya there.