Take Me To The River, and Talking In My Head

THE TALKING HEADS were an amazing band. They played quirky songs and were flat-out funky. They put on great live shows. They were strange and weird and experimental, but they figured out the whole melody thing. I cannot stand bands that make noise just to make noise, and wail and cry instead of tell a story through song.

The other day I heard "Take Me To The River" and figured it might make a good guitar lesson song. I am an average guitar player but I can figure stuff out fairly quickly, and this is a great song.

I encourage students to pick a song to learn. It's great ear training and it's fun to see a student discover the joy of playing something they like and identify with. So the past two days I've unleashed Take Me To The River on two students, both young, both completely oblivious to whacky 80s rock.

One loved it. The other wasn't so sure. Maybe it will grow on her.

Uh oh. "I've got some groceries, some peanut butter ...." Crap. Now I have another Talking Heads song talking in my head. The power of music!