for those about to rock

I just downloaded a song from iTunes in preparation for an iPod purchase sometime in the near future, which is in turn a part of the preparations for… something I’ll tell you about later. And while listening to this particular piece of rock n’ roll, I couldn’t help but whisper “damn! what a song!”

This song was popular when I was in middle school and just learning to play the guitar. One of the first things my teacher taught me was the classic three chord rhythm part to the chorus. “Woah!” I said to Dave, my teacher, as he played it. I then made him teach me; I think there was some strategy at work on Dave’s part. This short bit of guitar is the very essence of the song. It rocks hard and is quite simple to play. Maybe you can’t name the tune yet, but you definitely know this song and the guitar lick I’m talking about.  “My friends are going to freak out” I said, playing it over and over with Dave.

And freak they did. At the first possible opportunity I plugged in an amp (I had formed a band with my friends so that these opportunities were frequent). At one of our rehearsals I casually tossed off this mystery lick, looking down at the guitar in concentration so as not to miss a thing. Then I made like I was about to get back to business. Preparing to give a four count intro to our next song, I looked around the room at my friends who had remained strangely quiet after my display of guitar prowess. Here was the reason for that silence. They all were sitting in place, stunned, mouths wide open. Remember, we were middle schoolers (most of us; one of the band members was actually a fifth grader at the time). “Dude! That rocks! You can play that?” someone said.

So I started playing the three chords again and they clapped in time, and we all sang the chorus together…

 

 

 

 

Well I’m takin’ my time
I’m just movin’ along
You’ll forget about me after I’ve been gone.
And I take what I find
I don’t want no more
It’s just outside of your front door

 

Damn. What a song!