Rock Band / Jimmy Went Down to Georgia

[SunChild]

Got a kick out this article about the new video game Rock Band:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...7/DDGNTHTE7.DTL

Speaking of buying your soul back from the devil, it reminded me of this, to be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/lvelynora/georgia.html

JIMMY WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA

(or how jimmy got his les paul)

~dedicated to Allison, the greatest Coyote of them all~

Jimmy went down to Georgia

Because he had the blues

He'd run away with his guitar on his back

And was looking for his muse

The devil went down to Georgia too

He was looking for a soul to steal

He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind

And he was willing to make a deal

When he came across little Jimmy

Grooving on his guitar and playing it hot

The devil jumped up on a hickory stump

And said, "Boy, let me tell you what

"I guess you didn't know it

But I'm a mean guitarist too

And if you'd care to take a dare

I'll make a bet with you

"Now you play some rocking riffs, boy

But give the devil his due

I bet a Les Paul of gold against your soul

'Cause I think I'm better than you"

The devil was making such a ruckus

He got the attention of some Crowes

They were getting tall and having a ball

And flew down to watch the show

The Crowes were eating grits and offered some

To the devil and little Jim

Jim ate a big bowl but the devil said "No"

He had never really cared for them

Jim didn't answer the devil right away

He sat down with the little Crowe Chris

And they read all the comics out loud, one by one

-Now the devil was getting pissed

"I'm asking you one more time, boy

But if you leave this offer alone

The next time I cut you a deal, boy

It will be with an Epiphone!"

Now this got little Jimmy riled

And his eyes flashed glowing red

He wanted the Les Paul more than life itself

But was filled with a crippling dread

He had a cold and his hair was a mess

And he was afraid he had lost his touch

And one of his fingers had been smashed

And he couldn't use it much

But little Chris cawed "You can do it!"

And little Sullen thought so too

And little Kate got all squinty and cute

And said, "We believe in you"

So Weird Old Ed gave Jim some weed

And little Steve said "Make us proud!"

Jim took a puff and noticed that

There were MIDGETS, man...out in the crowd

Then he took a big swig of J.D.

And soaked his hurt finger in it too

Then he looked at the devil and laughed

Because he was no longer blue!

He said, "My name's Jimmy Page

And like Nietzche, I don't believe in sin

So I'll take your bet, and you will quite regret

For I'm the best that's ever been"

Jimmy you resin up your bow

And play your guitar hard

'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia

And the devil deals the cards

And if you win

Then you get this shiny guitar made of gold

But if you lose

The devil gets your soul

The devil opened up his case

And said, "I'll start this show"

And fire flew from his fingertips

As he resined up his bow

And as he pulled the bow across the strings

It made an evil hiss

Then a band of demons joined in-

"CHEATER!" shouted big-mouthed Chris

Now this turned the devil really red

And the demons raced back to Hell

But the devil laughed with fire on his breath

Because he was still playing very well

When the devil finished Jimmy said

"Indeed, you're rather good, old son

But sit up in that tree right there

And let me show you how it's done"

So the devil sat up there with the Crowes

And couldn't see over Chris' beak

He though maybe Jimmy had chickened out

When he heard an unearthly shriek---

He played Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true

Black Mountain Side Since I've Been Loving You

Whole Lotta Love on a Stairway to Heaven

Eight whole minutes of Ultimate Guitar Solo Weaven

Well Jimmy's fingers flashed like lightning

Over his telecaster '58

And his bow was useless by now

But he still sounded great

Jimmy was dripping in sweat

As he threw his bow to the ground

A curvy smile was on his lips

And no one made a sound

The devil bowed his head

Because he knew that he'd been beat

And he laid that gold top Les Paul

On the ground at Jimmy's feet

Jimmy said, "Devil, please do come back

if you ever want to try again!"

"But he told you once," added Rich, "You son of a bitch

He's the best that's ever been!"

He played Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true

Black Mountain Side Since I've Been Loving You

Whole Lotta Love on a Stairway to Heaven

8 whole minutes of Ultimate Guitar Solo Weaven

So they all went off to celebrate

And found a little place

The devil sat in a corner booth

With a beer and shame all over his face

Everyone was tall and grooving

With little Coyote Groupies dancing on the bar

Little Miss P and little Cinderella

Told Jimmy he was such a big star!

Jimmy looked at the devil and said with a smile

"You really should have known-

You could have never got my soul in the first place

As it's already been sold to Jones!"

[MadScreamingGallery]

Got a kick out this article about the new video game Rock Band:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...7/DDGNTHTE7.DTL

Speaking of buying your soul back from the devil, it reminded me of this, to be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/lvelynora/georgia.html

That second one is a keeper! You've got to love the reference to Nietzsche:

He said, "My name's Jimmy Page

And like Nietzche, I don't believe in sin

Nietzsche, who also said, "In heaven, all the interesting people are missing".

[guitarmy]

I liked these two comments on the first article:

popa wrote:

Finally, somebody's finally said the embarrassingly obvious. For the same amount of money you could buy a guitar, learn how to play it, join a band, and have a great time. Oh, but wait, that would take patience, dedication and, oh yeah, talent. Better to pose as if you had talent so people can admire you in your lie. So absolutely and completely pathetic.

Posted 11/27/2007 1:41:00 AM

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jinsai wrote:

I'm a musician and I also love these kinds of games. They train sight reading skills/coordination and timing. Contrary to what the reviewer implies, the microphone does require the singer to be on key, although it allows you to sing in any octave. The guitar actually makes your hand form octave, power, and power octave positions, and it exercises your finger muscles and activates general muscle memory. The drums absolutely reinforce timing and offer an obvious application to real world drumming... in fact, it's only a matter of time till these devices are turned into midi controllers. It's also really fun. The people mocking the gamers and insisting that they're just too lazy to play a real instrument probably don't play any themselves. If they did, they'd have a harder time avoiding the parallels. I know some kids who actually started playing guitar because they enjoyed Guitar Hero. The real losers here are people like "popa" who like to mock kids for playing a game.

[SunChild]

I liked these two comments on the first article:

popa wrote:

Finally, somebody's finally said the embarrassingly obvious. For the same amount of money you could buy a guitar, learn how to play it, join a band, and have a great time. Oh, but wait, that would take patience, dedication and, oh yeah, talent. Better to pose as if you had talent so people can admire you in your lie. So absolutely and completely pathetic.

Posted 11/27/2007 1:41:00 AM

Recommend (4)Report Abuse

jinsai wrote:

I'm a musician and I also love these kinds of games. They train sight reading skills/coordination and timing. Contrary to what the reviewer implies, the microphone does require the singer to be on key, although it allows you to sing in any octave. The guitar actually makes your hand form octave, power, and power octave positions, and it exercises your finger muscles and activates general muscle memory. The drums absolutely reinforce timing and offer an obvious application to real world drumming... in fact, it's only a matter of time till these devices are turned into midi controllers. It's also really fun. The people mocking the gamers and insisting that they're just too lazy to play a real instrument probably don't play any themselves. If they did, they'd have a harder time avoiding the parallels. I know some kids who actually started playing guitar because they enjoyed Guitar Hero. The real losers here are people like "popa" who like to mock kids for playing a game.

Kind of glad to hear that. There's nothing wrong with having fun playing a game, and one that's about music is a thousand times better than one that's about the highest body count.

Still, don't you agree that there is a difference between fun, and happiness? Isn't playing your real instrument more rewarding?

[SunChild]

That second one is a keeper! You've got to love the reference to Nietzsche:

He said, "My name's Jimmy Page

And like Nietzche, I don't believe in sin

Nietzsche, who also said, "In heaven, all the interesting people are missing".

Ain't that the truth.

I also really love this one, it's such a non-sequitur, and so 70's:

So Weird Old Ed gave Jim some weed

And little Steve said "Make us proud!"

Jim took a puff and noticed that

There were MIDGETS, man...out in the crowd

[MadScreamingGallery]

Kind of glad to hear that. There's nothing wrong with having fun playing a game, and one that's about music is a thousand times better than one that's about the highest body count.

Still, don't you agree that there is a difference between fun, and happiness? Isn't playing your real instrument more rewarding?

My son has played guitar since he was in middle school. He always had an assortment of guitars and amps and a variety of guitar-related paraphernalia around the house. He doesn't play professionally but, now that he is away at school (and brought all that stuff with him), he said that, for him, one of the best ways to relax and de-stress is by playing his guitars. I don't think that he would get the same effect from playing a guitar game.

I rather miss having all his guitar stuff around the house, though.

Ain't that the truth.

I also really love this one, it's such a non-sequitur, and so 70's:

So Weird Old Ed gave Jim some weed

And little Steve said "Make us proud!"

Jim took a puff and noticed that

There were MIDGETS, man...out in the crowd

Indeed. Very 70's.

Edited for typos.

[guitarmy]

Kind of glad to hear that. There's nothing wrong with having fun playing a game, and one that's about music is a thousand times better than one that's about the highest body count.

Yeah I know, right?

If you read more of the comments you'll see a lot of parents saying that.

Still, don't you agree that there is a difference between fun, and happiness? Isn't playing your real instrument more rewarding?

most definitely. I've done both, and probably barely scratched the surface as far as real guitar goes.

Even so, it is definitely more rewarding.

...

But because I see them as two separate worlds, I tend to do both.

At this point though, both are fun. The context of happiness in playing guitar included making a living off doing it. I don't have any gigs so I suppose, according to the theory, I'm still just having fun with both and I'm not really happy?

The theory depends on payment, which most happiness theories don't normally. But I think I get it though.

...

The interesting thing is that rock band/guitar hero tend to influence my guitar playing.

I'm not sure how to explain it, but after playing the songs in the video games and concentrating on certain parts, I tend to have more of an awareness of the song that I wouldn't have without the video game.

That's what I mean by one influencing the other. That's even apart from me playing songs in the game on my real guitar.

[Nathan]

First off... f'ing sweet lyrics! I posted them to Planet Zeppelin... had to.

As far as Guitar Hero/Rock Band

I actually like the games, but I can't play them to save my life. However, I'm a guitarist.

Actually this is really wierd, but... all the guitarists I know personally cannot play Guitar Hero or Rock Band no matter how hard they try. But everyone I know who plays those games don't play guitar or whatever other instruments they are mimicking in the game. Of course, that's off line personal experience, so it probably isn't true for most people.

I just probably can't play them because I just don't play them often at all. But because of personal experience it seems I can't play them because I play guitar, and the Guitar Hero/Rock Band guitar is quite different (basically, with real guitar, you aren't pressing buttons)

[Henrik]

I plan on using Guitar Hero to start playing righ handed. Improve my coordination, then try with my Tele. It can be real frustrating being a lefty, so for now I'm playing guitar upside down. (Pretty well too IMO)

It's a real useful tool for me, it has already helped my coordination lots., I can almost play Smoke on the Water right handed now.

[SunChild]

The interesting thing is that rock band/guitar hero tend to influence my guitar playing.

I'm not sure how to explain it, but after playing the songs in the video games and concentrating on certain parts, I tend to have more of an awareness of the song that I wouldn't have without the video game.

That's what I mean by one influencing the other. That's even apart from me playing songs in the game on my real guitar.

That's neat.

[SunChild]

My son has played guitar since he was in middle school. He always had an assortment of guitars and amps and a variety of guitar-related paraphernalia around the house. He doesn't play professionally but, now that he is away at school (and brought all that stuff with him), he said that, for him, one of the best ways to relax and de-stress is by playing his guitars. I don't think that he would get the same effect from playing a guitar game.

I rather miss having all his guitar stuff around the house, though.

Indeed. Very 70's.

Edited for typos.

Cool, about your son. So when he comes home, does he bring his guitar and play for you?

What I want to know is... where'd the crowd come from? (I mean that had to be some good shit!)

[SunChild]

First off... f'ing sweet lyrics! I posted them to Planet Zeppelin... had to.

As far as Guitar Hero/Rock Band

I actually like the games, but I can't play them to save my life. However, I'm a guitarist.

Actually this is really wierd, but... all the guitarists I know personally cannot play Guitar Hero or Rock Band no matter how hard they try. But everyone I know who plays those games don't play guitar or whatever other instruments they are mimicking in the game. Of course, that's off line personal experience, so it probably isn't true for most people.

I just probably can't play them because I just don't play them often at all. But because of personal experience it seems I can't play them because I play guitar, and the Guitar Hero/Rock Band guitar is quite different (basically, with real guitar, you aren't pressing buttons)

Cool. I need to wander over to PZ, sometime...

It's got to be better to know how to play a guitar, than a guitar game...

[MadScreamingGallery]

Cool, about your son. So when he comes home, does he bring his guitar and play for you?

What I want to know is... where'd the crowd come from? (I mean that had to be some good shit!)

No, he's only home on school break so he doesn't haul all the guitars and all of the related paraphernalia back here. On his most recent visit, he did bring me TSRTS CD and the issue of Guitar World with Jimmy on the cover.

Very good indeed!

[SunChild]

No, he's only home on school break so he doesn't haul all the guitars and all of the related paraphernalia back here. On his most recent visit, he did bring me TSRTS CD and the issue of Guitar World with Jimmy on the cover.

Very good indeed!

What a great son! That's treating your mom right.

[Angel With A Broken Wing]

Oh man, I would have been sooo into those games if they had been around when I was young. I did play a mean air guitar afterall, if I must say so myself. As well as having aspirations of being the next Pinball Wizard. Still can't pass a vintage Bally without getting an itchy flipper finger.

And Dance-Dance-Revolution....I would have LOVED that.....just the thing for those nights I couldn't afford cover charge at the disco.

Ah, you folks are getting me all nostalgic, those were the days!