The Regular Friday Post
Rando Lyric: I did decide that very day
Last week’s rando lyrics: The lyric, “And all the drunks just stumble by” is from the song "What Am I Doing Here”, written by Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy and performed by the band Blue Rodeo. It is Track 2 on the album “Casino”, released in November of 1990 (or maybe June of 1991 - sources vary…) on the Risque Disque label. Produced by Pete Anderson.
Credit Wikipedia Link: Casino (album)
"What Am I Doing Here" is a song written and recorded by Canadian country rock group Blue Rodeo. Released in June 1991, it was the third single from their third album, Casino. The song peaked at number 33 on the RPM Country Tracks chart, number 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 41 on the Top Singles chart.”
Credit Wikipedia Link: "What Am I Doin Here"
Ed. - Though the song clearly poses a question, the title of the song does not include a question mark as punctuation, at least on Wikipedia, Genius, YouTube or Chordify….
Welcome to The Regular Friday post!
I learned of this band from our friend Paul Macko, who writes the fantastic Substack page “Deplatformable Newsletter" (linked) - go check out Paul’s always enjoyable posts about a little bit of everything!
Since Paul turned me on to them, “Blue Rodeo” has been a staple on my iPhone and in my head. Pure roots country, they’re a “must listen” to band for me.
From the Blue Rodeo bio on the “StubHub” Blue Rodeo tour tickets page:
“Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country-rock band from Toronto, Ontario. They debuted in 1987 with Outskirts, and to date, have released 15 full-length studio albums, 4 live albums and a compilation album. Their commercially best-selling album is October 1993’s Five Days In July which is certified 6x platinum in Canada. Frontmen Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy met in high school and after university, moved to New York City to chase their dreams. After a few unsuccessful attempts with bands, they moved back to Toronto in the mid-‘80s and formed what is now known as Blue Rodeo with Cleave Anderson (former drums player), Bobby Wiseman (former piano) and Bazil Donovan (bass). Blue Rodeo’s lineup changed several times throughout the years, with Keeler, Cuddy and Donovan being the only three original members to remain in the band. Timeline of members available here. Blue Rodeo have a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto, inducted in 2009. They were also inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2012, and received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2014 for “Lifetime Artistic Achievement.”
One of our first gigs in America was playing the Erie County Fair. The stage was outdoors and facing towards the midway and all that sort of stuff they have. The opening act was actually 8 local bands in a high school Battle Of The Bands—so there were a few hundred adolescent drunks stumbling and puking all over the place. By the time we went on, it was a depressing scene—the county fair and all the drunks—everybody had taken off with their high school buddies… so we just played to this wasteland sort of show and I’m standing up there just wondering what I’m doing there.
— Greg Keelor from the liner notes of their 1999 live album, Just a Vacation.
They’re touring in Canada now….Blue Rodeo Tour Dates
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Some Stuff:
A Song To Play:
4/4 common time, a very quick 187 BPM (Ed. yeah, definitely feels damn quick when I play attempt it with the video…), in the unusual Key of EMaj. Just gotta let you know: This is not an easy song to play!! Mighta had a few cowboy chord, moderate tempo Jackson Browne, Wilco type songs recently, but this is in a different category altogether. Don’t start out playing it with the YouTube video. Take it slow at first, feel the chord change pattern - 1 chord/4 beat measure, a different chord/4 beat measure, and then a third chord/4 beat two measure riff, and then it gets weird and changes all over the place. Start at a moderate pace that let’s you change to the barre chords and back smoothly, and then pick up the pace. It’s a challenge! If you have Chordify, you can transpose it to the Key of CMaj, or other less tasking keys, but it’s still going to be a monster at first. I’d recommend staying in EMaj, work up to some level of speed and challenge yourself a bit with the barre chords. But, you know…
…have fun!!
Chordify Link: What Am I Doing Here
Lyrics Genius Link: What Am I Doing Here
[Verse 1]
On this useless night
With you so far away
I stand in front of this ferris wheel
[Chorus]
And I wonder what am I doing here
And I wonder what am I doing here
[Verse 2]
And all the drunks just stumble by
And mumble their abuse
Tell me what is the use
[Chorus]
And I wonder what am I doing here
And I wonder what am I doing here
[Bridge]
After so long nobody's wrong
After so long nobody's right
After so long nobody's wrong
After so long nobody's right
[Verse 3]
On this useless night
With you so far away
I stand in front of this ferris wheel
[Chorus]
And I wonder what am I doing here
And I wonder what am I doing here
And I wonder what am I doing here
See Blue Rodeo Live (Ed- Get yer tickets here…)
The “ME!” Section…..
What I’m Listening2: - “This Is Odd Abnormalities”- 25 songs, some more playable than others… (Note - you may have to go to Ultimate Guitar or Chordify - subscriptions required, but worth it - to find chord charts for them)!
Shameless Self Promotion Section:
My song is out! Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify
If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!
Disclaimer Section
This Substack is free, I receive no compensation of any kind from companies or products I mention (except when you click on one of the links above for my song - then I might make 0.003 cents - yes 3/1000ths of a cent… just sayin…). Some linked or quoted material may be copyrighted by others, and I credit them. I rely on the “Fair Use” doctrine for educational purposes (Link: Fair Use). *I do not use AI for any of the text that’s found here, things I embed or link to (such as some images) might…
-Michael Acoustic
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This Week’s Conversation With Mika, The Cat:
Just a happy cat…
Cheers and keep playing!!
Michael Acoustic
“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”