The More Things Change....

I have an old friend in California. One of our mutual interests is music. One day back in the 70s, he started playing a 50s chord progression on his guitar and I came in with the bass. I made up some words, and we had a novelty song.

I was talking to him about a week ago, and he told me he tried singing the song to his wife, and she really enjoyed it. However, my friend did not know all of the words. I said I would email them.

As I was emailing the lyrics, I realized that I did not know the chord progression because I had never really played it. He didn’t know the words because he never sang them. I picked up my guitar and figured out the chords.

From time to time I email my friend some YouTube links of songs. One of the songs I emailed him recently was a little known Doo Wop song called “High on a Hill” by Scott English. I picked up my guitar and tried to play that song as well. That progression was mighty familiar – it was the same as the one as in our little novelty song.

Anyone who has picked up a guitar and played more than three songs knows that there are certain chord progressions that happen over and over again.

With that recent experience in mind, I especially enjoyed this video a friend had posted on FaceBook. I hope you enjoy it as well. By the way, it sounds like the same chords as our song, just in a different order.


(Language mildly NSFW)