Where I Wanna Be

[Mark A Becker]

Chords and lyrics to my latest song, inspired by a visit to my brother's place in Berkeley Springs, WV:

Where I Wanna Be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Heading for the hills
A: Hikin with my dog
D: Where I wanna be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Down a dirt road
A: I just wanna go
D: Where I wanna be

  G: West by God
  D: You will find me
  A: West by God
  D: Where I wanna be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Sittin on the porch
A: Fishin on the pond
D: Where I wanna be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Walking in the woods
A: Walking by the creek
D: Where I wanna be

  G: West by God
  D: You will find me
  A: West by God
  D: Where I wanna be

  G: West by God
  D: If yer lookin for me
  A: Gone west by God
  D: Where I wanna be
  A (rit): West by God
  D: Where I wanna be

[TranquillityBase]

Mark,

Wish I had the musical training to enjoy that part, sounds like you found a lot of places "to be" in a Zen sense on that visit.  I can feel it.

[Mark A Becker]

Mark,

Wish I had the musical training to enjoy that part, sounds like you found a lot of places "to be" in a Zen sense on that visit.  I can feel it.

Hey Tim- this song seemed to be waiting for me in the woods by the screened porch, and I just let it have it's say. Funny how that happens.

It's a butt simple tune, and as they say, "three chords and the truth."

Just what happens when hanging out with brothers and dogs.

I ain't no big-timey musician, but I do appreciate it when a good song finds me.

[Knot]

.
Hi Mark,
'butt simple' does the job

Can you not do better the the repetition of 'where I wanna be'?

A couple of thoughts


Where I Wanna Be


D: Where I wanna be
G: Headin for the ____hills
A: Spring in Appalachia
D: Where I wanna be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Out there on the dirt roads
A: Hikin with my ____ dog
D: Where I wanna be

  G: West by God
  D: You will find me
  A: West by God
  D: Where I wanna be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Slow among the deep woods
A: Stoppin by the clear springs
D: Where I wanna be

D: Where I wanna be
G: Sittin on the back porch
A: Fishin in the old pond
D: Where I wanna be

  G: West by God
  D: You will find me
  A: West by God
  D: Where I wanna be

  G: West by God .....................does this line have to be sung?
  D: If yer lookin for me
  A: Gone west by God
  D: Where I wanna be
  A (rit): West by God

  D: Where I wanna be

Best, Knot

.

[Mark A Becker]

Thanks Knot, but this one is already out there, and only shared on MISC as a 'done song'.  The repetition may read strange, but it sure sounds right.  It's a simple song, not a poem.

Too bad you weren't hangin out with me and the boys when this one went around the horn, because that would have given you a chance to weigh-in, in the moment.  Messing with 'butt simple' is most often a foolish endeavour, and I'm "where I wanna be" with this one.

Since I got this mutt home, my wife, son, and daughter-in-law have gotten attached to it.  So, as long as they're keen to it, I'm lettin it be.

(ps- If this were a poem then I'd be much more open to changes, but it ain't, so I'm not- at least not yet, Knot.)

...Mark

[Erthona]

I finally figured out that the D: G: D: A: etc., are chords. Of course it is in D major. About as simple as one can get, except maybe in "C", and who can sing in "C",. and only then if you're on the piano and not the guitar.

best,

dale

[RiverNotch]

It's a song. I post songs in potd, but at this point I just trust the interested find the original, or a decent cover. This one---any recordings you can grace us with?

I feel like "I just wanna go / where I wanna be" should be a refrain just before the chorus. Switch out the two "Walkin" lines with a different image + "I just wanna go". And, possibly, slightly change the second line overall so that you're already on the hills, like "Headin up the hills".

Analytical note: why "West by God"? I imagine we're all west *of* God, as he's like the sun to us, but that ain't what you sayin. A cursory interpretation here's God's another direction, like north by northwest, perhaps a sort of transcendent east, but still, why *west*? My leaning-to-the-east mind is puzzled xD I'd love to hear your reason, or *anecdotal* lack thereof

[Mark A Becker]

It's a song. I post songs in potd, but at this point I just trust the interested find the original, or a decent cover. This one---any recordings you can grace us with?

I feel like "I just wanna go / where I wanna be" should be a refrain just before the chorus. Switch out the two "Walkin" lines with a different image + "I just wanna go". And, possibly, slightly change the second line overall so that you're already on the hills, like "Headin up the hills".

Analytical note: why "West by God"? I imagine we're all west *of* God, as he's like the sun to us, but that ain't what you sayin. A cursory interpretation here's God's another direction, like north by northwest, perhaps a sort of transcendent east, but still, why *west*? My leaning-to-the-east mind is puzzled xD I'd love to hear your reason, or *anecdotal* lack thereof

Hey Notch-
You've got some good suggestions. Have not recorded this yet, only done "live", though I think my son may have recorded with his phone.  Anywho, playing this "live" is all I'm intersted at this point because at my age I'm just glad to still get ideas (well past 60 now).

West by God, as in West by God Virginia, meaning West Virginia.  That phrase to describe WVa has been around in the USA for who really knows how long, with the emphasis on "By God." 

Good explanantion below:
"The use of “by God” in language dates back to the Anglo-Saxons, but it became common place in the 1600s, according to Eric Waggoner, the executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council. Waggoner is also a retired history of English teacher.

Waggoner said “by God” has always been used as a way to emphasize something. He sees the inclusion of it in “West by God Virginia” as an expression of pride, when so much of the world perceives West Virginia in a negative light."

[RiverNotch]

Ooh, thanks!
Well clearly I don't really know anything about West Virginia xD but if a state was formed due to its distaste for slavery, and if somethin like Logan Lucky was able to be set in it, then it's got potential xD

[Mark A Becker]

Ooh, thanks!
Well clearly I don't really know anything about West Virginia xD but if a state was formed due to its distaste for slavery, and if somethin like Logan Lucky was able to be set in it, then it's got potential xD

West Virginia declared its separation from Virginia to become its own state in 1861, at the start of the American Civil War,. It was officially admitted to the Union as a state on June 20, 1863. It entered the Union while still legally practicing slavery, and was actually one of the last states to abolish slavery, in 1865. 

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 only applied to the rebellious Confederate States as it was considered unconstitutional to abolish slavery in the United States, without first passing an official Ammendment to the US Constitution.  WVa sided with the Union (North), as did other slave-holding states such as Maryland and Delaware.

The Emancipation Proclamation also intended to keep European conutries, such as Britain (key traders for Southern goods) from officially recognizing, and possibly supporting the Confederate States, by appealing to European antislavery sentiments.

The US Civil War needed to end before slavery was officially abolished in the re-United States, and the US Congress in 1865 passed the 13th Ammendment.  Texas was the last slave state reached by the Union army, on June 19, 1865.  June 19th, aka JUNETEENTH, became a US Federal holiday on June 15, 2021.  Interestingly, Texas has been observing JUNTEENTH as a State holiday for more than 40 years; since 1980.

Slavery, and on-going racial tension in the United States, has a very complicated history.

[RiverNotch]

ah, i was misinformed about west virginia's origins xD

[Tiger the Lion]

Thanks Knot, but this one is already out there, and only shared on MISC as a 'done song'.  The repetition may read strange, but it sure sounds right.  It's a simple song, not a poem.

Too bad you weren't hangin out with me and the boys when this one went around the horn, because that would have given you a chance to weigh-in, in the moment.  Messing with 'butt simple' is most often a foolish endeavour, and I'm "where I wanna be" with this one.

Since I got this mutt home, my wife, son, and daughter-in-law have gotten attached to it.  So, as long as they're keen to it, I'm lettin it be.

(ps- If this were a poem then I'd be much more open to changes, but it ain't, so I'm not- at least not yet, Knot.)

...Mark

Hey Mark, you and I have had this conversation before about "once it's out there", so I absolutely respect that. My nit is that without you first telling us about a trip to VA, there's no real context to decipher "west by God" I wonder if you could do something with the title and still preserve the song exactly as it is? 

... I have a vacation day tomorrow so I'm gonna take a shot at this. 3 chords is my zone. 
Paul

Edit: I've since googled west by God, but I was prompted more by the comments than the content of my first few reads.

[RiverNotch]

Thanks Knot, but this one is already out there, and only shared on MISC as a 'done song'.  The repetition may read strange, but it sure sounds right.  It's a simple song, not a poem.

Too bad you weren't hangin out with me and the boys when this one went around the horn, because that would have given you a chance to weigh-in, in the moment.  Messing with 'butt simple' is most often a foolish endeavour, and I'm "where I wanna be" with this one.

Since I got this mutt home, my wife, son, and daughter-in-law have gotten attached to it.  So, as long as they're keen to it, I'm lettin it be.

(ps- If this were a poem then I'd be much more open to changes, but it ain't, so I'm not- at least not yet, Knot.)

...Mark

Hey Mark, you and I have had this conversation before about "once it's out there", so I absolutely respect that. My nit is that without you first telling us about a trip to VA, we have no context to decipher "west by God" I wonder if you could do something with the title and still preserve the song exactly as it is? 

... I have a vacation day tomorrow so I'm gonna take a shot at this. 3 chords is my zone. 
Paul

Edit: I've since googled west by God, but I was prompted more by the comments than the content of my first few reads.

title it "Take Me Home, Country Roads" xD

[Bunx]

It is a cool tune idea. I hear it like a folk anthem, that bounces around. I picture a simple finger picked chords, maybe in the DADGAD tuning.

D: Where I wanna be
G: Heading for the hills
A: Hikin with my dog
D: Where I wanna be ----I'd change up that hook. Think of different phrases to keep the listener on the toes potentially "What I wanna see" with the tune around in the next phrase "where I wanna be"

D: Where I wanna be
G: Down a dirt road
A: I just wanna go
D: Where I wanna be

G: West by God
D: You will find me
A: West by God
D: Where I wanna be -----I want to throw out the same suggestion I made earlier, maybe along the lines of "What I wanna do"

D: Where I wanna be
G: Sittin on the porch
A: Fishin on the pond
D: Where I wanna be ------Maybe "Things I wanna sing"

D: Where I wanna be
G: Walking in the woods
A: Walking by the creek
D: Where I wanna be

G: West by God
D: You will find me
A: West by God ----Maybe take a chance to give the listeners a clue to this metaphor in the song. like "West Virginia is / Where I want to be"
D: Where I wanna be

G: West by God
D: If yer lookin for me
A: Gone west by God
D: Where I wanna be
A (rit): West by God
D: Where I wanna be

I feel like as a song starting the verse and chorus with the same chord (D) is a solid choice. Though what im craving on the surface looking at this song is a bridge or a bridge that sounds like a refrain. Simple is solid, but I feel like all a little spice with a fun bridge that starts with G heck maybe has an E in there.

Love the idea and take every song suggestion with a healthy dose of salt, or sugar. Songs are a fun medium.