"The Guardian" now available on CD Baby

Hi everybody,

My original song "The Guardian" is now available for sale on CD Baby. You can buy it at this link:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/andyhoskinson

I wrote this song to celebrate the brave men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces in defense of our country. This song is based on my personal experiences as a U.S. Army veteran, and it paints a poignant picture of what it is like for a soldier to leave his family behind to fight a war in a distant land.

Here's the official music video for this song. Enjoy!



Lyrics:

Verse 1

It was a hot sunny day in Fort Hood
I got a call like I knew I would
There's trouble brewing in a foreign land
They need us to come lend a helping hand

I gathered my gear and said goodbye to my spouse
With a tear in my eye I walked out of my house
Off to the airfield and got on a plane
Wondering if I'd ever see my son again.

Chorus (repeat 2x)

I am the Guardian I answer my country's call
To keep my country safe I stand on a wall
On a wall so you can sleep at night
But at the end of the day I know my country will treat me right

Verse 2

For six long months we stayed and stayed
We knew it would be tough, many dues to be paid
War is mostly boredom with some terror thrown in
But you never know what will happen until the fighting begins

We missed our families and we missed our wives
We couldn't wait to get on with our lives
We gave blood, sweat, and tears to the gods of war
But we never forgot what we were fighting for

Chorus (repeat 2x)

We are the Guardians we answer our country's call
To keep our country safe we stand on a wall
On a wall so you can sleep at night
But at the end of the day we know our country will treat us right

Copyright (c) 2009-2010, Andy Hoskinson - All rights reserved

YouTube censorship and false copyright claims

Ok folks, it's official: YouTube has finally "jumped the shark."

I received a message today that YouTube is claiming a COPYRIGHT VIOLATION on my rendition of the 150 year old Christmas hymn "Silent Night" on behalf of an entity entitled "Music Publishing Rights Collecting Society," which is not even a real legal entity as far as I can tell. Here's the video in dispute:




This is BULLSHIT. First of all, "Silent Night" was composed over 150 years ago, and is well within the realm of "public domain" in any jurisdiction on Earth. The music was written by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818, and the English language lyrics were written by John Freeman Young in 1859, so any copyright on the musical composition expired a long time ago.

In my rendition, I used my own arrangement, comprising of an acoustic guitar track and a harmonica track (a Hohner Blues Harp in the key of A). All music was performed, recorded, mixed, and mastered solely by me in my home studio, and the three vocal tracks were all my vocals.

I suspect the reason why YouTube made the copyright claim was due to the fact that my video was flagged by their automated "Content ID" software, and no human even looked at it. So, to that extent, it might just be a software error. Nevertheless, my rights to free speech as an American citizen should not be infringed upon due to YouTube's inability to write software that actually works properly. As far as I can tell, it is a violation of the DMCA to make a false copyright infringement claim, with substantial statutory penalties, and I reserve all rights to take appropriate future action along those lines.

Of course I am contesting this claim. If you agree that this is a completely ridiculous action on the part of Youtube, please post a message of support below.

Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

Living in Interesting Times (Original song)

Here's a song I wrote. It's an alternative folk song about living in this day and age. I hope you enjoy it.



Lyrics:

On the road there's a hiding place
That brings me back to outer space
And says to me win another race
And I pray to God give me a happy face

On the sea there's a leaky ship
That snaps the waves just like a whip
I hold my loved ones to my hip
And I pray to God we don't take a dip

The man on the TV says to me
We are living in interesting times
I don't know what the hell that means
That phrase to me isn't worth a dime

There's a bird up in the air
Who flies along without a care
She sings a song that sounds quite rare
A sound quite beautiful to be fair

There's a fox down on the ground
Who hunts the bird without a sound
He'll get the bird if she can be found
But he better watch out for the righteous hound

The man on the TV says to me
We are living in interesting times
It doesn't mean that much to me
That phrase to me isn't worth a dime

There's a storm up in the sky
A sight so ugly you want to cry
Makes you hope that you don't die
But you'll make it through if you try

There's a rainbow far away
We'll try to get there any way
Without a doubt there are dues we will pay
But we'll wait till tomorrow, it's a new day

The man on the TV says to me
We are living in interesting times
I don't know what the hell that means
That phrase to me isn't worth a dime

Copyright (c) Andy Hoskinson, All Rights Reserved

How to play "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" by Jimmy Buffett

This is my version of Jimmy Buffett's classic island escapism song on acoustic guitar. This song is played in the key of D, using just three chords: D, G, and A. Check out the video below, grab your guitar and play along. Enjoy!

My eight-year-old daughter hates Viacom

Hi folks,

Sorry to get off-topic, but something happened the other day that shocked me and I felt obliged to write about it.

The other day, my eight year old daughter came up to me in tears. I asked her why she was crying.

"Daddy, I HATE Viacom!" she exclaimed.

"Why do you hate Viacom?" I asked. "How do you even know what Viacom is?"

As it turns out, my daughter had seen a fan video on YouTube that had been created by some other kid. My daughter loved this video and would watch it frequently. Unfortunately, this video contained a small clip of content owned by Viacom.

One day, Viacom issued a DMCA takedown order and the video was removed from YouTube. My daughter was brokenhearted. Through sobs, she explained what happened and how much she hated Viacom. She also went on to express another startling view:

"Daddy, copyrights are evil!"

What's the lesson in all this?

Companies like Viacom are so busy trying to squeeze every nickel out of their intellectual property that they can't see how badly they are losing the hearts and minds of today's young generation.

Here's a case where a young girl (and probably a thousand other young children) now hate Viacom, and for what? So Viacom can prevent some other teenaged "outlaw" from using a relatively small amount of their content in a non-commercial, minute-long video?

Meanwhile, they are irreparably damaging their brand with a new crop of voters and consumers.

Now, I work in software and I am also a songwriter, so I respect the value of intellectual property as much as the next person. But I also understand marketing and public relations, and it shocks me to see companies like Viacom ravage their long-term reputations and brands just so they can make a few extra bucks today.

What they should realize is that it's a new world out there, requiring new business models for media and entertainment. I really wish they would smarten up and find a better way to make money than gratuitously upsetting young children who just want to watch a cheesy YouTube video once in a while.

How to play "He Went to Paris" by Jimmy Buffett

This song is played in the key of A, using the following chords: A, D, and E (simple I-IV-V chord progression). You can also play it by capoing the guitar at the 2nd fret and playing G, C, and D. Enjoy!

How to play "Growing Older But Not Up" by Jimmy Buffett

I always loved the hook in this song: "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."

I'm playing it in the key of D, using the following chords: D, G, and A (simple I-IV-V chord progression). Jimmy usually plays it in E, which can be accomplished by simply capoing the guitar at the 2nd fret.

Enjoy!

How to play "The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band

"The Joker" is the title track of the 1973 Steve Miller Band album of the same name. This is my acoustic cover, played on my Martin XC1T. This song uses a simple I-IV-V-IV-I chord progression. Steve Miller normally plays it in the key of G:

I - G
IV - C
V - D
IV - C
I - G

I'm playing it in the key of D to match my vocal range:


I - D
IV - G
V - A
IV - G
I - D

Here's what it sounds like when I play it:



Enjoy!

How to play "Turn the Page" from Bob Seger

This is my acoustic cover of Bob Seger's classic 1973 song about the trials and tribulations of a musician's life on the road. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed playing it. It's an easy song to play, four easy chords: Em, D, A, and C. This song has also been covered by many other artists, including Waylon Jennings, Metallica, and Kid Rock.

How to play "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd on acoustic guitar

Today's lesson will show you how to play Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic tune Freebird on acoustic guitar. This is a great rock song, usually played with Skynyrd's three electric guitar attack, but sounds great using a solo acoustic arrangement, IMHO. Here are the chords you need: G, D, Em, F, C, and back to D. Just loop through that chord progression and you are good to go. The video below shows how it sounds when I play it. Just one note, for those of you who want to play along: I have my guitar tuned down a full step to match my vocal range (DGCFAD vs. EADGBE). Enjoy!

How to play "Daughters" by John Mayer

For my next lesson, I wanted to do a contemporary song, so I selected "Daughters" by John Mayer. This is a great song, somewhat hard to play, but as a father with a daughter, I can definitely relate to the song's lyrics and it just feels right playing it. I didn't have the sheet music, so I played it by ear. I played this chord progression for the verses and chorus: Bm7, Em7, A7, and D. For the bridge, I played F, D#, D, Bm7, Em7, A7, then back to F, A, then repeat the Bm7-Em7-A7-D chord progression - piece of cake! You should also know that I used a non-standard tuning (DGCFAD) on my guitar to help me hit those high notes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

How to play three classic Toddler songs

In this article, I'll teach you how to play three classic toddler songs: "Farmer in the Dell," "The More We Get Together," and "Happy and You Know It." As you can see from the embedded video, it's always a hit playing these songs to a roomful of kids.

All three of these songs use a simple I-IV-V chord progression. The way I play it is in the key of E, capoing the guitar at the second fret and fingering the following chords to match my vocal range:

I - D

IV - G

V - A

Of course, you can play these songs in a different key if you wish, e.g. the key of G would be the following chords without a capo:

I - G

IV - C

V - D

On the first two songs ("Farmer in the Dell" and "The More We Get Together") you only need two chords: I and V (D and A in my arrangement). Check out the video below and you'll see what I mean.

Enjoy!

My Original Music

Hi everybody,

I created a download site where you can sample, free of charge, some of my original songs. Please go to http://hoskinson.net/music/ and check it out, and feel free to download my songs in MP3 format. Thanks!