Freebird

That came on the radio the other day. I hadn't heard it in a while. What a fantastic song. The music is grand. It's got highs and lows. It's got dynamics. It's soothing. It's exciting. The lyrics are fantastic and Mr. Van Zandt sang his ass off on that tune.

It's a shame the song has gotten this awful stigma by awful bar bands.

It is a truly beautiful and exciting tune. Of course everybody *thinks* they can play it - they're wrong. Playing Freebird WELL is not so simple. Sure you all know how to play the coupla pentatonic riffs in G.

There's more to it than that though.

It's hard to explain.

But I've seen so many people absolutely butcher that tune and you could tell by the looks on their faces that they thought it was beneath them or some sort of joke - the joke was on them though.

Seeing those sorts of bozos butcher a tune like that makes me yell out "Play something you KNOW!" (I know, it's almost as much of a cliche as yelling Freebird).

The last group I was in played Freebird for what became my farewell performance with the band. The other guys treated it like a joke. The joke was on them.