Chords for Christopher Cross Interview - 2011

Take my hand come [A] with me and [Bm] we'll find [B] better ways to [D] be
something
_ _ That we'll [A] see
and we'll live and we'll grow
Take [Bm] the steps
Into the [A] [D] unknown
There we [A] will find
The essence [F#m] of life
_ Give it up, give it up, give it up
Give it up, give it up, [G] give it [A] up
Give it up, give it up, give it up
Give it up, give it [G] up, give it [A] up
Give it up, give it up, give it up
Give it up, give it up, give it up
I [E] am gonna be like so thrilled to tell you I'm [F#] with Christopher Cross Christopher Cross!
Um, so [Em] welcome to the show
Thanks so much for [A] having me, nice to be here
So you're [Em] doing a venue tonight, uh, [A] out in New York
Great Neck New [E] York, out on the water
Okay, now have you been, have you played here [A] before?
I have, I know it's a beautiful setting
It's nice, the weather's sort of clear
It's right on the harbor with all the boats [A] Pretty picturesque
It's kind of inspirational, it kind of matches your
Yeah it matches, yeah [F#] it does
It's a nice setting and out on the lawn
[E] Families can come, I think it's just for people in this area
So as long as the weather holds, it should be a nice, real nice show
[A] Now tell me about your musical career
And [Em] how did it start?
Did you [A] come from a musical family?
Well my dad's a doctor, but he did play some when he was younger
And liked it, and he listened to a lot of music at home
Like Glenn Miller, stuff like that
And so he got me the bug and I started playing drums
When I was about 10, mostly into jazz
You know, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, stuff like that
[F#] And then I did transition when I was 16
To the guitar, to write songs
And I kind of figured out that the guy out in the front
Is the one that [Bm] gets all the girls
So I switched to the guitar, started writing songs
And then [D] my influences were, you know
Brian Wilson, Leonard [E] McCartney
All the usual kind of [A] suspects
And I started writing songs and playing in bands
And playing in bars, nothing that unremarkable
In [E] 1980, I [A] got my deal with Warner Brothers
And made my [E] first [A] album, which did well
And from then it's just been kind of sailing along
Oh, I [A] love that
Put on a bum
_ _ _ [Bm] _ Carry [F#m] me
_ [C#m] _ _ _ [A] _ _
You know, those early years were sort of
It was tough because I wasn't really into academics
So that was a real disappointment of my parents
And I kind of struggled with all that stuff
Because I was so focused on music
But I had a very successful local band
And so it was always rewarding to do music
And it's all I really
It was a singular passion, what I love to do _
And I was lucky enough to do well even locally
So it's always been what I wanted to do
And the only thing I really like
I don't have a lot of hobbies _
And it's kind of what I do 24 hours a day
Yeah, you live it, you breathe it
I do, I mean I was married twice and divorced
And I have three wonderful children
But pretty much in terms of my [N] own time
And what brings me peace and stuff
And satisfaction is music
And at what age did you discover
That you wanted this for a career
Like when did you wake up and say
I'm going to choose to be a musician
And I'm not looking back
I think actually the very beginning
I was about 10 or 11 when I got these drums
And I was just sort of inspired by this [B] music
It's a debut back to early jazz stuff
And it just was very infectious
And it drew me [G#m] in
And kind of what I wanted to do
I started playing in little bands
[C#] When I was like 7th and 8th grade
[B]
And got the [G#m] bug pretty early
And figured out this is cool
I'm going to do this
And then I didn't pay attention to anything [Bm] else
And fortunately I did well at it
Because like I said, academically
[G#m] My family were all very excelled
But I was a disaster
Well you had different gifts, that's [E] all
People have different gifts
And I [D] always try to give great advice
To people that are artistic or creative
[G] Is to celebrate those gifts
Because it's the [D] opposite
Not everybody gets a gift they can make money with
[G] Sometimes you have to take a day job
That [A] you might not necessarily be passionate about
Yeah, my family are [E] all doctors
But on my new record
I have a [F#] brand new one called Dr.
Faith
It's a song called Dreamers
And that's what it's about
All the people that are forward thinkers
And see all the possibilities
So that's what [D] I always was
And fortunately I was able to make a living [G] at it
So it matched up, so it made sense
My middle son, Rain, who's 21, plays jazz guitar
And you know, okay, we'll see
[A] My daughter wants to be an actress
Was there [B] one shining moment
Where somebody said, do you mind if I touch you?
Like, hey Christopher, like
I want to [F#] offer you an opportunity
And you said, wow, this is it
[C#] Well there were a lot of people that helped me
In the beginning of my career
Mike McDonald was somebody who loaned his voice to my music
Which helped a lot, get me on the [G#m] radio
Don Henley from the Eagles is from Texas, where I'm from
And [C#] Don also sang on my record, which was kind of rare
And then he took me out on the road with the Eagles
For about a year, [B] and that was a huge boost to my career as well
So I had some pretty [G#m] famous people
Who kind of stepped in early on
And friends and kind of helped out
And how did it feel when you first heard your music playing on the radio?
It was pretty cool, I'd heard Ride Like the Wind for the first time
Driving down the [D] road
And you know, it was
It was [G] exciting, you know, it was kind of a surreal experience
And [D] I think
You know, it was kind of
Put me on notice that okay, something's happening
You know, because I wasn't [A] expecting
I wasn't expecting any success at that point
I was just wanting to make an album [B] and see if I could build my career
To at some point having a single at [E] some point on the radio
But it wasn't expected that early
So when it [F#] came on the radio then
It was kind of validation that we got something [C#m] going
[G#] _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ [G#m] _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ [C#m] _ [C#] When you come up with [B] inspiration for your songs now
Do they [G#m] happen in a similar pattern?
Like is it through a dream?
Is it [B] through another song on the radio?
Is it, you know, do you doodle?
Like how do you get it?
Well I think almost [Bm] everybody's material
Is stolen from somebody else
I mean I would think everybody [A#m] would admit that
They're early, including the Beatles, early influences
[G#m] Like Little Richard and that stuff, you know
But I certainly [F#] have plenty of influences
And I think it morphs inside you
And then [G] comes out hopefully in your own style
But I early on wrote all my own [E] material
And then now I have a collaborator Rob Muir
Who I've known since the very beginning
[C#] Rob and I write together
And I think the songs are about our lives
Especially [G#] the new album, Dr.
Faith, is about our spiritual growth
Our growth as [D] men, our perspective on life
But we don't [G] really like see a tree
And then write a song about a tree
We're [D] not as little as like John Denver was
We're at Rocky Mountain High
So [G] it's a little more subliminal
But it's stream of consciousness kind of stuff
[A] But I think clearly they're
Like the last song I wrote [B] is called Praying
And it's a lot about our Catholic upbringing
And sort of trying to [E] look for [Bm] true spirituality
I think this [F#] CD is so relatable
I don't know if it's because we're [G#m] close in age
Or because I like your music
[G#] Or maybe we're simpatico, I don't [B] know
But I think a lot of people are going [G#] to completely disdain it You know?
Yeah, I don't think we're too close [B] in age to it
But [E] I think, you know, some people have called it my Sergeant Pepper
And it's my ninth and I'm very happy with it
And [C#] the critical acclaim from the press has been very, very good
So it's the first one in 12 years
[F#] So we've certainly worked a long time on it
[G#m] So we're really happy with it
[B] And it's a tough time in the music [E] business
With all the downloading and the things [C#m] that have kind of fragmented the [C#] model
If you will
I started out with the vinyl and there were record [F#] stores
And it was a sort of cycle [G#] to life of the business
And that's all changed
So it's a little frustrating
But [B] it's about the work and you do it because you love it
[C#] _ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ [G#m] _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _