Chords for Robert Earl Keen Gives Songwriting Advice at the Key West Songwriters Festival
Tempo:
106.95 bpm
Chords used:
B
E
C#m
F#
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
My name is Robert Earl Keane and I am an [E] entertainer and a songwriter and [B] a heck of a guy.
Why I decided to be a songwriter was because I've worked a lot of jobs and all my previous employers got together at [E] one point
and said, we don't want him in the [B] workforce anymore, please find something else.
And I said, oh, well, I'll write a song.
I learned this from Terry Allen, one of the finest songwriters there is, an incredible guy.
And he says that [E]
the trick to writing a song is keep your butt in a seat.
[B]
That is my process.
I like to stick to that seat until I've got a song written.
I write songs that are extremely [C#m] visual and some people call them [B] cinematic, but they're extremely visual.
And I like to start a song with some kind of setting and somehow that's just ingrained in me, just [E] starting a setting, you know,
some great [B] desert-like place or some street down in Austin or even down there on [E] the beach in Galveston or something.
[B] I start those kind of songs with settings [E] and that's where it has shaped my songwriting [B] because I have such great memories of all those different places.
[F#] How would I know if a song is really a good one?
[B] Well, for me, it's a good song if I really get a kick [C#m] out of it.
Like that Christmas song, [B] Merry Christmas to My Family.
I wrote that because I was born in Houston, Texas, and I didn't feel like anyone, including the great Irving Berlin,
had written a song [C#m] that really applied to my life and [B] Christmas.
And so I wrote my own and I wrote it just for the fun of it and I really had a kick out of it.
And I really didn't even plan to ever play it for anyone, but I played it for somebody [E] and they immediately said,
that's the funniest song, I [C#m] love that song.
So [B] usually my test is, you know, do I enjoy it?
And the next test is sometimes, and audiences really don't like, audiences will tell you if they [E] really like a song.
There are songs that I really like that I've [B] written and I'll play them crickets, right?
And then other songs that I think, oh, you know, that's okay, and I play it and people like it.
So I'm not really the first person [E] to judge what a great song is, but my [B] test for me is do I like it?
Performing and writing and
[B] actually [E] putting out records, it's a three-part process and they all [B] support each other.
If I did not perform, I'm not sure that I could really write [F#] that much.
I'd have a different take on writing altogether.
When I [E] write, I write songs [C#m] that I really do think [B] that people will enjoy right there in the moment.
So they [B] go hand in hand, performing and writing go very much hand in [C#m] hand.
[B] [N]
Why I decided to be a songwriter was because I've worked a lot of jobs and all my previous employers got together at [E] one point
and said, we don't want him in the [B] workforce anymore, please find something else.
And I said, oh, well, I'll write a song.
I learned this from Terry Allen, one of the finest songwriters there is, an incredible guy.
And he says that [E]
the trick to writing a song is keep your butt in a seat.
[B]
That is my process.
I like to stick to that seat until I've got a song written.
I write songs that are extremely [C#m] visual and some people call them [B] cinematic, but they're extremely visual.
And I like to start a song with some kind of setting and somehow that's just ingrained in me, just [E] starting a setting, you know,
some great [B] desert-like place or some street down in Austin or even down there on [E] the beach in Galveston or something.
[B] I start those kind of songs with settings [E] and that's where it has shaped my songwriting [B] because I have such great memories of all those different places.
[F#] How would I know if a song is really a good one?
[B] Well, for me, it's a good song if I really get a kick [C#m] out of it.
Like that Christmas song, [B] Merry Christmas to My Family.
I wrote that because I was born in Houston, Texas, and I didn't feel like anyone, including the great Irving Berlin,
had written a song [C#m] that really applied to my life and [B] Christmas.
And so I wrote my own and I wrote it just for the fun of it and I really had a kick out of it.
And I really didn't even plan to ever play it for anyone, but I played it for somebody [E] and they immediately said,
that's the funniest song, I [C#m] love that song.
So [B] usually my test is, you know, do I enjoy it?
And the next test is sometimes, and audiences really don't like, audiences will tell you if they [E] really like a song.
There are songs that I really like that I've [B] written and I'll play them crickets, right?
And then other songs that I think, oh, you know, that's okay, and I play it and people like it.
So I'm not really the first person [E] to judge what a great song is, but my [B] test for me is do I like it?
Performing and writing and
[B] actually [E] putting out records, it's a three-part process and they all [B] support each other.
If I did not perform, I'm not sure that I could really write [F#] that much.
I'd have a different take on writing altogether.
When I [E] write, I write songs [C#m] that I really do think [B] that people will enjoy right there in the moment.
So they [B] go hand in hand, performing and writing go very much hand in [C#m] hand.
[B] [N]
Key:
B
E
C#m
F#
B
E
C#m
F#
My name is Robert Earl Keane and I am an [E] entertainer and a songwriter and [B] a heck of a guy.
Why I decided to be a songwriter was because I've worked a lot of jobs and all my previous employers got together at [E] one point
and said, we don't want him in the [B] workforce anymore, please find something else.
And I said, oh, well, I'll write a song.
I learned this from Terry Allen, one of the finest songwriters there is, an incredible guy.
And he says that [E]
the trick to writing a song is keep your butt in a seat.
[B] _ _
That is my process.
_ I like to stick to that seat until I've got a song written.
I write songs that are extremely [C#m] visual and some people call them [B] cinematic, but they're extremely visual.
And I like to start a song with some kind of setting and somehow that's just ingrained in me, just [E] starting a setting, you know,
some great [B] desert-like place or some street down in Austin or even down there on [E] the beach in Galveston or something.
[B] I start those kind of songs with settings [E] and that's where it has shaped my songwriting [B] because I have such great memories of all those different places.
[F#] How would I know if a song is really a good one?
[B] Well, for me, it's a good song if I really get a kick [C#m] out of it.
Like that Christmas song, [B] Merry Christmas to My Family.
I wrote that because I was born in Houston, Texas, and I didn't feel like anyone, including the great Irving Berlin,
had written a song [C#m] that really applied to my life and [B] Christmas.
And so I wrote my own and I wrote it just for the fun of it and I really had a kick out of it.
And I really didn't even plan to ever play it for anyone, but I played it for somebody [E] and they immediately said,
that's the funniest song, I [C#m] love that song.
So [B] usually my test is, you know, do I enjoy it?
And the next test is sometimes, and audiences really don't like, audiences will tell you if they [E] really like a song.
There are songs that I really like that I've [B] written and I'll play them crickets, right?
And then other songs that I think, oh, you know, that's okay, and I play it and people like it.
So I'm not really the first person [E] to judge what a great song is, but my [B] test for me is do I like it?
Performing and writing and _
_ _ [B] _ _ actually [E] putting out records, it's a three-part process and they all [B] support each other.
If I did not perform, I'm not sure that I could really write [F#] that much.
I'd have a different take on writing altogether.
When I [E] write, I write songs [C#m] that I really do think [B] that people will enjoy right there in the moment.
_ _ So they [B] go hand in hand, performing and writing go very much hand in [C#m] hand.
_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _
Why I decided to be a songwriter was because I've worked a lot of jobs and all my previous employers got together at [E] one point
and said, we don't want him in the [B] workforce anymore, please find something else.
And I said, oh, well, I'll write a song.
I learned this from Terry Allen, one of the finest songwriters there is, an incredible guy.
And he says that [E]
the trick to writing a song is keep your butt in a seat.
[B] _ _
That is my process.
_ I like to stick to that seat until I've got a song written.
I write songs that are extremely [C#m] visual and some people call them [B] cinematic, but they're extremely visual.
And I like to start a song with some kind of setting and somehow that's just ingrained in me, just [E] starting a setting, you know,
some great [B] desert-like place or some street down in Austin or even down there on [E] the beach in Galveston or something.
[B] I start those kind of songs with settings [E] and that's where it has shaped my songwriting [B] because I have such great memories of all those different places.
[F#] How would I know if a song is really a good one?
[B] Well, for me, it's a good song if I really get a kick [C#m] out of it.
Like that Christmas song, [B] Merry Christmas to My Family.
I wrote that because I was born in Houston, Texas, and I didn't feel like anyone, including the great Irving Berlin,
had written a song [C#m] that really applied to my life and [B] Christmas.
And so I wrote my own and I wrote it just for the fun of it and I really had a kick out of it.
And I really didn't even plan to ever play it for anyone, but I played it for somebody [E] and they immediately said,
that's the funniest song, I [C#m] love that song.
So [B] usually my test is, you know, do I enjoy it?
And the next test is sometimes, and audiences really don't like, audiences will tell you if they [E] really like a song.
There are songs that I really like that I've [B] written and I'll play them crickets, right?
And then other songs that I think, oh, you know, that's okay, and I play it and people like it.
So I'm not really the first person [E] to judge what a great song is, but my [B] test for me is do I like it?
Performing and writing and _
_ _ [B] _ _ actually [E] putting out records, it's a three-part process and they all [B] support each other.
If I did not perform, I'm not sure that I could really write [F#] that much.
I'd have a different take on writing altogether.
When I [E] write, I write songs [C#m] that I really do think [B] that people will enjoy right there in the moment.
_ _ So they [B] go hand in hand, performing and writing go very much hand in [C#m] hand.
_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _