You and Me

You can download a PDF of the guitar tablature here.
An mp3 of a recent version of the song can be found here.

Background

On November 28, 2007, I was doodling around with the guitar and came up with a 2 chord D/G alternation which sounded nice.  The trick was that by leaving the 1st and 4th strings open and fretting the 2nd and 3rd at the 7th fret, you got a nice surprise in that the thinnest string was not providing the highest pitch.  It was like a hammer-on without a hammer-on.  

I was crooning out some lyrics to come up with a melody, and the melody was sparse and airy.  The kicker was a passage where it went to a B flat while the melody struck the major 7th and then immediately came back to the D with the corny 4th suspension.  It was totally pop, in a Mary Tyler Moore "pow" fashion, and I sang, "It's your big move... whatcha gonna do?" which the tune almost demanded, somehow. There was enough to it that I fired up Garageband and recorded a quick sketch of this under a working title of "Dylan".  Consistent with standards for such recordings, I am swearing at my phone which was causing static in the headphones!

I must have played around with it a bit more, as 2 days later, I had rectified the pitch problem by putting a capo on the 2nd fret.  I had also decided to pick the notes in the chords in a manner like finger picking.  Slowly it was veering in a direction I'd so far resisted:  the singer-songwriter style.   November 30th's take was under the working title of "About Me".   It started off with a question, and then went nautical.  The Mary Tyler Moore part was in in the manner it was to retain in the final version.  However, it lacked real words for the verse and a musical transition to carry the song from its verse to that pop smash.

By the time of December 4th's recording, a splendid minimalist verse had appeared:  "What's the news about you and me?  Is it through, that ... thing we do?  You and Me?"  Damn.  I liked that -- especially the perfect timing on the "that ... thing we do" part.  Still needed that transition, however.  The title had now evolved to "You and Me".

On December 7th,  I made a recording that had a nice transition that set up the demand for the woman to make a choice.  It was basic, but had this nice C# note sung dramatically over a G chord.  A second verse now appeared, however, sporting my trademark use of imagery, virile symbolism and more nautical references.  I liked it, but I hated it.  The first verse was so simple and vulnerable that having this stuntwork in it was a real distraction.  Another nice idea introduced which was overdone was an open ascent before singing "... about me".  I liked it, but it needed to be simpler.

Subsequent finishing simplified the musical figure and came up with a more compatible second verse (in which the speaker tries to supply some reasons why his love should not wimp out) to replace the salty one.  I consider it playable in 2 or even 3 forms:  as an instrumental amuse oreille that is merely the transition and chorus figures played on the guitar, as a single verse pop warm-up, and as a full double-verse song.  Variations include whether or not the first line should be sung again after the final chorus.  Even the longest form is fairly restrained.  I just cannot stand songs which go on and on after the point has been made.

A solo performance taken from a video made on December 29 2007 for the terrible FAMECAST website illustrates a single verse rendition with the first line repeated at the end.

Lyrics

The lyrics for the 2 verse version wound up as

What's the news about you and me?
Is it through, that ... thing we do:  you and me?

Is it true that your view is that you and I weren't meant to be?
It's your big move, now, so whatcha gonna do about me?

We would lose our hard paid dues if you leave you and me.
I could smooth this rut to a groove if you heaved to next to me.

And your mood would improve; I would soothe you like honeyed tea.
It's your big move, girl, so whatcha gonna do about me?

Performance and Finishing

I have only played this a few times at open mikes.  If the event is running over schedule, sometimes I will uncork an abbreviated version.  I am considering the amuse oreille version as the first track on my first CD, serving the same role as the wonderful "Doll" which opens The Foo Fighters' "The Colour and the Shape."