The Soulpass Project

I think this is a beautiful song. I couldn’t find a transcription for it, so I made one. Kudos to Mason Jennings for being such a great songwriter! If you want to play it in the key of the recording, capo the 1st fret.

HOW DEEP IS THAT RIVER
Mason Jennings

D
How deep is that river
How deep is that river
G                             D
I don't wanna know where it's coming from
G                               D
I don't need to know where it's going to
G                 D
Before I place my trust in you
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep

D
God said to me what he said to the tree
     G                                       D
Grow up towards the light and one day you'll see
My son Jesus, what did he say
         G                                     D
Love the Lord your God and God'll show you the way
Do unto others like you wanna be done
     G                                A      D
Look deep in your heart and know that we are one

Sing...
D
How deep is that river
How deep is that river
G                      D
I don't wanna know how fast it flows
G                            D
I don't need to know if it's safe to swim
G               D
Before I put my trust in Him
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep

D
God came down in the cool of the day
G                                  D
Stirred up the waters and began to play
Before He knew it, Man was on the land
       G                                     D
With a thought in his head, and a gun in his hand
God saw that Man was just a little too rough
      G                              A       D
So He gave him a heart and filled it up with love

Sing...
D
How deep is that river
How deep is that river, yes
G                        D
I don't wanna know if it has a name
G                           D
I don't need to know how to cross it yet
G               D
Before I get my spirit wet
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep

D
A few years back I lost my way
      G                             D
I was deep in the woods, I began to pray
I came to a river and I sat on its bank
       G                               D
It was cool and clear, I have Jesus to thank
I drank that water, yes I drank it up
          G                   A       D
Now every day I come back and fill my cup

Sing...
D
How deep is that river
How deep is that river, yes
G                          D
I don't wanna know if it's yours or mine
G                            D
I don't need to know if it's east or west
G               D
Before I put my fears to rest
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep

D
How deep is that river
How deep is that river, yes
G                             D
I don't wanna know where it's coming from
G                               D
I don't need to know where it's going to
G                 D
Before I place my trust in you
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep
A                     D
I just wanna know how deep

These are rare recordings of The Country Gentlemen in 1970. It is a live WFLO radio broadcast at Town and Country Furniture in Farmville Virginia. The MC is Henry Fulcher. Great bluegrass here, all downloads and streams are free! The files are 192kbps MP3s, which can be downloaded here, or streamed using the Flash media player below.

A .zip file containing all the tracks is available here.

New recording

Put on the skillet, put on the lid
Mama gonna bake a little shortnin’ bread

DOWNLOAD (1.4MB; 1:31)

The chords and lyrics were from here, but transposed to C and I used a 7th for the V chord (so C and G7 instead of G and D, respectively). Instruments used were ukulele, mandolin, and shaker.

Background info on the song.

  E            E/F#         E           E/F#
I traveled the banks of the River of Jordan
   E             E/F#         F#
To find where it flows to the sea.
  F#m           F#m/G#      F#m             F#m/G#
I looked in the eyes of the cold and the hungry
      F#m       F#m/G#     F#m
And I saw I was looking at me.
A                   F#m
I wanted to know if life had a purpose
    A                        B7
And what it all means in the end.
       E         E/F#        E        E/F#
In the silence I listened to voices inside me
         E        E/F#      E
And they told me again and again.

       E/F#     B7                       E    E/F#  E
The is only one river. There is only one sea.
       E/F#          B7                        E   E/F#  E
And it flows through you, and it flows through me.
                  C#m
There is only one people. We are one and the same.
               F#7                    B7
We are all one spirit. We are all one name.
           E      E/F# E         E/F#         E    E/F#  E
We are the father,       mother, daughter and son.
         E/F#        F#7          B7
From the dawn of creation, we are one.
       E    E/F#  E
We are one.

Every blade of grass on the mountain
Every drop in the sea
Every cry of a newborn baby
Every prayer to be free
Every hope at the end of a rainbow
Every song ever sung
Is a part of the family of woman and man
And that means everyone.

We are only one river. We are only one sea.
And it flows through you, and it flows through me.
We are only one people. We are one and the same.
We are all one spirit. We are all one name.
We are the father, mother, daughter and son
From the dawn of creation, we are one.
We are one.

Chord fingering suggestions

       (Standard tuning)
          E A D G B E
          -----------
E        [0 2 2 1 0 0]
E/F#     [2 2 2 1 0 0]
F#       [2 4 4 3 2 2]
F#m      [2 4 4 2 2 2]
F#m/G#   [4 4 4 2 2 2]
A        [0 0 2 2 2 0]
B7       [x 2 1 2 0 2]
C#m      [x 4 6 6 5 4]

I believe this is the only place on the web you’ll find chords for this song. If you find another, I’d be curious to see it (I looked quite a bit). I think this is a reasonably accurate transcription, it’ll surely get you through. For the last two stanzas, just play the chords from the first two and it should fit well enough.

The inspiration for transcribing it came on a pep band CAA bus trip, watching a scene in the movie Airplane!, where Randy the flight attendant plays it to Lisa, the girl on the plane who had fallen ill.

According to the IMDB soundtrack listing for Lady and Tramp, the actual name of the song is just “Siamese Cat Song” and it’s by Sonny Burke & Peggy Lee.

The chord transcription may not be perfect, but I believe that it is at least close, and it certainly seems to work with the vocals. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here.

A
We are Siamese if you please
                      Cm
We are Siamese if you don't please
Cm
Now we lookin' over our new domicile
E                            A
If we like we stay for maybe quite a while

A
Do you seeing that thing swimming round and round? (Yesss)
                               Cm
Maybe we could reachin' in and make it drown (Meow)
Cm
If we sneaking up upon it carefully
E                               A
There will be a head for you, a tail for me

A
Do you hear what I hear? A baby cry
                                Cm
Where we finding baby there are milk near by
Cm
If we look in baby buggy there could be
E                            A
Plenty milk for you and also some for me

The original recording is in the key of Bb, so if you want to play in the original key using these same chord shapes, just capo the 1^st fret. You can listen to my recording of this song from the archives, but note that I added extra chord changes that aren’t in this transcription.

This is actually a combination of a couple of the original verses, and it turned out to be more than a bit muddy/overdone. The chords and lyrics used, for the curious:

C          F           C
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree.
C            F           C
merry, merry king of the bush is he.
C      F           C
Laugh, kookaburra, laugh kookaburra,
C         F         C
Save some there for me.

Background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kookaburra_(song)

As far as I know this is the only place on the net you’ll find this. It was transcribed by me, so it’s far from perfect. However, I think it’s reasonably accurate. You should experiment with different chord inversions to find out which sounds best where. Later on I might add to this the inversions I use, and I also plan on redoing my recording of this song since I wasn’t particularly pleased with it.

C / /

      C
My Avaline
              C
Say you'll be mine
          C               G7              C
Won't you come and let me whisper in your ear
F                      C
Way down yonder in the old corn field
    Dm7
For you
     G7
I've pined
G7
Sweeter than the honey
C      F7    C
To the honey bee
G7
I love you
    C   F7   C
Say you love me
F
Meet me in the shade
       C       Cadd9 C     Dm7/C F7/C
Of the old apple     tree- ee-   eee
C       G7     C   (Cadd9 C)
Eva-Iva-Ova-Avaline

UPDATE: Changed Am7 to F7 in “To the honey bee” and “Say you love me.” I think it sounds closer. Also I forgot to mention that this is not the same key as the original recording; it’s transposed. I can’t remember the key they used, in fact I think it’s recorded a few cents off from standard tuning.

I think the least accurate part is “Of the old apple tree- ee- eee,” so I would really like to know if anyone figures out a better way to play it.

New recording:

Lyrics: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/obrotherwhereartthou/illflyaway.htm

This is another multi-track recording, mixed down with Audacity.

New recording… cover of Tell It To Me by Old Crow Medicine Show.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not in any way condone the use of cocaine. I happen to like bluegrass, I happen to be a fan of Old Crow Medicine Show, and I happen to like the song “Tell It To Me.” I happened to record it and it was fun.

I’ve always wanted to be in a barbershop quartet. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone else who does, plus I don’t always hit the right notes. So I tried recording a song with a few of myself, mixed down with Audacity.

DOWNLOAD

It’s an old-timey song, but Weezer does a cool cover.

My Evaline (my Evaline)
Say you’ll be mine (say you’ll be mine)
Won’t you come and let me whisper in your ear
Way down yonder in the old corn field
For you (for you)
I’ve pined
Sweeter than the honey
To the honey bee
I love you
Say you love me
Meet me in the shade
Of the old apple tree
Eva-Iva-Ova-Evaline