This actually goes back to 2016: after that I went very quiet on the video front, but looking back at this it’s actually not bad. It’s a product of my obsession with songs about obsession.
Here’s a better audio version.
The guitar is a cheap and cheerful Yamaha 3/4 guitar, high strung – that is, the three lowest strings are restrung to allow me to tune them an octave higher than normal. This is sometimes called Nashville tuning, though I prefer to distinguish between Nashville tuning and high-strung tuning by using Nashville tuning to refer to when the four lowest strings are tuned an octave higher. (Either way, don’t try this at home if you only have a standard 6-string set to hand even if it’s an ultra-light set: that would be very bad for the strings and for the neck!) Just to add to the confusion, I’ve actually used the high-strung version of DADGAD.
This reminds me that I have yet to complete the article I started last year on Nashville/high-strung tunings. Tomorrow, perhaps…
Meanwhile, here are the words to “Can’t Sleep”
Words and music copyright David Harley, 2017.
I don’t need this jangle
In my nerves
And in my head
I don’t need
These lonely hours
Here in my weary bed
But I can’t sleep
I can’t turn her off
I can’t get her out of my head
The night hours
Are bleeding away
Till the light runs away with my time
The shadow fades
And I’m so afraid
My words are refusing to rhyme
But I can’t shut her up
I can’t shut her off
I can’t get her out of my mind
I can’t shut her up
I can’t shut her down
I can’t get her out of my head
I can’t pick her up
I can’t put her down
I can’t get her into my bed
I can’t find the path
I can’t do the math
I can’t get it into my head
And I can’t break it down
I can’t break it up
I can’t get you out of my head
Copyright David Harley, 2017
Wheal Alice Music 