Chords for It Won't Last

[N] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Hey [Bb] everybody, this is Anthony from Stevie Snacks and [Ab] it's time for Philosophy Friday.
That's what somebody suggested [G] I call it whenever I do one of these videos. _
[Gb] Instead of teaching a lick or some sort of rhythm today, I'm going [F] to share something
that I've thought about [G] a lot.
[Gb] It's a little personal, but I think that it will speak to [A] some of you who have not yet
had the chance to [Gm] play on stage in front of people.
[Bb] _ _ _
Basically, what I [Am] want to talk about today is _ when you have the chance to get in front
of people and play in front of a good crowd, [Gb] _ _ _ _ [Fm] that's kind [A] of like where [C] your true _ [Ab] motivations
_ come out. _
_ Even if you've [B] been telling yourself that, I [C] _
just play guitar [G] because I love playing,
I don't really care about having [Ab] attention.
_ You'll find out how much you care about having [A] attention when you manage [Ab] to play good in
front of people.
[G] _ _ If there's any [C] part of you that has been, [B]
as you're sitting in your bedroom playing,
[F] if there's any part [Abm] of you inside that's wishing, I [Bb] just wish people could see me [Ab] play and tell
me how great I am.
[Eb] If that's in you at all, _ you will feel [Bb] it when you get in front of a crowd and you hear people clapping.
_ [Db] Back [Ab] when I was in [Bb] college, every Saturday, actually [Ab] this was after I [Bb] graduated, every
Saturday we would go out [Ab] to see this band called Blue Suede Groove.
They were a nice funk band.
They did [Gb] some funk, some [Db] fish style stuff, and then they would [B] do some blues.
I [F] met the guys in the [Db] band and I became _ [Gb] kind of friends with [Cm] some of them, and so they
would invite [Ab] me up to play _ _ [C] at the end of their show sometimes, like when they'd [Abm] play Mustang
Sally or The Sky is Crying.
_ There was one particular night _ [A] that they called me [Bb] up, and this was during a [Db] period where
I wasn't in a [A] band, _ so I was not [B] getting a chance to play very often in front of people.
So I was basically, just like a lot of you guys are now, [Em] I was at home, I was in [B] my basement
just playing away and wishing I could be on stage.
_ Well, it was [G] during one of these [Db] periods where I wasn't [Ab] getting much stage time anywhere
[A] that they called [Eb] me up to play, and I don't know if it was a holiday [B] weekend or whatever,
[Ab] but the bar was [Eb] packed.
This is a college town, so there's a [B] lot of people out drinking and having a good [Eb] time. _
We might have played Mustang Sally or The Sky is Crying or Mary Had a Little Lamb [G] or
something like that, _ but it was awesome.
[D] It was _ [Bbm] incredible.
_ _ [E] As I walked off the stage, I felt like a rock star.
_ _ [A] _
[Eb] I was [Dm] not aware at [Ab] that point how badly I needed that.
_ _ _ To put it another way, [C] I wasn't aware how [Ab] awful I felt without [D] that.
_ Even as I was standing in the crowd watching [Gb] them on stage, it's like I wasn't really in
tune with how [A] bad I felt with the fact that I [Eb] couldn't be in front [Fm] of people playing.
[Eb] So after we got done with that [D] song and I got off the stage and a [Db] couple people said
some things to me [Bb] that were a little bit unexpected, [Db] _ [E] it just felt incredible.
_ [F] _ And so there are some people who would tell [E] you that that's a perfectly legitimate reason
to [Db] pursue a career in music or to try and get on [E] stage because it feels so good.
Not many people get to feel that.
_ _ Well, that may be true, _ _ but what I can tell you [B] is that by the time I walked home [A] from
that bar, which was about a 15 minute walk, by the time I got home, I felt worse than
[G] I had all night.
[E] _ _ While I was at the [A] club and while I played and [B] after I got off stage, there was just
[Ab] so much attention and it felt [F] great.
_ [Eb] But as I started to walk home, all the clapping was gone, all the cheering was gone, all [A] the
congratulations were gone.
By the time I got [Ab] back to my empty house, _ _ [B] I felt [F] about _ [Eb] this tall.
[Ab] _ And so the point that I want to make here is that _ [C] _ [F] if _
[Eb] _ _ _ when the cheers [C] stop [Eb] and if when
people stop paying [Db] attention, if you feel this big when that stops, [Gb] then that really
tells you that this is how you feel [Bm] about yourself all the time.
And the only time [Ab] you feel better is when people are telling you nice things about your playing.
_ [Bb] _
So [Ab] the main point that I want to try and make here is that yeah, it does feel good to have
people [Eb] acknowledge what you can do on [Bb] guitar, but that doesn't last.
It fades [B] really, really, really quickly.
And you can even build an addiction [E] to that kind of feedback to the [Ebm] point where [Em] every
day you need to hear people telling you that.
[Ab] I suspect that there are [Fm] people who are successful in music because they need to hear [Gb] that and
that causes them [Ab] to work so hard _ [D]
just to [F] get to the point where they can hear people tell
them that they're [Ab] okay and that [A] they're great [Eb] and that they're special.
Because when [C] people aren't telling them that, they don't feel special.
_ [B] _ _ [Gb] And so maybe that rings true with some of you.
I know that certainly was the case for me and I think that [B] if I was to be honest, [Ab] there's
probably a part of me that still [Bb] feels that now.
It's a lot less than it used to be.
[Gb] _
But man, what an awful way to live life.
If I'm to be honest, that sucks.
[A] That is terrible and it is [Fm] terrible to go through every day needing [Db] to have people [A] tell
you that you're a great guitar player to [Gb] feel good about yourself.
[A] _ _
[Db] So as you work on [D] _ getting into [Bb] a band or trying [C] to get on stage to play, _ [Gb] _ when you feel that
adrenaline coming [Ebm] and you [C] feel that, [Bb] you know, you can feel your skin tingling sometimes
when people are [Eb] applauding and it feels good, be honest with [E] yourself that it feels good.
But don't ever [F] let yourself _ fall [Gb] into the trap of thinking [A] that that can last [Em] forever
because it won't.
[G] As soon as you're done and the crowd leaves, [Ebm] _ _
all of that adrenaline and everything, that's
going to go [Db] away. _
And you're going to be facing your real true feelings about yourself when that [Eb] happens.
So your time would be almost as well spent focusing [Dm] on why you feel this tiny off the
[C] stage as it is trying to get on stage so you [Ab] can feel a lot taller. _ _
So that's just my [Dm] kind of philosophy on attention [A] and _ [G] feedback and _ [B] congratulations and appreciation
[Ab] and all that stuff.
_ I know that my life [Bb] has changed a lot [B] since I [A]
realized that that [Am] kind of attention is
never meant to [Bb] sustain a person.
That's not meant to be what keeps you [Ab] feeling happy.
That's just like dessert.
[Bb] You can't [Ab] eat ice cream for dinner every night.
But you can, [B] having a little ice cream after dinner once in [Ab] a while is not bad.
But you don't live on [A] that.
Just like you don't [G] live on the attention of other people and [Gb] their _ validation [Eb] of your skill.
[B] So I hope that rings true with somebody. _