I’ve grown to love Jackson Browne’s “These Days,” a track most people know through the version recorded by Nico and seen in this scene in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.
It’s a simple song that runs down five chords: C, B, Am, G, and then F. I play it on my acoustic with the capo on the fifth fret.
C B Am G F
Well I’ve been out walkin’
C B Am G F
And I don’t do that much talking, these days
C G
These days.
F
These days I seem to think a lot
C G
About the things that I forgot to do, for you
C B Am G F
And all the times I had a chance to
The song has a history way past that Wes Anderson movie. A lot of people have covered it. It’s outlined pretty well in the song’s Wikipedia entry.
Here’s a version by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
One that follows the Nico version.
Glenn Campbell’s version.
This version is the reason I started this post. It seems he doesn’t perform this arrangement much more.
Can’t find the Paul Westerberg version online. Off to my iTunes I go.
