Name: Isn't it a pity (by George Harrison) by Renato Jacobsen
Duration: 5 min 49 s
Description: My shot on Isn't it a pity, George Harrison's song I used to play in my teens with friends when we went to bars near the beach in Brazil.

A kitchen cabinet with an open door showing yellowish vitamin bottles on a Friday was all it took me to revolt against working for the rest of the day... I just wanted to record what was popping up in my head, while dreading the thought that we're taking vitamins to go through the hard working days. This was on 11/05/21. On 11/17/21, I added the last touch: rattle sound from... a yellowish vitamin bottle. Acoustic and electric guitar, digital piano, a tambourine... and the bottle.

Modern Prayer

Yellowish bottle, unreadable label
Give us the strength to go through the day
What are your powers, are they greater than ours?
I'm hoping they work, 'cause we need them today

One presentation, two meetings, a dream
It's such crazy hours, unbearable stream
I should have been working at nights no more
It feels like I'm fighting an unwinnable war

I just want to write
And finish my song
I don't want to work, I just
Can't stop playing no more

Yellowish bottle, vitamin pills
Show me your power, strengthen my skills
Make my day end soon, just shrink it somehow
It feels like I'm living an endless now

Yellowish bottle, what else you have left?
How many wishes you're saving for last?
Come on, Happy Hour, I'm sitting here still
It's time to relax now, the end-of-day chill

I just want to sing
That's it for today
It's Friday already
I can't stop singing no more

I just want to sing
Go on with my song
It's fun time already
I can't stop singing no more

Dreamful Remastered

Modern Prayer

Buy Now

A song I created as a tribute to Lennon, in the 40th anniversary of his death.  I read an article about it and watched a documentary on TV, and the words from Yoko when she was told he had died as she arrived in the hospital stuck in my mind. I became a Beatles fan and started to buy their records just 6 months before his death. I started to record all the songs I currently have here using GarageBand, and to create most of them, after that anniversary date in December 2020.

Don't tell me it's true (song for Lennon)

He sang the truth
And tried to change the world
As perfect as that was. 
His fate he was soon to meet 

He died on the way to his home that night
To put his son to sleep
Because of a fool lurking in the shadows
Who couldn't stand to be
Just one more in the madhouse his mind put him in
The rest is history

Don't tell me it's true
Don't tell me it's true
Don't tell me it's true
Don't tell me it's true

He sang the truth
And tried to change the world
Imperfect as he was
He filled our lives with love

Don't Tell Me It's True

Don't Tell Me It's True (Song for Lennon)

Song I made for Eric, my son, when he was around 5 and would have night terror episodes, and I assumed it was because of playing video games for too much time. It was around 2003, so kids overplaying games was a relatively new thing, in the times of PlayStation 1.

Every Night (Eric's song)

Hey Eric,
You play your games too well
Hey, yeah, in the end
There's no one left to tell

Just a bit,
A little bit
Of playing, that is all,
Before you go to bed
For one more night
Of sighs in sight

Every night,
Scary night
Of witches everywhere
Just hold my hand
Then close your eyes
And say good night
To all in sight

Every night,
Scary night
Of shadows everywhere
Come grab my hand
There's nothing there
Just don't be scared
Of what's inside your head

Hey, Eric,
You played your part so well
Hey, yeah, dad's proud
And surely wants to tell (everyone in sight)

That just a bit,
A little bit
Of frightening thoughts a while
Is something one
Expects to come
From small and grown-up boys

Every Night

I'm not changing. I don't want to be somebody else.


I'm not two

Don't you ever ask me
To be another person,
You can change your mind,
Give it up,
Cause I'm not two.

I don't want no changes
When I'm the one in question,
Let me be myself,
Give it up,
Cause I'm not two.

I don't really know how
I don't want to be another.
You've been asking for changes,
I don't get it why you even bother.
What can I do if I just
Want to be me?

Won't you ever ask me
To be the same old person
You have been used to?
I'll give it up,
Cause I'm not two...

I'm not two

Valentine's Day 2023 song for my wife.

Whatever It Takes

For you, whatever it takes
Just for the sake of being
With you along the way
And if we get stuck 
Or hit the ground
I promise I'll stay 
For another round 

For sure, whatever it takes
Just for the thrill of being
With you along the day
Then we can make it
So we're the ones
Choosing to walk while
The world just runs 

But if I go on 
And stick around
Will you be staying 
Just by my side
Because it's the whole point
To share the ride 

For me, whatever it takes
Just for the likes of being
With you along the years
You had me then 
At first sight it's true 
But we've been together
Since day one through

Whatever It Takes

My version of John Lennon's song. Piano, acoustic guitar, bass.

Oh My Love, by John Lennon

My shot on Isn't it a pity, George Harrison's song I used to play in my teens with friends when we went to bars near the beach in Brazil. 

Isn't it a pity (by George Harrison)

There’s a rock’n’roll soul inside of my quiet self. And it’s loud!

I’m a bedroom musician, doing the whole recording by myself in GarageBand since November 2020 (when I was 59, talk about a late bloomer…) with a digital piano, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, ukulele, bass, harmonica, tambourine, atabaque and even a bottle of vitamins (!) once, as a shaker. 

New mini-album coming in the first half or March, 2025, available on all platforms. You can buy my latest songs if you want them permanently on your device (as opposed to streaming and needing to pay for a subscription to be able to do it), at https://renatojacobsen.com. I like to have all my music available at all times without the risk of disappearing for some reason, you may be one of those.

I started recording with Garageband after I played a song I made right after watching a documentary about John Lennon's death, on its 40th anniversary, adding Yoko's supposed words when she reached the hospital as the title: "Don't tell me it's true". In my keyboard left in the basement, as I barely played it. I wanted to record it so badly that I had to learn how. I never stopped since, I did over 60 recordings from then on, and except for some that were created in the early 2000’s when my kids were little and the eventual covers, all are new songs.

I never played live, it’s not my thing, especially when I’m the whole band… Having my songs heard and hopefully, enjoyed, are the motivation that keeps me creating.

Recording for me is a total thrill, I love when I listen to the results and go building the layers until I’m satisfied that I did what I had in mind. Then it’s like I had an epiphany, it must be an adrenaline high. Sometimes I wake up with the song in my head and have to quickly register it on my phone. I lost a bunch of those because I was too lazy to wake up, then never remembered them! Some were truly a dream…

I was born in Brazil, lived there for the first 35 years of my life before moving to the US. 

Thanks to all who listen, spend the time to write a comment and hit the like button. You make all the difference.

Isn't it a pity (by George Harrison)

Renato Jacobsen

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