Music and Songwriting/The Songwriter's Grooves Project - A Guide to Singing and Playing Guitar/The Simple Strumming Song Series/Meet Virginia

Meet Virginia - Train - Arr. Jon Michael Swift edit

"Meet Virginia" was the song that introduced a lot of folks to the band Train. Though they'd go on to have many bigger songs like "Hey Soul Sister" this song is an enduring favorite in their repertoire. It has a subtle and intricate interaction of the band instruments, and thus lends itself to a lot of textural exploration. The lyrics are also have more depth than the average pop song, which make this song worth repeating so as to give it time to acquire some more developed deeper sophistication in the way that it's played. It thrives on subtle phrasing and a relaxed yet soulful vibe.

History edit

It was released in October 1999 as the second single from their eponymous first album, Train. The song reached a peak of number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 2000,^[1] becoming their first top 20 hit, and their first single to chart on the Hot 100. It also reached the Top 30 of Billboard's rock charts, Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (number 21) and Alternative Songs (number 25). [[[w:Meet_Virginia|Wikipedia]]]

The song has been recorded live many times, but the mix of the original recording has exceptional transparency and is usually the best source for understanding how the song is put together.

Flagship Recordings/Performances edit

Original Music Video - Has the guitar solo that is excised from the radio cut. The vocals on this are also much cleaner than most live versions.

Live at the Metro 1999 - Has some nice nice shots of the band playing and instrumental extensions on the intro.

Playing tips edit

The most challenging and interesting part of this song is probably the guitar picking groove on the verses. For those who have not played guitar grooves with this kind of flat picking, the pick direction can really trip you up. It's worth a good hard look.