(EDIT: Scroll to bottom to see Division A results.)
A few weeks ago we lost a dear friend and beautiful soul when Guillermo passed away. Among his close friends, there was no question that this was going to be one of the ways we were going to honor his love of music, and fondness for bringing people together through music tournaments.
For the uninitiated, a music tournament is what it sounds like: songs going head to head in single-elimination match-ups, until a champion is chosen.
You can do them at home alone, with a buddy on a road trip, with dozens of Hands On volunteers after dinner every night, or with people across the world on a random internet site like livingthedream.org. We’ve done it all.
For the 64-song memorial tournament, we’ve asked Gmo’s friends from all walks of life to offer a song or two as fitting tribute. As you’ll see, many of these songs come with accompanying stories from the nominators. You can see the full list here.
Here’s how the tournament works. Every two days we’ll spin through eight songs, one division. In a little over two weeks we’ll finish the first round, and be down to 32 songs. And we’ll keep going.
Anyone who wants can vote once per set of songs Scoring works on a 10-point scale. (Any of the old-timers have a description?) Basically, a “10” is like listening to pure bliss, “7” is good, “5” is ‘wouldn’t change it if it were on the radio, and “2” is ‘my ears are bleeding, but I finished.’ So a person might score a match “Good Vibrations” (8) – “Satisfaction” (7). We then add up everyone’s scores, and 48 hours later, we have a winner! Feel free to ask questions in the comment section.
Folks have until 12pm on Friday to vote – please vote in the comment section below.Without further ado, here is Division A:
“Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch)
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
We’ll be using Spotify for this tournament, but feel free to use whatever streaming you prefer – and thank you to Aiko for lending her time to make these daily playlists.
Stories from the vault…
“Africa” by committee. Ryan: Who didn’t hear Gmo squealing this out in his pitchy falsetto from the corridor of HOUSA or in the field? This is the first song he learned to play on the guitar, and definitely not an easy one. But I remember fondly him working these chords and trying his damndest on this classic tune. Janos: Gmo and I road-tripped back to the northeast for the weekend in 2005, and held a tournament along the way. This song, widely favored, indeed prevailed.
“Josaphine” by Salem: Guillermo was a hopeless romantic. It seemed that just about everyone of his blog posts had a section of “I met the most amazing girl last week and we immediately fell head over heels in love. Then things went sour but she’ll always hold a special place in my heart.” This sweet little song always reminds me of that.
“Thunder Road” by Cristina: Classy song for a classy guy.
“We’re all in this together” by Jim Rock: I don’t have a particular story to relate this to Guillermo, specifically. Wagon Wheel was huge at this time, as we all remember. This song, more than any other on the album, stood out to me. Many friends of mine have passed away over the years and I listen to this song every time. It gives me chills and tears me up.
“Girl from the North Country” by Carrie: Rather than a specific story (and how much I waffled about song selection), I’ll share an excerpt from a Guillermo-made mix CD enclosure I recently stumbled upon. It underscores his obsession with mix CDs, and by extension, how exciting he would find this music tournament. “…It’s [this CD] not just a playlist – I’d call it a testament. A testament to awesome. It’s the kind of music you’d listen to while inventing Rollerblades, or coming up with the idea for Neapolitan ice cream…”
“Change Gonna Come” by committee: This song is included because Sam Cooke was Guillermo’s artist in the iconic “Last Band Standing” tournament of 2013. And this particular song is poignant for this moment.
“Papa was a rodeo” by Aiko: I knew Guillermo almost exclusively through the Music Tournament, so I went back into the archives to remind myself what the field looked like. I found the “Wall of 10s,” which is a list of songs that received a 10 from at least two voters; “a score of 10 is a statement that in that moment that you listened to the song, it was absolutely perfect.” I scanned through to see which songs Gmo and I matched on, and all of those but this song had already been included. I’m not sure if Gmo was otherwise a fan of the Magnetic Fields, but this song about finding connection in a rambling, on-the-road, rough-and-tumble life resonated with him that summer.
“When my time comes” by Ryan: This song has a few implications. I fell in love with it when it first came out and I think I entered it into one of our 2010-11 music tournaments but I need Janos to confirm that… I loved the line “you can stare into the abyss, but it’s staring right back” because it comes from a Nietzsche quote that Gmo once used as a warning to me long, long ago about some existential crisis going on in my life or something. Anyways, fast forward to this year and it became a steady play for him again and he texted me in January “Do you ever have those moments where you hear a song like 50 times and all of the sudden the 51st time it hits you?” Yep, I sure do and now more than ever.
….
RESULTS
“Africa” (Toto) def. “Josaphine” (Dispatch), 156-108.
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) def. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash), 153-150. Sorry, Carrie, your song should have been seeded higher!
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) def. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show), 138-117.
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) def. “Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields), 127-121.
Living the Dream 
NOTE: Spotify play button will try to shuffle songs so make sure to undo that.
8.5 – “Africa” (Toto): Oh man- the drums on this are phenomenal and then the synth. This delightful piece of cheese still gives me and a smile the whole time. Think this will likely go deep in the tourney.
6.8 – “Josaphine” (Dispatch): Mood shift. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Gonna add it to my summer playlist. Lost a little around the 4 minute mark- the chop style guitar could have been replaced with a more interesting bridge. Then the song kind of wandered off somewhere.
10 – “Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke): That voice, the current moment, the sentiment. Hit me big today.
6.3 – “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash). Great song- that said, I prefer the Freewheelin’ version better where Bob’s voice sounds a few hairs less muppety.
7.5 – “Thunder Road” (Bruce Springsteen) – Usually gets higher from me, but listened to this song a few times recently when I was feeling stuck inside. FYI- I’m noticing a lot of piano on this listen through. Like, a lot. Will try different speakers next time.
5.5 – “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) – Unobjectionable and pleasant–nice meaning. But song never caught me today. Think OCMS’s got another contender in this tourney though.
8.5 – “Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) – Classic, Simple, Smart, and Funny. And reminds me of good times.
7.5 – “When My Time Comes” (Dawes) – I forgot about this song! Thanks!
NOTE: Spotify play button will try to shuffle songs so make sure to undo that.
8.5 – “Africa” (Toto): Oh man- the drums on this are phenomenal and then the synth. This delightful piece of cheese still gives me and a smile the whole time. Think this will likely go deep in the tourney.
6.8 – “Josaphine” (Dispatch): Mood shift. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Gonna add it to my summer playlist. Lost a little around the 4 minute mark- the chop style guitar could have been replaced with a more interesting bridge. Then the song kind of wandered off somewhere.
10 – “Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke): That voice, the current moment, the sentiment. Hit me big today.
6.3 – “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash). Great song- that said, I prefer the Freewheelin’ version better where Bob’s voice sounds a few hairs less muppety.
7.5 – “Thunder Road” (Bruce Springsteen) – Usually gets higher from me, but listened to this song a few times recently when I was feeling stuck inside. FYI- I’m noticing a lot of piano on this listen through. Like, a lot. Will try different speakers next time.
5.5 – “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) – Unobjectionable and pleasant–nice meaning. But song never caught me today. Think OCMS’s got another contender in this tourney though.
8.5 – “Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) – Classic, Simple, Smart, and Funny. And reminds me of good times.
7.5 – “When My Time Comes” (Dawes) – I forgot about this song! Thanks!
Whoops- double-post! Ignore/delete
“Africa” (Toto) 5 vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch) 4
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) 8 vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) 7
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) 5 vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) 5 (I’d give this a higher score, but it sounds so much like Neil Young’s Long May You Run that I keep waiting for the chorus- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYna-UAt75c )
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) 10 vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes) 6
“Africa” (Toto) = 8
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) = 8
I probably wouldn’t give Africa such a high score if it weren’t for the novelty factor and the memories of Guillermo. Josaphine is new to me and I loved it!
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) = 10
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) = 6
Sam Cooke is amazing and this song is chilling. It’s good to hear Bob and Johnny collab but I wasn’t terribly moved by the song but it was good.
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) = 5
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) = 10
Guillermo would hate me for this but… I’ve never liked The Boss! This is one of his more tolerable songs though. OCMS got the 10 because it’s my sad jam and it gives me goosebumps. The simplicity of raw acoustic instruments and passionate singing gets me every time.
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) = 7 “When My Time Comes” (Dawes) = 3
Not terribly familiar with Magnetic Fields but it had a great Leonard Cohen vibe. “When my time comes” kinda bothered me. I gave a low score because it sounds like theme music for a cruise ship infomercial. Not into it haha.
Africa – 7.5, Josaphine 9
I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I like the Weezer version better ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5Dwg5zm2U )
Change Gonna Come – 4, Girl From the North Country 7
I’m not at all embarrassed to admit that I like the Greta Van Fleet version better ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuM1FzIgRxs )
Thunder Road – 6, We’re all in this Together – 3
Papa Was a Rodeo – 2, When My Time Comes – 4
“Africa” (Toto) = 6
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) = 7.5
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) = 7
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) = 8.5
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) = 5
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) = 9.5
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) = 7
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) = 4
“Africa” (Toto) – 10 – Everyone loves this song. It’s goofy and serious and grandiose and makes me happy
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) – 5 – Could barely get through it but wasn’t actively uncomfortable
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) – 8 – Downbeat songs suffer, but Sam’s voice is unbeatable and the song is super moving
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) – 9 – Dylan and Cash together
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) – 9 – Bruce hits all the right emotions for a Guillermo tourney – “You ain’t a beauty, but hey, you’re alright” is an all-timer of a line
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) – 6 – Not my thing but solid song
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) – 7 – Very good song. I’m on and off with the Magnetic Fields but this one’s real good
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) – 7.5 – inches better than the MagFields one for me
Scores from me and Allison.
“Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch)
9 : 5.5. Toto on cruise control here.
9 : 7 (Allison)
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
8.5 : 8.5 Will let other folks decide, was really digging both. Have had Girl from North Country stuck in my head all day.
8.5 : 8 (Allison)
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
10: 4. Thunder Road is my favorite song (and no, I didn’t nominate it), so this was never going to be fair.
9.5 : 3 (Allison)
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
7 : 7.5 Didn’t know this Dawes song, but made a good first impression! I like the Fields, this just felt slow at the end of a playlist.
5 : 6
Votes for me and my husband Ian.
Aiko’s votes:
“Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch) – 9 to 4.5
I never sang karaoke with with Guillermo, but have sung Africa so many times at karaoke that I feel I could easily transpose him into the memory and it would feel completely true.
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
4 to 7.5
I think I would have been more into the Sam Cooke song when I was sad in a different kind of way than I’m sad these days.
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
7 to 6
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
8 to 9
I know this was my nomination and I gave it a 10 in the tournament nine years ago, but I guess it’s lost a few points over the years. Still, the “Mirror ball / here at all” rhyme is my favorite of all time. I’m into epic choruses these days, so that Dawes some hit it for me.
Ian’s votes
“Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch)
9 to 3
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
3 to 6
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
3.5 to 3
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
7 to 6
“Africa” (Toto) = 7
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) = 4.5
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) = 8
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) = 6.5
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) = 7
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) = 4.5
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) = 8.5
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) = 7.5
Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch)
Ryan: 9 vs 5 Emily 8 vs 6
I didn’t care much for Africa when Gmo was strumming this at Hurricane camp but now it fills me with delight every time and never gets old. As far as Josephine I get why G would like this but it did nothing for me and was way too long.
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
Ryan: 7 vs 7.5 Emily: 9 vs 8
Always loved this Cooke song but today it just seemed slow and didn’t do it for me, but I did have better luck with this song from the classic Nashville Skyline album.
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
Ryan: 8.2 vs 7 Emily: 7 vs 7
In 2012 G visited me in harrisonburg and we went to an awful bar called Finnegans Cove and they did not offer karaoke but we improvised and played thunder road and screamed the song. I was impressed that G knew every word of this. This earned an 8.2 from that memory and because well it’s a great song. Thanks jim for introducing me to this Old Crow song. Super fitting tribute.
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
Ryan: 9.2 vs 8 Emily: 6 vs 7
Wow my Dawes pick got pitted against one of my all time favorite songs ever! The magnetic fields easily gets my higher vote, which is unhelped by Jim’s comparison of the Dawes tune to a cruise commercial. You may have ruined this forever!
Bahahaha… RUINED
my votes:
africa = 6
this song makes people (like guillermo) really happy, and i appreciate that. but if i’m just listening to it quietly alone, it’s kind of lame.
josaphine = 5
felt lukewarm about this one. and it’s way too long.
a change is gonna come = 8
man, i love sam’s vocals, but the violins and punchy horns keep me from scoring it higher.
girl from the north country = 7
this is a great song, and i don’t think i’ve heard this version before. at first, i appreciated the duet singing – how raw and authentic it is, but it becomes harder to listen to after the novelty wears off.
thunder road = 4
i’ve just never gotten bruce. i know guillermo loved this song, and i tried extra hard to get into it, but it’s just not there for me. found this email from gmo from 3/24/2011 in response to my low thunder road score in a previous tourney:
“in an earlier draft of the results I was gonna even call you out as the ‘boss-hating Ukrainian hammer’ but thought better of it. How can you not like Thunder Road? It’s like top 10 driving songs of all time”
we’re all in this together = 8
this is beautiful.
papa was a rodeo = 3
just not my jam.
when my time comes = 7
solid.
ryan’s votes:
africa = 10 (this may be ryan’s all-time favorite song. he can listen to it on repeat for hours.)
josaphine = 3
a change is gonna come = 9
girl from the north country = 6.5
thunder road = 4
we’re all in this together = 6
papa was a rodeo = 4
when my time comes = 5.5
Scull vote:
africa = 7.5
josaphine = 4.5
a change is gonna come = 8.5
girl from the north country = 8
thunder road = 9.5
we’re all in this together = 4.5
papa was a rodeo = 3
when my time comes = 6
Samaroo vote:
africa = 7
josaphine = 3
a change is gonna come = 8
girl from the north country = 8
thunder road = 9
we’re all in this together = 3
papa was a rodeo = 2
when my time comes = 6
“Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch)
Africa is a little cheesy in the best way. Hearing it makes me happy every time. Josaphine is a new song for me and I enjoyed it.
7/6.5
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
I love Sam Cooke and this song is one of his best. I also love this version of Girl from the North Country.
7.25/7
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
7/8
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
Papa did nothing for me.
4/7.5
Africa – 7
Josephine – 4.9
Girl from the North Country – 10
A Change is Going to Come – 8 As the nominator of Girl from the North Country I’m very salty about this matchup. : ) But appreciate any opportunity to listen to Sam Cooke.
Thunder Road – 7.3 Bonus few tenths when that instrumental outro hit at 4 mins which I kinda forgot about.
We’re All in This Together – 7
Papa Was a Rodeo – 5
When My Time Comes – 4.9
Africa – 7
Josephine – 5
Thunder Road – 7.4 Bonus few tenths when that instrumental outro hit at 4 mins which I kinda forgot about.
We’re All in This Together – 7
Girl from the North Country – 10
A Change is Gonna Come – 8 As the nominator of Girl from the North Country I’m very salty about this matchup. : ) But appreciate any opportunity to listen to Sam Cooke.
Papa Was a Rodeo – 5
When My Time Comes – 5
Africa – 7 | Josephine – 5.5
A Change is Gonna Come – 9.5 | Girl from the North Country – 8
Thunder Road – 7.5 | We’re All In This Together – 6.5
Papa Was a Rodeo – 8.5 | When My Time Comes – 7.5
Africa – 7 | Josephine – 5.5
A Change is Gonna Come – 9.5 | Girl from the North Country – 8
Thunder Road – 7.5 | We’re All In This Together – 6.5
Papa Was a Rodeo – 8.5 | When My Time Comes – 7.5
Africa- 7.5, Josephine- 5.5
A Change is Going to Come-7, Girl from North Country- 6
Thunder Road- 8, We’re All in This Together – 6
Papa Was a Rodeo – 6, When My Time Comes – 5
“Africa” (Toto) vs. “Josaphine” (Dispatch)
Cristina 6.9 – 2.7
Ahmed 6.5 – 1.9
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) vs. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash)
Cristina 8.5 – 6.4
Ahmed 8.2 – 5.9
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) vs. “We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
Cristina 9.9 – 3.2
Ahmed 7.9 – 2.2
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) vs. “When My Time Comes” (Dawes)
Cristina 6.9 – 3.5
Ahmed 6.1. – 2.2
I think we missed the deadline, but here’s our votes for posterity:
Karissa:
“Africa” (Toto) – 7
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) – 6
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) 8.5
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) 5
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) 8
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) 7.5
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) 8
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) 7.5
John:
“Africa” (Toto) – 6
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) – 4
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) 8
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) 7.5
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) 9
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) 7
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) 8.5
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) 7
A lot late but still starting at division A to catch up and vote for solidarity…
“Africa” (Toto) – 7
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) – 9
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) – 9
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) – 6
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) 8
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) 7
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) – 6
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) – 9
You seem to be a Dawes fan – you’ll get another chance to vote for them in the round of 32!
Running way behind on this. No idea if voting is closed but I’m going to vote anyway for good measure.
“Africa” (Toto) – 8
“Josaphine” (Dispatch) – 5
“Change Gonna Come” (Sam Cooke) – 6
“Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan ft Johnny Cash) – 4
“Thunder Road” (Bruce) – 9
“We’re all in this together” (Old Crow Medicine Show) – 5
“Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields) – 4
“When My Time Comes” (Dawes) – 5
Hi Friends… I was a good friend of Guillermo but I live in CA. We were roommates for a long period of time and talked every week. I don’t know what happened and I am crushed. Would someone reach out to me and let me know what happened. I would really appreciate it. @wilsonjonny is my Instagram handle.