Ukulele Guy

Alright y'all.  This here marks the 6th consecutive #MusicMonday on twitter where I'm posting an original song by yours truly.  So... if I slip soon, then just remember that, at one time, I did give you 6 in a row!

Heh.. I wrote this song when my first son was born.  Whenever I was dressing him I found that I kept making up this goofy song about how to get dressed (and do it wrong).  I started with "Put on your shoes... then take off your pants... put your socks on your hands... that's how you do the getting dressed dance".  That's pretty much all I had until one night when my wife and I were baby-sitting our goddaugther (who was probably 12-13 at the time) and we decided it'd be run to record a full version of this song.

This is what came out of it.  I keep thinking about fleshing it out and/or maybe adding different/more words, but that's not something that I'm known for.  I like to make up a song, record it and then move right along.

So, here is that moment in time, captured in mp3 format.

Getting Dressed Dance by Ukulele Guy (and wife and goddaughter)

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So, exactly one month ago, today, I made a ridiculous promise on Twitter that I'd release an original ukulele song every #MusicMonday. I haven't let you down let (although today it was close, as my chest cold has returned with a vengeance). I had planned to use my new Gorillapod and my FlipVideo to make a cool video and song, but my voice is wrecked today.  See.. I've been sick for about a week, but regardless of that, I had to play a show on Halloween with my heavy new wave band.  It was our 10th anniversary of our interpretation of the David Bowie Ziggy Stardust record.  So, long story short, I feel like hammered crap today.

But.. never fear!  I'm not going to break my promise (yet).  Here is a ukulele ditty that I recorded for my new born son back in 2004.  I had this concept in my head that I wanted to be the Leon Redbone of ukulele or something.  You know, bolo ties, mint juleps and whatnot.   Anyway, that explains the production on this recording, anyway.  I still play this song all the time, it's one of the first songs I wrote on ukulele and I love to play it.  Although, I play it maybe too fast these days.  I like how jaunty it is in this version.

Simon Alton, Indeed by Ukulele Guy

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Alright, it's the third week of my crazy #MusicMonday promise on twitter.  I'm not ready to let anyone down, just yet.  I wrote this song for a love song project with a friend.  Yup, it was for the same project that I mentioned in my, "Original Song: UPS Girl by Ukulele Guy" post.   Anyway, we were talking about the concept for the band and I said something like, "It has to be really specific girl's names.  You know, something like 'Megan Lannegan, my assistant manager'".  So, I had to put my money where my mouth was and make a song titled Megan Lannegan.  Here's the first draft.

Megan Lannegan by Ukulele Guy

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So, I made some ridiculous promise on Twitter that I'd make a new song post every #MusicMonday.  Something tells me I'm going to regret that, but I'm not breaking the deal yet!

So, here's a vaguely new song fragment that I wrote.  I apparently have ADD because I like em short and sweet.

Ukulele Guy - Moderation Town

I should also mention that I mean the reference to Puerto Rican women in the most flattering way possible.  I, myself, had the privilege of dating a foxy Puerto Rican girl in high school for a year or two.  Ahh... Rosana Benhilde Lopez... I wonder what she's up to now?

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So, I stumbled across a blog post entitled, "Ukulele Songbook MP3s are available in Files section" and instantly I was excited.  After reading the article, it looks like folks from Ukulele Hall of Fame created the Fleabag Music songbook so that uke players, when we meet each other, can have a starting off point for playing together.  Basically it's sheet music and mp3s for a bunch of public domain songs that are popular on the Ukulele.  What's better, it's free!

The sheet music is really complete, but don't worry it also shows the fingerings for all the chords and you could just strum the chords.  Anyway, for a free resource, it's incredible!  Here are the direct links to the material (but I encourage you to check out the ukuleletonya.com blog as well):

• Fleabag Song Collection (a zipped file containing MP3 files)
• Fleabag Songbook (a PDF)

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I wrote this shortly after getting married to my foxy wife (2003, maybe?).  Her family was visiting and they were all out doing something when the power went out at our house for 2+ hours.  As you might have guessed, I typically live in front of the computer, so, for a moment, I was lost.  Then I remembered where my ukulele and the candles were and I got to work.  For those that don't know, I'm the king of writing songs for pretty girls.  And, sometimes those tributes of song pay off.  In the case of my wife, the song tributes paid off and then some and I just wanted to make a song about how rad that was.  I recorded it on the computer when the power came back.  I think there are two ukulele tracks and two vocal tracks?  It's been awhile.

Bed by Ukulele Guy

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Ok.  In a classic "put up or shut up" moment.  @ShelfLifeCC on Twitter asked if I had posted any videos or mp3s of myself playing the Ukulele.   Hmm.. well, that's a good idea.  Too bad I have an incredibly short attention span.  So, generally I write a verse/chorus and then move on.  But, here's a song that I wrote for a love song project with a friend.  The concept was all love songs about specific girls.  We only collaborate and practice via Facebook.  So, of course, we haven't  played any shows yet.  But, I hope to soon.  I think we are calling the project, Yohan.  It's a long story.

Anyway, I was bitching that it was hard to find inspiration for a love song project when you work from your home.  I mean, I rarely see other humans during the day.  But.... there was one exception.  The foxy UPS lady!

UPS Girl performed by Ukulele Guy

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You remember the Large Hadron Collider, right?  Sure, you do, 17-mile-long tunnel near Geneva, Switzerland?  Supposed to make particles accelerate and collide and possibly give us more information about the Big Bang, and whatnot?  Or, maybe you remember it as the giant science thingy that when you turn it on, the world ends?  In either case, Will Howells wrote this little ditty about it.

Large Hadron Collider song by Will Howells

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