Video and Tabs: Livin’ Thing – ELO (Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra)

I got an e-mail from a "Joe" about 9:31 this morning. He turned me onto this video of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra doing "Livin' Thing" by ELO. Check it out, it's pretty damn great, plus it's got Bret from Flight of the Conchords in there!

Joe asked if I could post tabs for this song. I typically try not to disappoint, so here ya go. The chords repeat the same pattern on the 2nd and 3rd verses. Sorry I didn't write them out, but I'm technically supposed to be working right now. Shh.... don't tell my boss.

Livin' thing
Electric Light Orchestra
C   - 0003
Am  - 2000
Ab  - 5343
Fm  - 1013
Em  - 4432
Dm  - 2210
F   - 2010
G   - 0232
D7  - 2223
G+  - 0332
Bbm - 3111
   C	                                           Am
   Sailin' away on the crest of a wave, it's like magic
   Ab	                                            Fm
   Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin', it's magic
    Em	                    Dm
And you, and your sweet desire,
         Em     Dm  Em	       F	   G
You took me, oh-oh, higher and higher, baby   

 	C C C        Am           F 
 	      It's a livin' thing,
        D7      G+       C
It's a terrible thing to lose
       Am         F       
It's a given thing
       D7       G+       C 
What a terrible thing to lose.

 	Bbm             F              G
 	(Taking a dive) (halt the slide)  	 

Making believe this is what you've conceived
From your worst day,
Moving in line then you look back in time
To your first day

Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide
Floating downstream,
So let her go don't start spoiling the show
It's a bad dream

Video Cover: Bed Intruder – my perky interpretation

Alright, so I'm sure y'all have seen the Bed Intruder auto-tune song like a bajillion times (hell, you can buy it on freaking itunes), but just in case you haven't:

Ahh... damn, that's good stuff. I had to snap myself out of it just now because I was starting it for the 4th time. I think I have a problem. I've also been trying to seek out alternate versions and covers because there's loads of em out there. Here's two of my other favorites.

Bed Intruder Shamisen Cover:

Bed Intruder Mario Paint Cover:

Ok. I think I got enough of a fix to move on with the post now. Sorry, I can't stop myself. Anyway, I wanted to do a ukulele cover of Bed Intruder, but a quick search showed that like 10,000 people already had that idea. So... hmm... what does that leave? Well, how about a perky Edwardian-era interpretation? Imagine this version booming out of your Victrola. Oh hells yah!

If, for some crazy reason, you want to play my version, here's the chords:

Bed Intruder - a perky interpretation by Ukulele Guy
G - 0232
A7 - 0100
D - 2220
D7 - 2223
B7 -2322
B - 4322
Em - 4432

     G               A7
he's climbin in your windows
     D             B7
he's snatchin your people up
      E7-4445    A7
tryna rape em so y'all need to
D                         B
hide your kids, hide your wife
Em                        A7
hide your kids, hide your wife
B                         
hide your kids, hide your wife
       G             A7  D
and it wouldn't be a bad idea
             D
to hide your husband
     Em           A7          B7
cuz they're rapin errbody out here
     Em           A7          D
cuz they're rapin errbody out here
G                 A7       D
you don't have to come and confess
       B7
we're lookin for you
E7-4445         A7
we gon find you
D           B
we gon find you
Em                 A7
so you can run and tell that,
B
run and tell that
Em    A7    D
home, home, homeboy

            E7
we got your t-shirt
              A7               D-2225  C#-6544 B7
you done left fingerprints and all
           E7
you are so dumb
               A7          D-2225  C#-6544 B7
you are really dumb--for real
        G                       A7
the man got away leaving behind evidence
D-2225                     B7
i was attacked by some idiot in the projects
G           A7       D
so dumb, so dumb, so dumb, so
G           A7       D
so dumb, so dumb, so dumb, so

     G               A7
he's climbin in your windows
     D             B7
he's snatchin your people up
      E7-4445    A7
tryna rape em so y'all need to
D                         B
hide your kids, hide your wife
Em                        A7
hide your kids, hide your wife
B                         
hide your kids, hide your wife
       G             A7  D
and it wouldn't be a bad idea
             D
to hide your husband
     Em           A7          D7
cuz they're rapin errbody out here

ACK! Musician’s Friend is having a HUGE used sale!

Apparently the downside to being hungover for three days after your birthday is that you apparently are prone to missing out on important announcements.

Take this one as a fer instance.  Musician's Friend is having a HUGE sale on used items!  I just checked out the sale and I see 13, count em 13, ukuleles!  Quite a few Fender ukes and a Rogue ukulele for $10.50.  Holy smokes!

BUT, the sale ends tonight!  ACK!  I promise to not be so damned hungover next time.  Hopefully I can keep you guys better informed.

Video: Movin’ Out, a drunken cover by Soft Trombone

Oh boy. Where to begin? You know, they say you should never start a performance with an apology. But, "they" weren't recording impromptu Billy Joel jams during a drunken birthday weekend. So, they can eat it. But, instead of moaning I'll just offer some explanations that hopefully give you some context on the video to follow.

Explanations:

  1. This video took place on my drunken camping birthday celebration.
  2. Soft Trombone (the name of our band, apparently) didn't have a name until the video started
  3. Soft Trombone also had never played together before this day.
  4. Soft Trombone isn't, by the Webster's definition anyway, a real band.
  5. Soft Trombone had just played about 20 other random songs and pretty much blown my voice to smithereens
  6. By this point in the evening, I had already enjoyed one of my birthday presents, which was a 24 ounce can of 4Loco..... and some beers.... and a shot or two of bourbon.
  7. My lovely wife is recording the video with two Flip camcorders, the recording from the second camera has yet to surface.  Based on the angle, I believe that Bryan Ramirez's "rock face" at the end of the video will be zoomed in and awesome.
  8. I have no idea who was watching any of the four children who were also present at the camping extravaganza.  I assume it was wood sprites or forest gnomes.

I suppose if I had any pride or any pretension at being a ukulele authority, I would never let this video see the light of day.  But, thankfully, I don't really care.  I was having a blast with some of my best friends and I think that definitely comes through.  Heh.  So, get out there kids, have fun and make fun of yourself because then you don't have to worry about someone doing it for you.

Video: Zombie Apocalypse by Kirby Krackle

Ok.  It's shocking admission time.  Brace yourself.  It turns out that this isn't my only blog.  I'm sorry baby, I've been seeing other blog readers.  Do you think you can still love me?  Heh.  What's more shocking is that my other blog has been around since 1996, if you can believe that.

You see, friend, I have an unhealthy appetite for post-apocalyptic movies.  So, I made Post Apocalyptic Movie Mania when I was in college and it's still around, if you can believe that.  I haven't brought it up before because Ukuleles don't really factor into the the apocalypse, zombies and plagues too frequently.

That is... until now!  Boo-yah!  Zombies and Ukes!  You all have Kirby Krackle to thank for this.  Cause, you see, now I'm not going to shut up about Dawn of the Dead, 12 Monkeys, etc, etc.  In fact, I think it's time to revamp my old Volumen song "The Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Return of the Living Dead".  This time it will be an all ukulele arrangement.