Seems to be a popular theme this American stationed in Japan falling in love with a Geisha girl
I don't know how the young men livin' - Lord Executor (P Garcia ) 1937
Em Am
I don' know how di young men livin'
Em B7
They never have a shilling
Em Am
I don' know how di young men livin'
Em B7
They never have a shilling oh
Em Am
Tommy, o-pen the door
v ^ v v v
Em B7
Give me the bundle and let me go
^ v v v ^ v v v
Em Am
Tommy, open the door
B7 Em
Give me mi bundle and let me go
Em Am
In the day, he walk 'bout,
Em B7
Only coming with his sweet mouth.
Em Am
Calling for his mi-nou*, fowl, pound-
Em B7
Plantain and Cal-lal-loo
Chorus
Em Am
In the night he come and peep,
Em B7
Only longing for a place to sleep,
Em Am
As to cast his weary head,
Em B7
As a lump of lead on the coz-y bed, ah!
Chorus
Em Am
You can see that villain next day,
Em B7
Half-crazy and total-bey†
Em Am
His watchikong˚, goodness knows,
Em B7
And half of his feet ex-posed.
Chorus
Em Am
Who can measure the human mind,
Em B7
When it is un-cultured and un-re-fined?
Em Am
An im-pulse o' soc-i-e-ty,
Em B7
Not to be mentioned in his-tor-y.
Chorus
_____
*minou - kitten i.e., sweetheart
†total-bey - usually, 'crazy'; but here 'dishevelled'
˚watchikong - canvas rope-soled shoes
*WARNING*
PROUD MOMENT!
*WARNING*
PROUD MOMENT!
This song came up in one of the singalong sessions at GNUF last weekend, and I decided to do it then. But since then it seems to have become this week's theme tune, including Ryan's version with added Nathan. I really can't compete with that, but here it is anyway.
two well known calypso songs
It's 9 years almost exactly to the minute that I purchased my first uke
Code:I don't know how the young men livin' - Lord Executor (P Garcia ) 1937 Em Am I don' know how di young men livin' Em B7 They never have a shilling Em Am I don' know how di young men livin' Em B7 They never have a shilling oh Em Am Tommy open the door Em B7 Give me the bundle and let me go Em Am Tommy open the door B7 Em Give me mi bundle and let me go Em Am In the day, he walk 'bout, Em B7 Only coming with his sweet mouth. Em Am Calling for his mi-nou*, fowl, pound- Em B7 Plantain and Cal-lal-loo Chorus Em Am In the night he come and peep, Em B7 Only longing for a place to sleep, Em Am As to cast his weary head, Em B7 As a lump of lead on the coz-y bed, ah! Chorus Em Am You can see that villain next day, Em B7 Half-crazy and total-bey† Em Am His watchikong˚, goodness knows, Em B7 And half of his feet ex-posed. Chorus Em Am Who can measure the human mind, Em B7 When it is un-cultured and un-re-fined? Em Am An im-pulse o' soc-i-e-ty, Em B7 Not to be mentioned in his-tor-y. Chorus _____ *minou - kitten i.e., sweetheart †total-bey - usually, 'crazy'; but here 'dishevelled' ˚watchikong - canvas rope-soled shoes
Here's my second.
The lyrics are traditional and the melody seems to have come from a ragtime melody first published in 1909. Many, many people have recorded it. Lonnie Donegan recorded it in 1956 so skiffle. I've done it here with baritone uke and harp and the video is taken from the Cento Valli Railway, a metre gauge railway that runs along the southern side of the Alps from Domodossola in Italy to Locarno in Switzerland. It passes through some fabulous scenery.
An old Jamaican folk-tune, covered by mento revivalists, the Jolly Boys. The telephone spared you a reprise of the final chorus.
Calypso Rose
I'm sure this isn't a real calypso rhythm but it's about the best I could do and still sing and play at the same time. My favorite thing about this one is that I figured out a trick to make the melodica sound more like an organ. ChordPulse doesn't have anything that it calls "calypso," so I used a slow reggae beat.
Bad fake accent warning.