47th Season of the Ukulele: Get to Work!

GinnyT11

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"You don't like your job? There's a support group for that.
It's called Everyone, and they meet in the bar."
--Drew Carey


Holiday fun is over. Done. Fini. It's back to spending thought, energy and gas to earn a dollar or two in return. It's the old grind, the salt mine, the rat race...well, Seasonistas, let's ukeify this situation!
This Season's songs must reference an aspect of WORKING in the title or as a primary concept in the lyrics. Just a passing mention of it (e.g., "After work we began our killing spree...") will not count for your entry.
Now...heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go!

Work encompasses these ideas:

  • being in the work place (office/factory/vehicle/route/ranch/shop/warehouse)
  • doing work tasks
  • the work day or end of one; retiring from work
  • a person in a job (e.g., "Marian the Librarian")
  • lost a job, looking for a job, hate my job, quitting a job
  • the boss, The Man, il patron ("Won't Get Fooled Again" won't count—it's not about working.)
  • salary, paycheck, payday (IF it's a key concept!)


Parameters
+ Say it's for the 47th week in the video.
+ Uke must be primary instrument.
+ Original songs are welcome. Instrumentals are welcome.
+ Visuals about working are invited. Multitrack if you want. Dress in work gear if you want.
+ Bonuses limited to 3, though you can cancel one if you add one you like better. (I will try to comment on all bonuses too.)
+ No posting till Sunday, Jan. 6!

Judging
My dear husband, MrT—an excellent uke player and a teacher of performers—will join me in judging. We will select winners based on the overall effect of your song: your uking + your individual style + how they match the song. Don't measure yourself against others; if you're doing something cool in your own way, you can wow us.

Prizes
Three winners each get a set of SOUTHCOAST strings, courtesy of Dirk Wormhoudt at Southcoast Ukulele & Guitar Company! Yay, Dirk!
(The Southcoast site is under renovation, but later this week you'll see lots of good information about which string brings out what sound. You'll get to choose your set! http://southcoastukes.com/)


I encourage and applaud first-time video posters! It's a hard first step, and to reward you for making it, I'll send you a very useful invisibility cloak. I got some on sale.

sale item.jpg


Good luck!
—Ginny


ENTRIES PLAYLIST

BONUSES

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Ginny, I do have an original that fits this theme. Now I just have to remember how to play it.
 
Perfect timing, Ginny. It's back to community college math instructing for me on Monday after a terrific winter break. Hopefully my well-relaxed brains will still be good for math-explainin'. Wish me luck.
 
omg I just googled songs about my profession and found an entire pinterest board of youtube vids people have made on the subject. I have been watching and laughing my head off for the last hour. Getting some good ideas from these...
 
Mel is going to have to tie me up to not get me to post before tomorrow...
GREAT THEME!
Hat is off to you and of course and as always to Mr. Dirk
 
We're still on holiday here until Tuesday ;) Let's hear it for the Three Kings :)
I've got an original that's just right for this week!!!
 
This is a bonus I did some time ago called the Ballad of John Henry.
It is a song full of lessons.
1) If you are born with a hammer in your hand... your mother has probably had a tough birth.
but regardless you should not consider yourself predestined to busting rocks with a sledgehammer
2) If your job is threatened by a machine... 9 times out of 10 the machine will win.
3) Never let your job consume you for in the end it will kill you
4) At your grave most likely it is only the inanimate objects that will mark your demise.

 
OK, so here's my very first ever seasons entry! It's an original blues song I just wrote, a tongue-in-cheek look at how easy some of our politicians etc. think we professors have it.
Enjoy!
Luis
 
OK, so here's my very first ever seasons entry! It's an original blues song I just wrote, a tongue-in-cheek look at how easy some of our politicians etc. think we professors have it.
Enjoy! Luis


Luis, what a great first Seasons post! You'll be getting one of those invisibility cloaks.

Very nice blues playing! I laughed at the lyrics because my husband is a humanities professor and we know exactly what you're talking about.
 
It has been the 6th for some time already here in the Netherlands, so here is my entry. An original I wrote for this season: Working on a song about working

That's like being between opposing mirrors. Maybe you thought so too, as you seemed to be smiling more than in some previous videos. Nice strum pattern, and I appreciate the original writing.

There must be some U2 song about working; I'm sure you'll find it for a bonus.
 
Thanks Ginny, If there was an obvious U2 song about working it would have been my entry I guess ;).
I do have some other bonus stashed away, that will surface if nobody else does that song.
 
OK, so here's my very first ever seasons entry! It's an original blues song I just wrote, a tongue-in-cheek look at how easy some of our politicians etc. think we professors have it.
Enjoy!
Luis

OMG I love it! My reaction at the end--chuckle chuckle chuckle. Love it!

CountryMouse
 
Nice one Xomenn! Keep on working! ;)

Luis!!! Welcome to the seasons - what a gutsy performance!

I'm an Associate Lecturer in Translation, so I really know where you're coming from on that Blues man! ;) I could identify with the whole scenario - except the health care and the tenure - us "Associates" are the lowest of the low. :(
 
Ginny,

Do I necessarily need to say the Season it is in the same part as the singing part of my song? The reason I ask is that I have a long talky intro I need to do to explain some of the history of the song. I would hate to have to do all that over. I was planning on doing the talking part separate from the singing part. However, if the Seasons mention needs to be in the singing part, just let me know. :)

Thanks!

CountryMouse
 
Do I necessarily need to say the Season it is in the same part as the singing part of my song? The reason I ask is that I have a long talky intro I need to do to explain some of the history of the song. I would hate to have to do all that over. I was planning on doing the talking part separate from the singing part. However, if the Seasons mention needs to be in the singing part, just let me know. :) Thanks! CountryMouse

I'm not sure we've ever had a talking video separate from a singing video. You may wish to put the history of the song in the text of the post to support the singing video. I wouldn't put the talking video on the playlist.

If you're doing it all together, you could say, "This is for the 47th Season. The story behind the song is..."
Or perhaps just say briefly at the end when you've got a good take: "Week 47. Work week."

Does this answer your question?
 
This is so appropriate for me right now, Ginny. Unfortunately, the part that makes it so appropriate is all the overtime they're dragging out of us on this project! I really hope to be able to throw something on camera...but if not I should get a "by week" because it's my job that will be keeping me from recording an entry!

John
 
Great concept, Ginny!

Hmm... I don't think there are any songs that deal directly with my current (soon to be ending) line of work, selling major home appliances. Money for Nothing comes kinda close, but it's about custom kitchen delivery (deliverayayay, to be more accurate)...

I work for a big corporation, and like many such entities these days, we have our own internal social networking site with tens of thousands of users. I composed the following cover of "Appliance Man" for that group, and although it would be a lot more amusing if you understood what SSEI, ASM, SPIFFS and CSA's meant, I would like to share this a preliminary bonus entry...

 
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