Season 339 - "Let There Be Light"

It's Monday in Australia. A paoriginal for sotu 339.

We have satellites in the sky that show the way now.

thank you for hosting the week, Del.
an original song written yesterday, and inspired by the season
here, lights are symbols of menace and a past that is beyond redemption.



WOLVES

Teapot on the coffee table
Vase with a flower or two
Our things don't belong here
Any more than me and you

Knock on the door at 2am
Red lights flashing outside
Cops bust in and slap the handcuffs on us
Looks like we're going for a drive

Leave a night light on
Keep the wolves at bay
Whether we're still here or not
Won't matter either way

Sheep start dozing off
The wolves they lie in wait
Guess you've gotta take your chances
Play a few cards straight

Incense ash on the mantelpiece
Dirty dishes in the sink
Not one picture will even hang straight
God I need a drink

Leave a night light on
Keep the wolves at bay
Whether we're still here or not
There's gonna be hell to pay

Teapot on the coffee table
Vase with a flower or two
Our things don't belong here
Any more than we do

Season 339. Submission 1. "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" (Words and music by Gerard Marsden, Fred Marsden, Les Chadwick and Les Maguire, 1964. This song was famously recorded by Gerry and the Pacemakers.)

Thank you for hosting, Del, and your fine theme!

Why this one? Well, I've always loved the song, but never was able to sing it. Some bricks fell into place this morning. (Thank you, BEV, for teaching me about dropped tunings!) And here it is ...... the light of morning.

"Hope For The Light"

I realize this is a bit of shameless, self promotion, but I thought I'd share a link to one of my originals that I did for SOTU 227, entitled: "Hope For The Light." I hope to find the time to record it again before this current Season finishes, but I am finding myself overly involved with a new original. Evelyn just got back home, and what I thought was nearly done, apparently needs more work!

The song chart for "Hope For The Light" is contained within its YouTube description if anyone is looking for chords and lyrics to a song that will fit this week's theme. It thrills me no end, whenever someone likes one of my songs enough to cover it. Feel free to alter it in anyway you wish to make it your own.

You can view it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaSEXT4_KD4

Probably the most obvious song to bring this week, but I sure had fun bringing it-
More to follow, but for now a sing-a-long.
Go get your ukes.

This is a song that I really enjoy listening to, and I've meant to play it for the seasons many times, most recently for the Dessert season because it mentions apple pie. That apple pie happens to be "shining in the sun at noon," so hopefully that is good enough for this season. I may or may not get around to doing another song depending on how my practice on the Guitalele goes.

moonlight shadow, by mike oldfield. i remember this great song being on top of the pops for AGES, back in 1983, with a great promo vid, i loved the song then, and i still love it now!

Stars On the Water

I ran across this one today and since I kinda like Crowell, & it is pretty simple, thought I'd do it while I waited for one I was working on to gel.

(I think I talked about Louisiana pronunciations once before, but the thing to remember is that there can be more than one correct pronunciation for many words. Just be satisfied that you understand it.)

Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) - Edison Lighthouse

Well, you said we could cover artists with "light" in the name - I think I am the first to do that. Here's some Edison Lighthouse - "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" - which is a song about a person who brings light everywhere she goes.



The upstairs neighbors were getting ready for bed as I was recording this ... you can hear the door being closed near the end. (I'd have closed it myself before I started, but there's a one-inch gap underneath, so it wouldn't have made the slightest difference ... and now I will have to make noise opening it again to use the bathroom before bed....)

PS: I was at a music party last night, and decided it's time for me to bring back some of my early songs that I love and haven't played in a while ... and the first one I thought of was "I'm Beginning to See the Light". So, I saw your theme, and thought, "Perfect!" I've been practicing it today and it's almost there. Then I saw Uking Viking's already brought it ... so I'll take another day or two to get it smoother before I record it.

PPS: It's also the perfect theme for a performance I video'd two weeks ago and haven't managed to get off my phone yet. I hope you don't mind it's not *quite* a brand new video ... it is quite recent and hasn't been seen by anybody but me yet, and it's super fun! Hopefully I can manage to get it uploaded finally....

Wow five pages to paroose (I know it’s spelled wrong, or is it?). Anyway, thanks for hosting Del and very good theme too!

Here's a fun one for you Del. My friend Bob and I had a few minutes and decided to give this one a go. Because of the timing of my living outside of the U.S. I had never heard this song until I recently learned it for a local Ukulele Meet-up. Please look past my contortions, I'm dealing with some kind of muscular issues in my neck and shoulder. Playing at times these days is agony & ecstasy ~

I've been wanting to try this little known Jimmy C. Newman song for awhile. It's another where the guy in the song is having a real good night! It was a bear to attempt though, lots going on in it, the lyrics and picking is coming in fast and furious. I got frustrated cause I messed up the lead at the end like 8 times, so I came up with a way around it, of sorts.

Wow guys (I use the term ‘guys’ in a totally non gender-specific way here btw - hope that’s okay with everyone) - you are really keeping me busy here! (Note to self - choose a slightly more niche theme next time you host, Del! )

I’m really not complaining - some wonderful music coming through already and we’re only a day in! And I’m very pleased and grateful for the written intros to your posts - adds an extra dimension to my listen to have some kind of context for the songs you bring. Thank you all!

Edit: 34 songs so far! Wow!

Well, what are the chances of that...last week I pencilled this song in for today's 365ukesongs number, but when I looked at it this morning I spotted a total eclipse of the sun in verse three. So it can go on here as well.

The science in my previous song was wrong. They Might Be Giants wrote a follow-up about why the sun REALLY shines.

My goal today is 72 subscribers. I have a great non-SOTU Courtney Barnett cover for tomorrow. What better time to subscribe to [URL="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcDwyjjus8w2V4UOnmXtNjg”]my new YouTube channel[/URL]?

an original song I wrote in 2000, reprised today.
the history?

well.
yeah, it's a deep one...

at that time I was heavily involved in Christian ministry; regular lay preaching across many churches
combined with worship leading and teaching Sunday School in various locations every second week.
add to that full time employment as a School Chaplain and weekly Bible Study leading - my entire life was my faith and vice versa.
the context of this song was an ill entered into marriage that began failing before it even started.
I was utterly torn and broken and had no idea how to resolve it.
Love the poor sinner and hate the sinful light deep within.
I was then and am now one of those sinners.
this song was borne of it.

SHE IS THE WELL

Live and live to tell
Love is like water and she is the well where I drink and I
Live to tell

There's blood on her track
And I drank of her letter 'til the candle burned black the night I
Spilt blood on her track

Every word is true
And I'd burn 'em all for a picture of you, sweet Child
Every word is true

So weep on my grave
And pray for the souls your poor heart couldn't save, o while you
Weep on my grave

And take that silver band
As Jesus sits by the good Lord's right hand, child take back
That silver band

For the light shines deep within
Love the poor sinner and hate the sinful light
Deep within

I live and live to tell
Love is like water and she is the well where I drink and I
Live to tell

I understand the colours more than I understand the arch....

paoriginal

One of my favourite Don Mclean's. Some of his best poetry.From 1974 "Homeless Brother".

Hello, Del ... you asked for background. Actually, this was the first song I thought of for this week's theme ... and, NO, I'm not THAT old! But I should like to dedicate it to my Mum and Dad, who, amongst so many, had wartime experiences which would live with them always. My Dad joined the R.A.F. in 1938 and trained as a navigator. He was in Singapore until it fell to the Japanese. During this period, his plane came down and, for a while, he was "missing in action, presumed dead", until he and the other crew members were rescued by local fishermen from the island where they had crashed. He served later in Coastal Command and was in a crew responsible for ferrying important personages around ... including Churchill and De Gaulle. Later still, he was sent to Canada to train future navigators. He left the R.A.F. as a Squadron Leader. My Mum experienced the Blitz firsthand, travelling every day across a ravaged London to her job on a women's magazine until her office was evacuated to just outside the City. For her war work, she was assigned to a factory making spark plugs. Since my Mum was the most technologically challenged woman on the Planet, this never ceases to amaze me, and I can't help but wonder whether any of the spark plugs for which she was responsible actually functioned!

Oh, and Dame Vera Lynn, who made this song famous, at least in Great Britain, lives very close to where we used to live in the south of England and is still going strong at one hundred years plus. We knew her doctor ... one of our sons was a school friend of one of his sons.

Welcome back, Wendy! Haven't seen you here in awhile (unless I've been remiss in my Seasonista-ing ...)

UkeCan1 said:

Well, you said we could cover artists with "light" in the name - I think I am the first to do that. Here's some Edison Lighthouse - "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" - which is a song about a person who brings light everywhere she goes.



The upstairs neighbors were getting ready for bed as I was recording this ... you can hear the door being closed near the end. (I'd have closed it myself before I started, but there's a one-inch gap underneath, so it wouldn't have made the slightest difference ... and now I will have to make noise opening it again to use the bathroom before bed....)

PS: I was at a music party last night, and decided it's time for me to bring back some of my early songs that I love and haven't played in a while ... and the first one I thought of was "I'm Beginning to See the Light". So, I saw your theme, and thought, "Perfect!" I've been practicing it today and it's almost there. Then I saw Uking Viking's already brought it ... so I'll take another day or two to get it smoother before I record it.

PPS: It's also the perfect theme for a performance I video'd two weeks ago and haven't managed to get off my phone yet. I hope you don't mind it's not *quite* a brand new video ... it is quite recent and hasn't been seen by anybody but me yet, and it's super fun! Hopefully I can manage to get it uploaded finally....

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