Hi again, dear Seasonistas!
Thank you for your songs that came in overnight for me.
I have just finished listening to them, really like them. Super impressed by the quality!
Here are the wonderful entries, and my comments:
Rob - Them Toad Suckers, a Mason Williams set to music
where else do we absolutely need the jews harp? HERE! enjoyed this immensely. Thanks for sharing this beauty, Rob!
Rob - Resumé, a poem by Dorothy Parker set to music
I have watched this a few times now. The first time I watched it I burst out laughing till tears came out of my eyes. This is so good. I haven't read much Dorothy Parker. I will after this. It isn't just your superb playing and reading, it is the whole vibe, the way you perform this by just being you, which to me is the best sort of performance. Love it.
Ila covers Memory, a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Trevor Nunn based on poems by T. S. Eliot
I too had no idea this was based on poems by T.S. Eliot. Not an easy song to sing, isn't it? You did a lovely job, Ila! Your vibrato is pretty cool....
Wim - I Heard a Fly Buzz, by Emily Dickinson
That fly just keeps buzzing for you...from U2 to this. haha. Thanks for being such a good sport, Wim! I like that effect that is kind of wah-wah-y from halfway of the song onwards. Great strumming as usual! And thanks for sharing about your ukes. Worths browns seem pretty popular. I might try them one day.
Berni - The Hand that Signed the Paper, a Dylan Thomas's poem set to a Bob Dylan tune (All Along the Watchtower)
I love the pipes!!! I remember watching this. I think there was a very passionate exchange about them on the forum. And who else can sing over them other than you, or Jim Persky, or...several other seasonistas I am thinking of now... I bet you have listened to Dylan Thomas recite his poems before, Berni? It is so strangely captivating for me...especially when he read And Death Shall Have No Dominion. It is a bit like singing or chanting to me. Thanks for sharing this awe-inspiring marriage of 2 great poets!
Arvin covers O Holy Night, based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau
aha! I spotted that lil' camera that records the fretboard action! I feel like a fly on your Sparrow Flying V tenor, inspecting Mr. Arvin's fretwork. The Fly said to me : Mr Arvin is really good! But whenever he jiggles the string to let the note vibrate, I lose my foothold!
A bit of random joo-ing here. I LOVE the sound of the tenor uke through the guitar pedals. This is lovely, Arvin, thanks!
(I wonder if anyone might feel to make a haiku or poem after the names of your guitar pedals, recording gear and uke?)
Jim Yates - Limericks, limericks set to song
I like it! Smiling throughout here, Jim! Hope it was fun for you to play and sing this too! I like serious in a non- serious way! And this is it! Cool hat, what do you call this kind of hat, Jim? Oh, you know I love this uke you are playing. It sounds gorgeous and looks it too, what little I see. It sounds like you play only in linear tuning? And ok, you use Worth browns too... I will try them soon. Thanks for this delightful entry!
Alan - Singer in the Mist, a poem by Robert E. Howard set to music
Fantastic!!! I think you have done an awesome pairing of the poem with your arrangement! Love the sound of your main uke...(i heard a buzzing though...but that actually works for this song in my opinion), and that little melody you play over is lovely. Nice second vocals, i know you must have deliberately made it/them to sound distant, like lost in the mist or something. Thank you, Alan! This is a brilliantly arranged, atmospheric piece of work! And thanks for the smile at the end. :----)
Edwin - Poetical Science, an original about computer programmer Ada Lovelace, mentions poet Byron
I remember this very clearly, Edwin. Your voice is lovely, in both versions. But here, it sounds older and wiser and sings these words perfectly. Beautifully. The harmonies are great. They are fun to do, aren't they? I really like the picking; they flow along like water. Great songwriting and a beautiful tribute (and collab!) Thanks for sharing about your ukes. They both sound gorgeous. Cedar gives a lovely sound. And I am convinced I need to buy some Worth browns. Almost everyone is using them...Thanks for this lovely song!
John (jp888then) - Canis Major, a Robert Frost poem set to music
dog star shining brightly on star dog. I love this! I too like the loose strumming. And especially the aahs and ooh's and the high parts you sing. this underdog may be earthbound, but he sounds so carefree! Wonderful combination of poem and music and video. Ruby is gorgeous. Nothing looks happier than a dog playing. Thanks for this beauty, John!
Thanks everyone for your songs!!!
Here is a poem.
I happened to open a book at my library today and saw it. Serious.
Problems of Poetry
There was a young poet of Tring
Whose poetry never would rhyme,
When I asked him the reason,
He sighed, 'It's the Time of Year.
I never can rhyme round about Christmas.'
(Oh dear!)
(Try again!)
(Here goes!)
There was a young bard from the Isthmus
Whose poetry was rhythmless (that's better!)
When I asked him the reason
He groaned, 'It's the Time of Year.
I can't get it right in the Spr...
(Oh dash. It's autumn!)'
So he sat at his desk and he cried
And his chest it did heave like the sea going in and out,
'Oh I can't get it together
Whether it's sunny or raining.'
So he went to his bed, but he didn't even die.
Gerard Benson