Season 562 - Poetry in Song

Brilliant Oregonian jazz musician Esperanza Spalding set William Blake's poem "The Fly" to music. Please listen to her beautiful version.

And here's Blake's "The Fly"

Little fly,
Thy summer’s play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath,
And the want
Of thought is death,

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.


And here's my drastically simplified version of Spalding's song...

 
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The season has come to an end, with Ralf and Sabine each bringing 2 songs for us!

Here is my second last wrap-up, with my comments! (My LAST wrap-up will be to announce the winner(s).

Rob - The Same Boat, reading of a poem by Julie Sheldon
Wonderful poem, and excellent reading, Rob. Love the video. Very moved by this. Thank you so much.

Alan - The Cane Bottom'd Chair, a poem by William Makepeace Thackeray set to music
I LOVE THIS!!! WOW. What a wonderful poem! And you have made it even more wonderful here! Love the description of the room and the things in it. I can almost smell the room. Really enjoyed how the story unfold as I listened to your lovely picking and beautiful singing. It was almost like you had taken me on a tour around this chamber. What a surprise to realise it is a sort of love song. Thank you so much, Alan! (Cane-bottomed chairs used to be pretty popular here because they are cooler to sit on. Nowadays, partly because almost everyone has air-conditioning in their houses, these chairs seem to have gone out of fashion.)

Joo - All Of Us, the last verse of Raymond Carver's poem, In Switzerland, set to music
(I used to like Carver's short stories first, before getting into his poems. I really like them. if you don't mind sad stuff, check him out.)

Rob - Them Moose Goosers, a poem by Mason Williams set to music
comments as follow:

joo: Moosey Goosey good!!!! Love that guitar riff! Actually, love everything about this. Yep. Thank you, Rob!
Rob: it is full of americanisms that are not in a British English
joo: I know right! dun understand anything but I still enjoyed it! haha!😂
Rob: verb. goosed; goosing. transitive verb. : to poke between the buttocks with an upward thrust.
Hiny: It is derived from words based on the root word hind, meaning “the back,” as in behind
(another euphemism for the buttocks) and hindquarters... only redneck would find fun in poking moose in their backside.
joo: haha! wonder how that came about!! And I called your video Moosey Goosey Good. 😂

Arcy - Fleas, a poem by Ogden Nash set to music
Haha! Epic! I love seeing your whiskers move when you sing. Please never shave, Mr. Rabbit. But you might get fleas. Thanks so much for bringing this delightful little poem! Oh, I forgot to say- how dangerous that Ambien drug can be! Glad you bought a uke that you like though!

Arcy - The Llama, a poem by Ogden Nash set to music
haha! So cute. The best part was what you said at the end! I never read any Ogden Nash. He must have taken Ambien when he wrote these poems. (oh, that rhymes!)

Jim Yates covers Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen, which lyrics are a loose translation, into English, of the poem Little Viennese Waltz by Federico García Lorca
ooooh i love that resonator! you mean it is a "fake" National? It sounds awesome! I love resonator ukes. Is the fretboard wider than regular soprano and concert ukes? I am gonna save up to buy one soon! A toque sounds so much more classier than a stocking cap. And the poem and song- I read the English translation of the poem and now listening to this, there is a lot going on in these words. There is love and death and much more. The setting in Vienna and the mentioning of Hungary too... 🤔Need to read up! There is that unmistakable Leonard Cohen melancholy/sorrow in the melody. I especially love that "ay ay ay" part. Very beautiful song, and you delivered a lovely job with your singing and playing, Jim. Thank you so much!

Ralf covers Little Fly by Esperanza Spalding, which is a poem by William Blake that Spalding set to music
I listened to her performance you linked, Ralf, and i had goosebumps throughout. Never happened to me before, like, throughout the whole song. I still have them as I type. I love the poem; I tear up whenever I read it (i dunno why). I am so blown away by your very sparse but brilliant arrangement. My goosebumps still here as I listen to your version. This is splendid. I absolutely love this. Thank you so much.

Ralf brings a version of Capital Air, a poem by Allen Ginsberg, which he famously performed with the Clash in 1981
wow. Ralf. I don't think anyone can listen and watch this and not feel something stirred in them. Powerful performance here. Thank you so much!
Your boy's expressive doodles on the wall add something to this performance. Something sad, beautiful and powerful.

Sabine brings a French renaissance song Que faire s'amour me laisse
Your high range is so gorgeous, it shows very much here. I don't think I have heard you sing this high before. Such a beautiful song, sung so well. It will take me a few months to learn to sing a song like this one decently. And I love the sound of your uke, as you know! Thanks for showing it again! (Your mic distorted the audio a little bit, I think you could be a little too close to it...) Thanks so much for this wonderful entry, Sabine!

Sabine brings Can She Excuse My Wrongs? by John Dowland
OMG I love this so much! This song is so cool! What a great composition, I love how it is paced...like a dance.... And it IS a dance tune, after looking at the link you shared! I like the "unhappy" words paired with a happy sounding melody. Although I believe it will sound very sorrowful if it is slowed down. I guess "dance tunes" back then can be rather sad sounding, are they, Sabine? I am going to check out more Renaissance music now. No wonder you love Dowland! Played and sung with the Sabine touch of gusto! I love watching you perform! Thank you so much for this gem!


THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE, FOR YOUR WONDERFUL SONGS!
I was blown away, amazed, inspired, tickled and amused.
I hope all of you have enjoyed this week as much as me!
I will be back soon with a final wrap-up.

(I might have to pick more than 1 winner...:----))

Let's go check out Season 563! It is getting quite exciting!
 
At this moment, we're 7 hours past the midnight Sunday in Hawaii.. THis was recorded for 562 11 hours ago, live to my channel, but as I couldn't remember my log in here at UU on my phone, it slides in late...
Yoko Ono's poetry...
 
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At this moment, we're 7 hours past the midnight Sunday in Hawaii.. THis was recorded for 562 11 hours ago, live to my channel, but as I couldn't remember my log in here at UU on my phone, it slides in late...
Yoko Ono's poetry...

I've just added your video to the playlist, Joko!
love that strum! You sound great! Cool cover! So glad you made it! I enjoyed this, you look handsome in your work clothes too. I love the lighting in this video. And your reaction when you realized someone was watching your live stream made me laugh. Thanks so much!
 
Here is the final wrap up for this season!

We have 78 videos from 29 participants.
I had lots of fun hosting.
Thank you
pabrizzer (Brian),
UkeCan1 (Wendy),
Flatbaroque (John),
wee_ginga_yin (Rob),
YorkSteve (Steve),
jtsteam (Edwin),
bird's eye view of my ukulele (Lynda),
AlanDP,
bobjking (Bobby),
xommen (Wim),
One Man And His Uke (John),
Ila,
Barbablanca (Berni),
ukudancer (Arvin),
Jim Yates,
Justaguest (Chris),
CeeJay,
mountain goat (Jon),
Gugu & Gorilla (Joo),
Emba,
TCK (Dave),
DelGriff,
LimousinLil (Val),
cua94 (Liz),
Arcy,
TheOnlyUkeThatMatters (Ralf),
Ms Bean (Sabine),
Bystander (Graham),
and
Joko.

I love everyone's entries.

Here are a few that I wanna highlight, that tickled and moved me.
CeeJay - for singing in Middle English, and then for covering The Raven by Alan Parsons Project, on solo guitalele, when the original has like an orchestra, a choir and a mega band! That is awesome in my opinion!

Emba - who wonderfully set a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson to music! I was really impressed by what she did! For someone quite new on the Seasons (and maybe new to posting videos?) to do this and to do it this well- I am blown away!

Justaguest - I love the poem I Didn't Go to Church Today by Ogden Nash. What Chris did was perfect in my opinion. I love that this song is so summery and carefree it makes me wanna go to the beach, not to the church!

mountain goat - Jon went hibernating for a few weeks and then appeared with 2 songs in one video! The acapella he did in his second song ....to use Bobby's word, was astonishing!

Arcy - I was tickled to see a rabbit setting Ogden Nash's super short poem to songs. haha!

ukudancer - we needed someone to run a uke through guitar pedals with names like Keeley Monterey and Keeley Seafoam. I really enjoyed this one. And I loved how ecstatic Arvin looked before he started playing!

LimousinLil - Val took up Rob's dare and set a Dorothy Parker's poem to song! She did it fabulously. With an uke and an onion!


And here are my personal favourite participants this Season!
Alan.jpg

Alan DP


Bobby.jpg
bobjking


Brian.jpg
pabrizzer


John M.2.jpg
One Man And His Uke


Wendy.jpg
UkeCan1


Ralf.jpg
TheOnlyUkeThatMatters


John3.jpg
Flatbaroque


and the WINNER : Wee Ginga Yin AKA Old Gardener Guy -Finland
Rob1.jpgRob2.jpgRob3.jpg

I really loved everything Rob shared with us this week!

My favourite of all his wonderful videos is the video of him reading The Same Boat by Julie Sheldon.


Rob, please PM me your address, so I can send you the portrait of you that I am going to do this week!


THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING THIS SEASON SO ENJOYABLE!!!

Do check out the videos from this Season if you have not. They are all really wonderful!!!
 
Last edited:
Here is the final wrap up for this season!

We have 78 videos from 29 participants.
I had lots of fun hosting.
Thank you
pabrizzer (Brian),
UkeCan1 (Wendy),
Flatbaroque (John),
wee_ginga_yin (Rob),
YorkSteve (Steve),
jtsteam (Edwin),
bird's eye view of my ukulele (Lynda),
AlanDP,
bobjking (Bobby),
xommen (Wim),
One Man And His Uke (John),
Ila,
Barbablanca (Berni),
ukudancer (Arvin),
Jim Yates,
Justaguest (Chris),
CeeJay,
mountain goat (Jon),
Gugu & Gorilla (Joo),
Emba,
TCK (Dave),
DelGriff,
LimousinLil (Val),
cua94 (Liz),
Arcy,
TheOnlyUkeThatMatters (Ralf),
Ms Bean (Sabine),
Bystander (Graham),
and
Joko.

I love everyone's entries.

Here are a few that I wanna highlight, that tickled and moved me.
CeeJay - for singing in Middle English, and then for covering The Raven by Alan Parsons Project, on solo guitalele, when the original has like an orchestra, a choir and a mega band! That is awesome in my opinion!

Emba - who wonderfully set a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson to music! I was really impressed by what she did! For someone quite new on the Seasons (and maybe new to posting videos?) to do this and to do it this well- I am blown away!

Justaguest - I love the poem I Didn't Go to Church Today by Ogden Nash. What Chris did was perfect in my opinion. I love that this song is so summery and carefree it makes me wanna go to the beach, not to the church!

mountain goat - Jon went hibernating for a few weeks and then appeared with 2 songs in one video! The acapella he did in his second song ....to use Bobby's word, was astonishing!

Arcy - I was tickled to see a rabbit setting Ogden Nash's super short poem to songs. haha!

ukudancer - we needed someone to run a uke through guitar pedals with names like Keeley Monterey and Keeley Seafoam. I really enjoyed this one. And I loved how ecstatic Arvin looked before he started playing!

LimousinLil - Val took up Rob's dare and set a Dorothy Parker's poem to song! She did it fabulously. With an uke and an onion!


And here are my personal favourite participants this Season!
View attachment 145758

Alan DP


View attachment 145759
bobjking


View attachment 145760
pabrizzer


View attachment 145762
One Man And His Uke


View attachment 145763
UkeCan1


View attachment 145764
TheOnlyUkeThatMatters


View attachment 145768
Flatbaroque


and the WINNER : Wee Ginga Yin AKA Old Gardener Guy -Finland
View attachment 145769View attachment 145770View attachment 145771

I really loved everything Rob shared with us this week!

My favourite of all his wonderful videos is the video of him reading The Same Boat by Julie Sheldon.


Rob, please PM me your address, so I can send you the portrait of you that I am going to do this week!


THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING THIS SEASON SO ENJOYABLE!!!

Do check out the videos from this Season if you have not. They are all really wonderful!!!

Great drawings. I like the beard twisting one... look like it came from the Bukowski poem. I would like to thank all the hosts for letting me participate in the seasons by putting in songs from my back catalogue. To have something to take part in on a weekly basis has been a good therapy for me... as Joni Mitchell said "You don't know what you've got till its gone"
 
Ha ha, love the drawings Joo. This has been, hands down, one of my favourite Seasons. Thank you so much and congrats to Wee Rab 👍
 
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