Season 596: There are more questions than answers

[jtsteam]

Before I start, if you're new to the Seasons, welcome! If you want to know what this is all about, you can find some frequently asked questions with answers here (still a draft though).

Now, I'm sure this or something like it must have been done before, but not while I've been around, so, let's see where this goes...

• Isn't the ukulele fun?
• Aren't songs great?
• Why can't my fingers seem to get around a dim7 chord reliably?
• What is a pompetus of love anyway?
• How do I post a video to YouTube?
• Can this really be the end, to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?

It's always good to be curious about things. And anyway, as soon as anyone thinks they have all the answers, they're probably not to be trusted. So, let's celebrate curiosity. This week I'm looking for any song that, in some way, asks a question. Interpret that however you like - I'm not fussy, I just want to hear great songs on the uke! On the other hand, while it's good to be curious, it helps if someone answers questions occasionally. So, let's have some answers too. I would also like to hear response songs: any song that answers a question posed by another song, or a song that responds to another song, is also valid. I've always wondered, for example, what Georgy Girl makes of the advice the Seekers gave her. Personally I'd be telling them to mind their own business and I'll dress how I like thank you very much...

So, in summary, your options are:

1. Songs that ask questions
2. Answer/response songs

Other bit and bobs and small print:

• Please post your songs to YouTube so that I can include them on the playlist (also linked below). Songs must be specifically recorded for this season, so please say either in your video or in the details that it's recorded for Season 596 (though if you have a doctor's note, I'd love to hear things that fit from earlier, as I'm sure everyone else would too. Everyone gets to be involved.)
• Ukulele must be front and centre, but multitracking is fun and so encouraged.
• Just you and your uke is also fine, recorded straight to phone or laptop. Often it's better that way!
• If you've never posted to a season before, we'd love to hear from you. All you need is a phone and a YouTube account (okay, and a ukulele). For a brief summary of how to post a video, see here
• If you post a cover, please credit the composers or at least let us know who did the version you're covering. One of the more tedious roles in my day job is Academic Misconduct Officer, which means that if a student presents work as their own that is suspected of having been done by someone or something else, I have to deal with it. You would not believe some of the excuses I've heard. It is the least fun part of my job. Please don't remind me of that, and give credit where it's due.
• Collaborations welcome, originals especially welcome. Originals that answer a song posted to this Season are especially especially welcome.
• If you remember, a link to this post from your YouTube video would be good, so that people on YouTube can see what on earth it is we're up to.
• No song limits. If you're inspired to post a song, I don't want to hold you back! The only constraint is that, if you post loads, you might start to see how creative I'm not with my comments. But I will enjoy listening anyway.
• Please try to listen and comment on entries from others. If you want people to comment on your submissions, you'll probably find you get more if you are in the habit of commenting back. Ideally, if you have a YouTube account, it's best to comment there, but comments in the thread are totally fine too as long as it's clear which song you're commenting on (and, if you have lots, maybe try to batch them in one post just to keep things tidy). None of this should be taken as a "rule" though. Any involvement is good!
• I will offer a prize, or maybe even two. It will be a book/accessory/merchandise of your choice (within some cost limits) that I'll order for you from a UK ukulele store. One prize will be awarded according to my whim, and another will be for my favourite original response song, if there is one. It's not impossible that my whim will reward people who comment and have little to do with posted songs...

You can post any time from 00:00:00 Sunday 16th July, Hawaiian time, right up to 23:59:59 on Sunday 23rd July Hawaiian time. You can check the time in Hawaii here: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/honolulu

The PLAYLIST is here. Now, will we all have fun?

 

[LimousinLil]

What IS a "pompetus" of love, er ... anyway???? Well, that's my first question! Most excellent theme, Edwin!

 

[Flatbaroque]

I may do a Moody Blues song while standing on one leg...then again it's all a question of balance.

 

[TimWilson]

What IS a "pompetus" of love, er ... anyway???? Well, that's my first question!

Most people, including me, first heard that phrase in Steve Miller's "The Joker" (1973), and while I've heard a lot of explanations, non-explanations, and outright evasions over the years, I've never found anything more definitive than this 1996 exploration in The Straight Dope.

It really is definitive, tracing its roots back to the 1954 version of The Letter by The Medallions (no relation to the Box Tops/Joe Cocker song of the same name).

I also discovered that "The Joker" is the second time that Steve-erino used this phrase! The article additionally dives into some other weirdnesses in the song (including an explanation of "Maurice"), and documenting some of his flat out theft uhm, inspirations for other lyrics in the song.

Y'know, I'm not sure that any of these songs actually qualify for this Season, but Pompatus of Love certainly implies a question (eg, wtf? ), and I'm happy to be on hand with the answer. I've cared about this for 50 years, which is insane, and I too rarely get a chance to drop it into conversation.

This is the kind of thing filling my mind, rather than answers to questions like, "What is my phone number" and "Why did I just walk in this room?"

 

[One Man And His Uke]

What IS a "pompetus" of love, er ... anyway???? Well, that's my first question! Most excellent theme, Edwin!

I think Pompetus of Love is the new fragrance for men by Yves St Laurent….

 

[UkeCan1]

• Why can't my fingers seem to get around a dim7 chord reliably?

I thought this said "Dm7". That's the one I want to know. I can do a dim7 just fine, even E ... but I still suck at Dm7.

 

[jtsteam]

I thought this said "Dm7". That's the one I want to know. I can do a dim7 just fine, even E ... but I still suck at Dm7.

You know, it could just as easily have said Dm7...

 

[Flatbaroque]

Sometimes the answers are right but the questions are wrong. The Two Ronnies.

 

[UkeCan1]

You know, it could just as easily have said Dm7...

It totally should have.

 

[joo]

I am waiting for question songs to be posted so I can post answer songs with more questions

 

[TCK]

So stoked!!! Some people call me the space cowboy…funny my last name rhymes with Maurice

 

[Yukio]

Y'know, I'm not sure that any of these songs actually qualify for this Season, but Pompatus of Love certainly implies a question (eg, wtf? ), and I'm happy to be on hand with the answer. I've cared about this for 50 years, which is insane, and I too rarely get a chance to drop it into conversation.

We have questions like, "How did Edwin happen to speak the magic words that opened up this secret dossier in Tim's mind?"
It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

 

[Yukio]

I thought this said "Dm7". That's the one I want to know. I can do a dim7 just fine, even E ... but I still suck at Dm7.

I hear and understand what you are saying, but the devil in me wants to point out that you can easily play a Dm7 with just one finger as 5555.

 

[redpaul1]

So stoked!!! Some people call me the space cowboy…funny my last name rhymes with Maurice

I never knew. I've always said 'Lor-ee-chi' in my head.

 

[wee_ginga_yin]

 

[UkeCan1]

"How do you think he does it?" "I don't know."

By a band who is also a question: The Who?

I chose this as a crossover entry with 595, because it was also #19 in 1969 ... but I couldn't bring myself to cut any part of it - it is too good a song - so it fails the 100-second rule. (Sorry, Graham. )

Amazingly, I discovered, the even bigger hit / iconic movie version by Elton John was never released as a commercial single, and hence not eligible for the Billboard charts. But he's definitely who I'm channeling any time I come anywhere near this song. He and his giant boots falling over are in my mind's eye - he IS the Pinball Wizard.

Verandah Jam day 45 part 2.

 

[joo]

a little songlet with questions. Lyrics are pretty clear i think, but I got the chords and words typed out in my YT description if anyone would like to respond. (so fun and exciting :--))

Thanks for hosting Edwin! Love the theme.

 

[Flatbaroque]

Bountiful theme Edwin . I believe you know this one. Rodriguez asking some questions. I think there are some more songs on the Cold Fact album that qualify.

 

[pabrizzer]

a paoriginal from about a year ago redone for 596

 

[Renaissance-Man]

SOTU 596: There are more questions than answers

Courtesy of Wikipedia:
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan, in 1962. It was released as a single, and included on his album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, in 1963. It poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain, "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind"