Tales of the Uke – Part Seven

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Clarke

There has been an interlude since my duet with Trevor in the late spring. That shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of playing. The new songs I’ve been learning have been more complicated by new techniques and longer lengths. One of these is finally ready for presentation!

In 1970 a trio of U.S. Air Force brats, based in London, formed a band they named, America. (Clever!) The group had a number of hits, including 1975’s Sister Golden Hair, which was a number one song on the Billboard Hot 100.

It’s a fairly bleak relationship song with mangled English. That said, it’s uptempo, has a happy feel to it, and is radio friendly. Go figure. A look at the lyrics:

Well I tried to make it Sunday, but I got so damn depressed
That I set my sights on Monday and I got myself undressed
I ain’t ready for the altar but I do agree there’s times
When a woman sure can be a friend of mine

Well, I keep on thinkin’ ’bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can’t live without you; can’t you see it in my eyes?
I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn’t mean you ain’t been on my mind

Will you meet me in the middle; will you meet me in the air?
Will you love me just a little, just enough to show you care?
Well I tried to fake it, I don’t mind sayin’, I just can’t make it

Well, I keep on thinkin’ ’bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can’t live without you; can’t you see it in my eyes?
Now I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn’t mean you ain’t been on my mind

This song was a favorite of mine to play during my radio jock days. It was fun to learn and translates well from guitar to ukulele:

Yes, the percussion was in there by design! Lisa gave me finger cymbals last year at Christmas. I attached them to my big toe to give the song a little kick where needed.

I’ll see if I can get another video up sooner than this one. My next piece is a classic Hawaiian song from Queen Lili’uokalani.

Tales of the Uke – Part Six

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Clarke

We’re leaving an oceanfront lanai on Kauai (my deepest apologies for that) and heading to a darkened Los Angeles nightclub for a song I’ve always liked. Folk singer Lori Lieberman was the first to record Killing Me Softly With His Song, which was released in 1972 as a simple singer-guitar accompaniment. There is a dispute over the origin of the song. The songwriters, Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox say one thing. Lieberman says another. Read the short version of the controversy here. (My money is on Lieberman having a much bigger role than Gimbel and Fox are willing to admit.)

What there is no arguing over is that Roberta Flack made the song an iconic hit in 1973, for which she earned three Grammy Awards. Her version added more instruments and a backbeat. It’s also the record that is best remembered.

I’ve worked on Killing Me Softly With His Song for a few weeks. I always take the sheet music melody as a base and then work up a song from there. Trevor made some suggestions, including how to make up an intro, and I stumbled across ways to make the song more interesting just by practicing. It’s an emotional piece:

I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him to listen for a while
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on

He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn’t there
But he was there, this stranger, singing clear and strong

In last week’s lesson Trevor grabbed his guitar and accompanied me. It was the first time I played with anyone, and it was so much fun that I brought my video camera this week so we could record ourselves doing it again. It’s only two verses, but after minimal rehearsal time, I think it turned out well:

One of Trevor’s goals going forward is to have us do more of these songs together, as it requires a different skillset than playing solo. But I did that, too, going with the darkened nightclub vibe:

Coming up next, a number one hit from 1975…

Tales of the Uke – Part Five

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Clarke

After a quick detour on changing ukulele strings, today we go from a phone pole on the prairie to a moonlit beach on the north shore of Kauai — my favorite island in Hawaii. I’ve been working on the Bob Nelson song from 1974, Hanalei Moon. This is considered hapa haole music — mainly English lyrics with a few Hawaiian words. The genre developed in the early 20th century when using the Hawaiian language was frowned upon. The Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance revived the language in the 1970s, and while the hapa haole genre fell out of favor it has come to be appreciated again.

I’ve heard Hanalei Moon numerous times strummed on a ukuele with a vocalist singing the melody. It’s beautiful, and I found it in a Hawaiian songbook I was given at Christmas. It’s the first Hawaiian song I’ve learned and definitely a different style than what I’ve played to this point. Here are the lyrics:

When you see Hanalei by moonlight
You will be in heaven by the sea
Every breeze, every wave will whisper
You are mine, don’t ever go away
Hanalei, Hanalei moon is lighting beloved Kauai
Hanalei, Hanalei moon, aloha no wau i a o wai
Hanalei moon

Feel free to sing along with the melody while sipping a fruity drink:

Coming up next is a song Roberta Flack made famous in 1973…

Clarke Hylton

A communication specialist adding suds to the online bucket. Opinions are my own.

Category Archives: Music

Tales of the Uke – Part Seven

Tales of the Uke – Part Six

Tales of the Uke – Part Five