Tales of the Uke – Part 22

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Last time it was a whole bunch of Beatles. Today, it’s a single song I love playing on the ukulele that has become a repertoire staple. Fly Me to the Moon, originally titled, In Other Words, was written by Bart Howard in 1954 and recorded that same year by Kaye Ballard. It has become a jazz standard. It is probably Frank Sinatra’s version, released in 1964, that is the best known.

A look at the lyrics:

Fly me to the moon
Let me dance among the stars
And let me see what spring is like on
Jupiter and Mars

In others words
Hold my hand
In other words
Baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing forever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words
Please be true
In other words
I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing forever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words
Please be true
In other words
In other words
I
Love
You

It has been covered a lot over the last 70 years. My entry has a few flourishes here and there…and the set even has props:

That was fun! Hope you enjoyed it. I’m working on ideas for what I’ll do next this summer. Stay tuned!

Tales of the Uke – Part 21

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The last song I performed on YouTube was French. This time out everything is quite British. I write “everything” because it’s a medley of five songs from the Fab Four with a fun 10-track mixed reprise of one of the songs at the end. Woo Hoo! A Beatles hit from each year between 1964 and 1968.

This is not a songbook medley. I actually picked the tunes I wanted from sheet music and then did the basic arrangement of the parts I wanted to play, the transitions, and the sequencing. The last song was a free-for-all of ideas, and during the summer I recorded a couple different audio-only versions for testing purposes. So, you have to stick around until the end to hear and see how things turn out! I’m not giving away the names of the songs. The fun is in the recognition:

On a random note, it’s coincidence but interesting that this project is finished right before the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II at a time when the United Kingdom has been the focus of news for the last week.

Up next, it’s a love song and jazz standard made famous by Frank Sinatra.

Tales of the Uke – Part 20

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The last non-holiday piece I recorded was in the fall! I get asked, are you still taking ukulele lessons? Yes, I am. I just haven’t been recording everything and now there is a backlog. Today, I start clearing that out.

Let’s go to post-World War II France. La Vie en Rose was written in 1945 by É dith Piaf, Louiguy, and Marguerite Monnot. Piaf’s recording (this was her signature song) was released in 1947 and has been covered by many artists. In English, the title is Life in Pink. It is also loosely translated as meaning life in rose-colored glasses or life in happy hues. It’s a sweet love song.

I play two verses here. The first is arranged for ukulele and is more traditional in its approach. The second verse uses the same arrangement but in a style I heard played on guitar. I wrote a simple C scale to G7 chord bridge to join the two verses:

I have a big project on the way next!