On Raglan Road

This was a poem written in the 1940s but based on a song from the 19th century. The road is there in Dublin still. It would be an expensive area to own a house, but there are a lot of cheap flats too.

Here's a nice version (in C) from Cristin Milioti.

Waltz time.

  D                        G
On Raglan Road on an autumn day,
  D       G         D
I met her first and knew
     G                   D
That her dark hair would weave a snare,
             Bm      A
that I might one day rue
  G              D
I saw the danger yet I walked,
            Bm      A
along the enchanted way,
      D                             G
and I said: 'Let grief, be a fallen leaf
       D       G      D
at the dawning of the day'

   D                      G
On Grafton Street in November,
           D        G        D
we tripped lightly along the ledge
     G                  D
Of the deep ravine, where can be seen,
             Bm        A
the worth of passion's pledge
    G                      D
The Queen of Hearts, still making tarts,
          Bm     A
and I not making hay
      D                  
Oh, I loved too much and by such,
   G        D         G       D
by such, is happiness thrown away

  D                     G
I gave her gifts of the mind,
  D            G      D
I gave her the secret sign
       G                    D
That's known to the artists who have known,
                 Bm        A
the true gods of sound and stone
    G                  D
and word and tint. I did not stint,
           Bm       A
for I gave her poems to say
         D                                G
With her own name there, and her own dark hair,
     D           G         D
like clouds over fields of May

     D                              G
On a quiet street, where old ghosts meet,
  D       G       D
I see her walking now
 G              D
Away from me so hurriedly,
          Bm     A
my reason must allow
     G                D
That I had wooed, not as I should,
           Bm      A
a creature made of clay
         D              
When the angel woos the clay,
     G         D            G       D
he'd lose his wings at the dawn of day.
 

I was in love with a T-Rex

I wrote this especially for Tricity Vogue's ukulele cabaret on the 11th of Feb in London. The theme is "Love Gone Wrong" hence this song. Full details here. I'll be there to perform it if I am sent over by a new bit of work I'm doing, so fingers crossed!



Waltz time: ONE 2 3, ONE 2 3

Gm Dm Gm A7 Dm

    2210        2110          2010   4210
I was in love with a T.Rex,
    0201                          A7
But now she's been taken from me,
    2210        2110          2010   4210
We met one night in a club in Soho,
Gm              A7 G7 on 5-4-3-4
for players of ukulele.

    2210        2110          2010   4210
She said her name was Matilda
    0201                          A7  Gm A7
She roared, so sweetly in my ear,
    2210        2110          2010   4210
and her tiny arms cradled her uke, so gently
Gm              A7 Dm G7 on 5-4-3-4
I knew I had nothing to fear.  



G7, C Em
Well, we danced every night in the,
F            G
Cretaceous moonlight,
C Em          F G
While a bright star grew in the sky,

C             Em
How was I to know,
F G
that celestial glow,
Dm G
Would cause my true love to die

    2210        2110          2010   4210
I'll never again wish upon falling stars,
    0201                          A7
for this one, took her from me,
    2210        2110          2010   4210
while I hid the ground, making hardly a sound,
Gm              A7 Dm
A wee mammal, so cowardly.

{Quietly}

    2210        2110          2010   4210
So at night, all alone, serenading her bones,
    0201                          A7
So white in the light of the moon,
    2210        2110          2010   4210
On her ukulele, so quietly
Gm              A7 Gm  Dm
I sing to her memory alone


2210        2110          2010   4210
0201                          A7
2210        2110          2010   4210
Gm              A7 Gm  Dm


G7 C Em
We danced every night in the,
F            G
Cretaceous moonlight,
C Em          F G
While a bright star grew in the sky,

C             Em
How was I to know,
F G
that celestial glow,
Dm G F    C
Would cause my true love to die

My Ukulele - For gigs, busking and youtube

Well, I should say one of my ukuleles, I've collected a few and like most players I have Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome (UAS). Ken Middleton from Ohana and Colin Oldham from DRC both contributed to it. The body is an Ohana Vita-Uke which sound and look great. Inside that is a resonator cone. For a while Ohana and DRC collaborated on creating these ukes, they don't any more, there are likely only a few in the world, maybe 12 last I heard. So I feel very lucky to have it. It cost more than a new Martin but less than a good vintage one, that's all I'll say about that.

The intonation is perfect. That means that open chords sound in tune while bar chords up the fretboard also sound in tune. It also stays in tune. I very rarely have to change the tuning, maybe only if I have played for a few hours constantly. If you play any stringed instrument you know what a big deal that is. As you can hear, it is bright and loud, but still has more sustain than a banjolele. But it lacks the sweetness of a standard wood uke. Still, I like the percussive sound of strumming with the strings muted.

This is a good uke for busking as it is loud, but not overpowering when you sing without a mic. The fact that it is visually unusual gets it attention.

The video explains a few other additions I've made :-) The sound is a bit low because I forgot to position the mic. The bell bracelet I got in a wee toy shop in Leiden called Bengels. I got a lot of awesome wee kids instruments there, which I collect. The Kazoo is from House of Marbles the wolf whistle I got on Amazon and the bell in my local Tiger shop. Oh, I get the LED lights there too.

The tuner is a Snark. No idea where the coat hanger came from...