Video: Dance Hall Days – a Wang Chung cover

You know how it is. You have some songs that are just touchstones. Every time you hear them they transport you back to a certain place in time or maybe just trigger your brain to release extra serotonin or something. Well, for me, one of those touchstones is Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung. If you aren't familiar, check out this video. Note, there are two videos for this song, but the following video is better for reasons listed below the video.

1. Gum-chewing violin player looking directly into your soul
2. Sweaters!
3. Sweaters tucked into pleated pants!
4. You can almost hear the video director's instructions to the band. "Ok guys, I need you to look like condescending pricks who are laughing over some hilarious inside joke. Can you do that?"

Sadly, my video has none of that.

Here are my corrected tabs.

 Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days
 tabs by Ukulele Guy

Note: Except for the Chorus, play the F, C and G like so:
F - 2030
C - 0033
G - 0232
 
 F  C  G  F  C  G  F  C  G  F  C  G 

[Verse]
 F              C            G
Take your baby by the hand
 F              C            G
And make her do a high hand stand
 F              C            G
Take your baby by the heel
 F                       C            G
And do the next thing that you feel

[Refrain]:
(play single note)
        F   C G  
We were so in phase
        F    C    G
In our dance hall days
        F    C   G
We were cool on craze
(play chords again)
    F   C        C5       G
When I, you, and everyone we knew
        F     E        A        B     C
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
[Chorus]
             F  C  G                        F  C  G 
Oh, I said             Dance hall days love

[2nd Verse]
F              C      G
Take your baby by the hair
F                      C           G
And pull her close and there there there
F              C      G
Take your baby by the ears
    F             C       G
And play upon her darkest fears

[Refrain]

[Longer Chorus]
             F  C  G                        F  C  G 
Oh, I said              Dance hall days love

                F  C  G                        F  C  G 
Dance hall days            Dance hall days love

[3rd Verse]
   F              C      G
So take your baby by the wrist
    F               C      G
And in her mouth an amethyst
    F               C           G
And in her eyes two sapphires blue
    F                C          G
And you need her and she needs you
    F                C          G
And you need her and she needs you
    F                C          G
And you need her and she needs you
    F                C          G
And you need her and she needs you
    F            C  G
And you need her... and she needs you

[Refrain]

[Chorus]
             F  C  G                        F  C  G 
Oh, I said             Dance hall days love

                F  C  G                        F  C  G 
                         Dance hall days love

                F  C  G                        F  C  G 
dance hall days           Dance hall days love

                F  C  G                        F  C  G 
dance hall days           Dance hall days love 

Video: When You’re Young and In Love – Stephin Merritt

As you probably all know, I'm an unabashed Stephin Merritt groupie. Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies, you name it. I like it all. I just can't get enough of his gloomy pop melodies. So, of course I was going to buy the new record, Obscurities.

This was right around my birthday, that I went looking.  And, sure enough, when I tried to purchase the CD, Amazon warned me that someone might have already bought it for me.  Eh?!  Huzzah!  Turns out it was my sweet peach of a wife.  Anyway, the whole record is pretty good, but two songs, in particular, really stand out.  The first is the more electronic version of "I don't believe you" (a folkier version having been released on the "I" record).  The second highlight of the record is a previously unreleased song called "When you're young and in love".  And, that's the song I can't get outta my blasted head.  So, I attempted to exorcise it through ukulele video.

Since I couldn't find any chords for this song already posted out there, I came up with the following arrangement.  The only questionable chord in there is Dm7.  But, I didn't have the CD handy when I did this so I couldn't really compare it.  When I listen to it again, I'll update these chords if that Dm7 sounds goofy.

When You're Young and In Love
by Stephin Merritt

Tabs by Ukulele Guy

C   - 0003
G   - 0232
Am  - 2000
Em  - 4432
F   - 0201
Dm7 - 2213 

        C                        G
You can teeter on the brink of a precipice
Am                 Em
Ov'r an infinitely deep abyss
F                    C
And somehow not even notice this
                         G
When you're young and in love

        C                   G
You can grow a little older every day
Am                     Em
Watch your stupid life wasting away
F                     C
Somehow everything is a-ok
                         G
When you're young and in love

                F
But when you're not,
             C
The poisoned fangs of time
   G
Become quite plain
            F
When you're not,
          C
It almost seems a crime
Dm7       G
Not to go insane

You can whirl and twirl on the world's carousel
Hurdle round and round, and feel quite well
Never even knowing you're in hell
When you're young and in love

You can know the world has nothing left to give
Be condemned to die, content to live,
And be happy--if and only if, you're young and in love

But when you're not,
The poisoned fangs of time
Become quite plain
When you're not,
It almost seems a crime
Not to go insane

You can teeter on the brink of a precipice
(A precipice!)
Ov'r an infinitely deep abyss
(A deep abyss!)
And somehow not even notice this
When you're young and in love

You can grow a little older every day
(Old, every day!)
Watch your stupid life wasting away
(Wasting away!)
Somehow everything is a-ok
When you're young and in love 

Tabs: Hot Tamales (They’re Red Hot)

So, there's probably a thousand ways to play this song, but this is the version that I did in my video.  I should have posted this yesterday but I got lazy.  Thankfully, AnIdleDad called me out on that.  So, here ya go.

Hot Tamales (They're Red Hot)
by Robert Johnson
Tabs by: Ukulele Guy (http://ukuleleguy.com)

C   - 0003
C7  - 0001
E7  - 1202
A7  - 0100
D7  - 2223
G7  - 0212
F   - 2010
Fm  - 1013
G   - 77710
G6  - 7777
G+5 - 0332

C     E7                A7
Hot tamales and they're red hot
D7        G7         C
Yeah, she got em for sale
C	   E7               A7
Hot tamales and they're red hot
D7                   G7
Yeah, she got em for sale
        C                 C7
She got two for a nickel, four for a dime
F                         Fm
I would say more but they ain't none of mine
C       E7              A7
Hot tamales and they're red hot
D7        G7         C
Yeah, she got em for sale, I mean
D7        G7        C
Yeah she got em for sale

During the crazy thing at the end I'm doing

D7 G G6 0535
C C7 F Fm C G+5 (throw the ukulele in the air, good luck) C

Video : You Must Be Out of Your Mind by The Magnetic Fields

Well the good thing about my new aNueNue Banjo Ukulele is that it doesn't take much convincing to get myself motivated enough to do a video.  I mean, chances are the uke is already in my hands, so I just have to turn on the camera.  I seriously cannot get enough of my aNueNue!

Anyway, the song I did today was You Must Be Out of Your Mind by The Magnetic Fields.  This is definitely my favorite song of the Realism record.  On an only somewhat related note, does anyone know when the Magnetic Fields movie is supposed to come out?  When my wife and I saw them in Seattle they had some cameras with them so I'm kind of hoping the footage from that show makes an appearance.  Maybe you'll even be able to see when Stephin Merritt walked offstage and right over to the person who had just finished videotaping "Papa was a Rodeo".   That guy got some harsh words, no doubt.

Anyway, you might notice that I switched the 2nd and 3rd verse.  This wasn't intentional, but I didn't feel like doing it over just because of that.  So, consider it an alternate rendition.

Here's the tabs:


You Must Be Out of Your Mind
by Magnetic Fields

F  - 2010
C  - 0003
Bb - 3211
Gm - 0231
Dm - 2210

INTRO: F  C  Bb  F

F           Bb            C         F   C   Bb   F
You think I'll run, not walk, to you

F           Bb            C         F
Why would I want to talk to you?

Gm                Bb
I want you crawling back to me

F                   C
Down on your knees, yeah

Gm           Bb
Like an appendectomy

C
Sans anesthesia

F         C       Dm          Bb
If you think you can leave the past     behind

F           C            Bb    F
You must be out of your mind

F         C     Dm      Bb
If you think you can simply press rewind

F           C            Bb
You must be out of your mind, son

F           C            Bb    F
You must be out of your mind

You want what you turned off turned on
You call it sunset, now it's dawn
You can't go round just saying stuff
Because it's pretty
And I no longer drink enough
To think you're witty...

You want to kindle that old flame
I don't remember your real name
It must be something scandalous
Lurks in your shallows
If you need a Santa Claus
To buy your gallows...

Video and Tabs: Livin’ Thing – ELO (Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra)

I got an e-mail from a "Joe" about 9:31 this morning. He turned me onto this video of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra doing "Livin' Thing" by ELO. Check it out, it's pretty damn great, plus it's got Bret from Flight of the Conchords in there!

Joe asked if I could post tabs for this song. I typically try not to disappoint, so here ya go. The chords repeat the same pattern on the 2nd and 3rd verses. Sorry I didn't write them out, but I'm technically supposed to be working right now. Shh.... don't tell my boss.

Livin' thing
Electric Light Orchestra
C   - 0003
Am  - 2000
Ab  - 5343
Fm  - 1013
Em  - 4432
Dm  - 2210
F   - 2010
G   - 0232
D7  - 2223
G+  - 0332
Bbm - 3111
   C	                                           Am
   Sailin' away on the crest of a wave, it's like magic
   Ab	                                            Fm
   Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin', it's magic
    Em	                    Dm
And you, and your sweet desire,
         Em     Dm  Em	       F	   G
You took me, oh-oh, higher and higher, baby   

 	C C C        Am           F 
 	      It's a livin' thing,
        D7      G+       C
It's a terrible thing to lose
       Am         F       
It's a given thing
       D7       G+       C 
What a terrible thing to lose.

 	Bbm             F              G
 	(Taking a dive) (halt the slide)  	 

Making believe this is what you've conceived
From your worst day,
Moving in line then you look back in time
To your first day

Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide
Floating downstream,
So let her go don't start spoiling the show
It's a bad dream