Seasons of the Ukulele

A weekly song challenge for ukulele players - all welcome. Find out more here

Season 692 : The Key to the Bridge is Lost

johnpoole

A few options this week.

1. KEY. Any song with a key change.

2. BRIDGE. Any song with a musical bridge. I think everyone here would know what a bridge is in a song. As distinct from a verse and chorus. If not just google.

3. LOST. Some songwriters have lost the will to rhyme. Any song that contains no rhyming lines. A well known one is “America” by Simon and Garfunkel. I haven’t checked for others. That is your job.

4. Any song that contains KEY, BRIDGE or LOST in title or lyrics.

5. Original songs must contain KEY, BRIDGE and LOST in the lyrics. The previous four options are not qualifiers for original songs. Just option 5.

If anyone chooses option 4 for their first song their next song must come from options 1 to 3. After that they can do any option again.

Please nominate which option you have chosen in your posts.

All the usual rules apply refer previous seasons if unsure.

Don’t post till it’s Sunday 18^th in Hawaii, Don’t post after it’s 11.59pm Sunday 25^th in Hawaii.

Playlist below to follow. Cheers all. John.

PLAYLIST

johnpoole

As well as searching generically for “ songs with a key change” or “ songs with a bridge” it is good to search for an artist you like eg.

Del could search “ Val Doonican songs with a key change” or Bob King could search “ Susan Boyle songs with a bridge.”

Etc.

bobjking

johnpoole Man, I do love some SuBo!

DelGriff

johnpoole Man, I do love some VaDo!

johnpoole

Key change from Roger Miller. He uses them often. King of the Road.

johnpoole

Hi all. Trying to copy paste a playlist I've made but I just get a greyed out "video can't be found". Any clues folks?

DelGriff

johnpoole

Just sorted it for you John - added to the bottom of your opening post. 👍🏼

EDIT: I see you’ve removed what I did, John. Happy to help again if you need it, matey.

johnpoole

Thanks Del I didn't remove on purpose. Please redo your magic…and give me a quick how to do.

johnpoole

DelGriff . I see it now thanks a lot Del. What did I do wrong?

DelGriff

johnpoole

No problemo!

Select copy link from your YT playlist.

Edit your forum post - type PLAYLIST at the bottom and highlight it. Then select the linked chain icon from the bottom row of your edit window and paste your YT link in the URL box - then click on the Insert button, and then Save Changes. 👍🏼

LimousinLil

G'day, John … and thanks for hosting. And, oh dear, I am completely the wrong "Val"; I didn't even record this in my rocking chair … sorry, Del! (And, Del, I had NO IDEA you were such a fan of Mr. Doonican!) Apparently, The Beatles were past-masters at providing bridges (which they called "middle-eights) for their songs. Herewith a song from 1965 … the song was written by Paul but John provided the bridge:-

johnpoole

DelGriff Excellent explanation. Thank you!

DelGriff

LimousinLil And, Del, I had NO IDEA you were such a fan of Mr. Doonican!) Apparently, The Beatles were past-masters at providing bridges (which they called "middle-eights) for their songs.

Re: Mr Doonican - Hahah! Believe it or not, our dear host wasn’t being completely serious about this, bless him! Though apparently @bobjking has always been a huge Susan Boyle fan, and it’s rumoured that on several occasions she rejected his proposals of marriage! 😉

On a more serious note, I’ve always considered ‘bridges’ and ‘middle-eights’ to basically be the same thing, but, as always, there’s some debate amongst the purists as to whether this is really the case. Hoping our host will adopt a fairly lenient approach to this conundrum?

johnpoole

DelGriff "I’ve always considered ‘bridges’ and ‘middle-eights’ to basically be the same thing".. yep me too. Although I had forgotten the term " middle eight" until I put the theme together and did a little research.

LimousinLil

A useless piece of information … apparently, the German version of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" is COMPLETELY lacking in rhyming lines:-

johnpoole

LimousinLil i think i can hear a rhyme in the bridge part….or maybe its the same word repeated at the end of a couple of lines…so technically not a rhyme? we need forum member Heinz? on the case.

LimousinLil

johnpoole I actually don't speak German well enough to know one way or another … I was going on the word of someone who's listened to it ten times; er … and, presumably, speaks German! (Yes, Heinz … where are you?)

UkeCan1

Was I the only one who put these three words together and immediately thought of the sad destruction last year of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge by the oversized and out of control MV Dalí container ship?

I just couldn't sleep until I had written a song called "Lost Key Bridge" ... to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel's "America", which includes a bridge, about a bridge ... and a key change due to the inclusion of a second song that just had to be there.

Obsessive much? (Well, it worked out for me last week - thanks, Del!!! - so what's a little sleep in the middle of a conference weekend?) 💤😴💤

AlanDP

Option 1.

The middle 8 and the bridge can be the same thing, or not, depending on the song. In the Tin Pan Alley music that I have been becoming familiar with in the last 5 years or so, most songs don't have bridges, and when they do, they are called the "patter" section, and I think this is because such sections were often spoken/sung rather than just being sung. The middle 8 is usually used to refer to a part of the chorus that departs from the established melody, either by being a completely different melody, or in a different key, or in the case of this song, both. Also, the middle 8 doesn't have to be in the exact middle. The song begins with the intro in Eb, then changes to G for the chorus. The chorus is in AABA format, which is very common. The first 8 bars of the chorus (the first A) are repeated for the next 8 bars (the second A), then there's an abrupt shift back to Eb for the middle 8 of the chorus (the B section), which modulates back to the original melody in G for the last 8 measures (the last A). I included two screen grabs of music passages in the video, with the accidentals color-coded, purple for Eb and blue for G, because I like purple and blue.

Also of note is the man featured in the photo on the cover art: Bob Crosby, the lesser-known brother of Bing. He also recorded some songs, but was better known as a band leader rather than a performer.

Bystander

Thanks for hosting John, hope you're doing ok mate. As Val pointed out there are loads of Beatles’ songs that contain bridges. I’ve been meaning to try this one for ages so thanks for the push. I’ve actually played the bridge as the outro so I guess it’s a bridge to nowhere, hope that’s ok. Here Comes The Sun.