Seasons of the Ukulele

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

Season 718 - Oh floody hell....

chris667

Hello folks.

I am looking after two extra dogs this weekend. As a treat, we went for a walk alongside our closest river, the Derwent.

This being England and November, it's rained nonstop for days. The river is wild.

Please bring me a song that is about, mentions, or is otherwise connected to being swept away by water, life choices, or unbridled emotion. Multitracking/other instruments encouraged but absolutely not essential. Do what you do. All styles are welcome - it would be boring if we all did the same thing!

There is a prize. I will do a demo later this week.

I realise that rivers and being swept away have quite a bit of overlap, but I think I'd prefer you bring me something different this week. And please limit yourselves to one song a day.

Good luck!

Of course, don't forget @potmo 's season still has time to run.

UkeCan1

Someone got swept away this afternoon. It wasn't me, honest!

River does seem like the obvious crossover for a twofer, but I went with Big.

"Big Trouble" by Trout Fishing in America

AlanDP

On May 31, 1889, torrential rains had already caused extensive flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Hettie Ogle, the Western Union telegraph operator in Johnstown, had moved her telegraph equipment up to the second floor of her house because the lower floor had become flooded with three feet of water. She sent message after message to cities and towns to warn people of the coming danger of the flood. Then the dam on the Conemaugh Lake gave way. As Hettie Ogle was sending "this is my last message," a 40-foot-high wall of water and debris smashed her house to pieces. Her body was never found. This song is a true story.

dr_mitch

This fits, both because the singer sounds like he's being swept away by life's troubles, and there's line, "Let the waves sweep along."

Big River Blues, from the Delmore brothers in 1933, on a ukulele so restrung it feels like a new instrument to me. And it's a twofer.

potmo

Thanks for hosting @chris667 . Knoxville Girl - traditional tune that seems to have its roots in 17th century England. Wikipedia calls it an "Appalachian murder balad". That works for me.

The Seasonistas seem to have a preference for super old tunes and since this is also for season 717, it seemed like we could probably use another "I-did-a-crime-now-I'm-in-jail tune.

********************* SPOILER ALERT*******************
He kills the girl, who was probably swept up with the kind of emotion you feel when your boyfriend is about to kill you.
Her dead body then gets swept up in the RIVER.
Then our murdering narrator goes home and is swept up with despair for killing the girl he loved (we don't know why he does this) and the (justified) fear of spending the rest of his life in jail.

I'm calling it a twofer, though I am not exactly sure how to interpret "bring me something different this week" are we not supposed to be using a river to be swept up in or…?

johnpoole

Hi Chris. Thanks for hosting! There are several things being swept away in the waters of the Tallahatchie river here. The "thing" thrown over, Billie Joe MacAllister, flowers, emotions. I think the thing they threw from the bridge was probably Schrodinger's Cat.

Ode to Billy Joe. On plugged in guitalele. It's a bit long…sorry.

Nearsighted-Lemon-McKay

Here is a cheery little tune written by The Big Bopper about a young couple getting swept away in the river.

1959's Running Bear

YorkSteve

Here's one by Bap Kennedy, where his brother gets swept away in the third verse.

UkeCan1

Oopsie - I recorded this a couple hours ago as a twofer - then got swept away down a Wikipedia rabbit hole about all things Native American / American Indian … and now I'm a few minutes late for 717!

Thanks to my new YouTube fan Old Natty, who has no clue about the Seasons and yet has somehow been peppering me with excellent suggestions for songs that just happen to be great twofers! I'd never heard this one, or knew about its subject, an American Indian man who is featured prominently in the iconic photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

"The Ballad of Ira Hayes" by Johnny Cash

In it, Ira gets swept away by war, racism, and multiple forms of liquid.

CanadaJim

Apparently the current president of the United States tried to sweep Ira Hayes from the pages of history. His story was too DEI? Not swept away by water, but…
Following public outcry, the pages were restored.

chris667

potmo I'm calling it a twofer, though I am not exactly sure how to interpret "bring me something different this week" are we not supposed to be using a river to be swept up in or…?

I was merely thinking that you could have tried something different from what you'd normally do. And the river can be a metaphor for something else. Basically, I think you should play what you like.

I think it would be much more boring if I told you what or how to play.

UkeCan1 In it, Ira gets swept away by war, racism, and multiple forms of liquid.

Yep, Wendy has the idea. And @CanadaJim , remember that one day he will be a footnote in history.

Playlist here. Updated today.

Come on guys, what have you got?

CanadaJim

Monongahela Sal - - Robert Schmertz - 1947

I learned this one from a Pete Seeger LP. The pollution is swept away to the Gulf Of Mexico in the last verse.
(I hope I won't get in trouble from MAGA for calling it that, but Canadians still call it "The Gulf Of Mexico".)

Thanks for being our host this week Chris.

UkeCan1

Does Wendy still have the right idea? How about some literal sweeping away … of the grimiest parts of old London … and other people's bad luck at the same time!

This has to be here, right? Though I expect it ought've been done by someone who sounds more like you than like me. 🤷‍♀️

"Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Mary Poppins

chris667

UkeCan1 As an Englishman, it is my right to make you a venerable member of the order of the sticky bun, which confers upon you the right to sing any English songs you like. Go forth, sister!

@CanadaJim It will always be the Gulf of Mexico, and will be long after the orange nutjob is a footnote in history.

potmo

CanadaJim This appears to be a safe, MAGA-free space. If they're here they are being slient. I do like "Department of War" as it is a much better description of what it is. I also favor calling Fox News the Ministry of Truth.

UkeFoote

"Here Comes the Rain Again" by Eurythmics, for tenor ukulele with singing; overdubs of Ashbory Ubass and secondary vocal. Thanks for hosting, Chris!

Barbablanca

Here's an original from me.

NOTE: the narrator is NOT me… But I can guess who he might be.

This is a classic example of how a seasons prompt can take your brain into territory you may never have explored otherwise. Long live the Seasons!

I hope you like "Floodgates"

AlanDP

In January of 1919, in the North End of Boston, a huge molasses storage tank exploded. Hot molasses flooded the area and 21 people were killed, and about 150 more were injured. I first learned about this from a podcast (I think) several years ago and thought there had to have been a song written about it. However, I was unable to find any contemporaneous songs about this incident. No tin pan alley songs, no country or folk, nothing. There have been a few modern-day songs written about it. So I wrote this folk song about it. It's now referred to as the "Boston Molasses Disaster" or the "Boston Molasses Flood." You can find plenty of information and photos of the aftermath by searching for it. As you'll be able to tell by the repeated refrain, the title of this song is "Thirteen Thousand Tons of Molasses."

UkeCan1

Here's some more literal sweeping … or at least metaphorical literal sweeping….

Betty Wright's man got swept away by the "Clean Up Woman", in 1971.

Betty was only 17 at the time, and had already been singing professionally for a decade and a half.

Joko

Sometimes my attempts to add special sauce to my Season entry ends up with a video that is just…. weird. This would count as one of those weird ones.