Seasons of the Ukulele

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

SOTU 732 – Old Man Take a Look at My Life

potmo

It's a very special season because it is my birthday season!
It's a time for guilty pleasures, frivolous spending on things I can't afford and of course bemoaning the fact that I ain't getting any younger.

So... this week the theme is all about being or growing old or aging. Songs with "old" and all its synonyms and forms.

I would prefer if the subject matter addresses aging, but you can use the above if you can't think of anything or really want to do a certain song.

Feb 24 special: During the 24 hour period in your time zone that is February 24, you may do any of the following:

songs with numbers 24 (the date) or 66 (my age... sigh)
song with "February" in them. (are there any?)
songs with "David" in them or written/ performed by a David with the exception of David Lee Roth. Bowie and Byrne are highly recommended.

All usual rule apply.

No song limit.
No restrictions on multi-tracking.
Original songs are welcome and encouraged and need not conform to the theme.
Colaborations are also encouraged and if you want to give me a birthday present, I would love more than anything to see two SOTU members collaborating via magic multitracking from afar.
You must have fun!

UPDATE! There will be one to three prizes.

Season MVP – the person whose contribution(s) to the playlist added the most to the quality (all in my subjective opinion)
Best performance – This is not a measure of skill. It is just the performance that I enjoyed the most.
Best song – The song I like the most. This could be a song that I was hoping would make it, a new song to me, a song I hadn't thought of, etc. Quality of performance isn't figured in.

One person can sweep all three and there may be ties. Prize will be a gift certificate for your preferred business establishment. As long as there is a way for me to send money to some gift card or other e.g Amazon Grub Hub etc. it will work.

Second Update! For the birthday special, I am including the numbers 60, 1960 but most important and interesting, any song which made any billboard type chart in any country for any genre is fair game!

Start time: Sunday, Feb 22 at midnight Hawaii time (10 am UTC)
end time: Sunday , Mar 1 at midnight Hawaii time

FAQ https://seasonistaforum.flarum.cloud/d/16-what-are-the-seasons-of-the-ukulele-and-other-faqs-with-answers

As of this writing there is plenty of time to still post songs to SOTU 731, a smoking hot topic! Bring your twofers!

SOTU 732 Playlist

UkeCan1

In 1969, Steely Dan's Donald Fagen was one of 44 students arrested at Bard College in a trumped-up drug bust, turned in by a female acquaintance. The corrupt DA was G Gordon Liddy. Fagen wrote about it in this song, "My Old School", in 1973.

In 1985 he did in fact go back to his old school and accept an honorary doctorate.

In verse 1 he is "smoking with the boys upstairs" for the twofer.

UkeFoote

"When I'm Sixty Four", by the Beatles, for tenor ukulele with singing. I was born in 1961, so I probably am actually ineligible to play this any more. And, for the record, the answer to all the questions posited in this song was "NO".

Thanks for hosting, David!

potmo

Just checking in. I have some real life errands and it's time for Sunday brunch before it gets too crowded and I haven't listened yet. I will set up the playlist in a bit. I see we are off to a great start! Wendy maintains the tradition of kicking off the season with a twofer and Brian checked the Beatle's box.
Brian, perhaps you were singing to the wrong person and your feeder/ needer has yet to materialize. Thanks for participating!

CanadaJim

My Get Up And Go Has Got Up And Went - Anon lyrics/Pete Seeger tune
"The future ain't what it used to be. . .What's more, it never was." Yogi Berra?
I think I did this for my birthday, but it had to be here. Thanks for a cool topic David!

AlanDP

"Mamma's Grown Young, Papa's Grown Old" from 1927.

potmo

Mary Jane's Last Dance

Most people "know" that 'Mary Jane' is a reference to cannabis. Other than this song, the only time I ever saw this was in anti-drug pamphlets from groups such as D.A.R.E (I called the group Drugs are Really Excellent), whose solution to the "drug problem" was to convince grade schoolers to turn their parents in for smoking pot and to tell parents that if their child took one hit of a joint that they were lost to the world indefinitely. People in my circle would use this term to jokingly suggest what a narc might say. Anyway these things tend to be different over different regions and time periods but tha is my excuse.

In case you think he is referring to the girl in the song, there is the last line of the song (which literaly makes me cry when I sing it, I really don't know why but certain songs have lines in them that bring me to tears, which are often not even that sad. This one is kinda sad but still...)

It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone. I hit the last number. I walked down the road.

'Number' refers to a joint (aka Marijuana cigarette) and "hit" of course refers to embibing or 'taking a hit". This might be old news to everyone, but my experience has been that some people, who were never a part of the "scene" can be fairly clueless about this kind of thing. So he is taking the last joint from his stash of Mary Jane. This isn't to say that there isn't an intentional double meaning here. I will leave that to the poetry buffs.

potmo

OK! Playlist is up! I have now listened to all the tunes too.

Alan and Jim contributed perfect oldies, that I had never heard of but which both should be hits, Brian contributed the obligatory Beatles tune, with some sweet picking. Wendy played a classic hit, which surprizingly is less well known than I thought. I never knew the story behind the song though. Nobody needs me to tell me how awesome Brian, Jim, Alan and Wendy are, but these are all great performances and great songs.

I went ahead and put in my twofer so people have a lower bar and won't feel intimidated. 😂

By the way, this isn't SOTU 732 specific, but I have noticed that a lot of the songs people post contain more comments than likes. Choosing the thumb up helps with the algorithm and takes a lot less effort than a comment, although doing both obviously is the best.

One other not. If you want, you can still submit to "The best of 2025". Just find what you think was your best recording of 2025. It need not have been posted to a previous season, but that is fine too. All I ask is that it be from last year. Also, if you just post to that discussion thread, I might not see it immediately, so a DM might be faster.

UkeCan1

Last-second twofer:

"Wishing All These Old Things Were New" by Merle Haggard, including … the kids want dad to quit smoking.

I had the tune down better earlier, but the cockatoos were raucously squawking … and then I waited too long and forgot how it goes….

(And, my internet, which has been almost reliable lately, decided to crap out at the exact moment I started the upload.)

potmo

Looks like Jim is allowing it. Of course no issue here you posted a thematic song with the appropriate time frame. I would have made you bring anote from a parent, but Jim is more laid back I guess.

potmo

ICYMI, I have updated my OP to include extra categories on my birthday and that there are prizes

DelGriff

MORE HOSTS NEEDED PLEASE!

AlanDP

This sounds like it could be a Tin Pan Alley song, but it isn't. It was written sometime around 1980, or possibly late 70s. I saw in one place 1983 but that's just when Dean Martin recorded it. George Burns recorded it in 1980.

johnpoole

Hi David. Thanks for hosting. Here's one for you ,you old bastard!(please note Australian vernacular for fine fellow).

Father and Son by Cat Stevens …Yusuf Islam.

potmo

johnpoole Why thank you for the kind words!

YorkSteve

Here's a song of many titles. When Fats Domino recorded it, it was "Before I grow too old". Bobby Charles (who co-wrote it with Mr Domino & Dave Bartholemew) just called it "Grow Too Old". Ronnie Lane called it "Around the world". Then Joe Strummer said it was "Silver & Gold". Anyway, here it is…

Barbablanca

First off Happy Birthday, birthday boy!

Per molts anys (pronounced "Pear Molls Annes" - withe the "N" soundign like the "n" in Onion) as we'd say in Catalunya to wish you many happy returns.

This song was written, recorded and posted to the FAWM website within the hour allotted to write it in. Though the video was recorded this morning at a more leisurely pace (and eleven takes!!).

I hope you like it.

OnlyUkeThatMatters

Since every birthday lasts 24 hours - and some birthdays are a little overstimulating - here's a mellow version of the Ramones' classic "I Wanna Be Sedated" for you!

Happy 66th, David!

Xamar25

Come Together by the Beatles with a personalized twist for this week’s Host with thr Most. I claim a twofer —“old” and “Potmo”.

Happy Birthday David “Potmo” E. I hope YouTube will let me share this.

PS just in case you don’t want to listen to me butchering this classic for the entire 3:20, scroll to the last minute for the special birthday greeting.

CanadaJim

Age Like Wine - Todd Snider

Howdy David, I wish I were 66 again.