SOTU 554 "Swayin' to the tempo of a squeezebox melody" Songs About Instruments

I thought it was time for a song abut bagpipes and wanting to avoid Danny Boy, I put out a request on www.mudcat.org and got this lovely song.

PIPER ON THE HILLTOP - John Warner (1989)

Apparently John was moved by the unexpected sound of bagpipes being played near the Spence shops in Belconnen near Canberra. The moment was climaxed by a dramatic summer thunderstorm rising over the Brindabella Range, an outcrop of the Snowy Mountains.



Maggie's family is of Scots heritage (Ross/McEachern) and at all family reunions there would be sword dancing and bagpipes. Her brother, Bill, led us out of our wedding ceremony with the Lewis Bridal Song (Mairi's Wedding).View attachment 144022

What a wonderful picture, Jim! Thanks for sharing it with us!
 
And the song that started Steve Earle’s career, pardon my voice. Ain’t much left of it after being ravaged by whatever my kiddos shared with me last week.
Of course I said the wrong week in the intro- sigh.
 
Well I can't bear to see the ukulele down in second place, so I'm gonna add a song to bring it up to a first place tie with the guitar.
John Rutherford and his dad Edward Rutherford wrote My Ukulele Helps Me Beat The Blues, a song most of us here should be able to identify with.
 
TUESDAY
- Brian started today's contributions with an anti Royal song that adds trumpets and drums to the list - The Time For That Is Done
- Chris donned some cool shades and gave us another guitar mention in Guitar Man
- Rob brought back an old gospel song that mentions the trumpet of the Lord - When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder
- John's song made mention of trumpets and drums - Blardy Blardy Blah
- Edwin is the winner so far for the most instruments in a single song: cornet, clarinet, trombone, fiddle, cello, bass drum, bassoon, flute, and euphonium with Floral Song
- Jarvo not only sang about an accordion, he also played one - Squeezebox
- Extra Cheese gave us a ukulele song to put the uke in a tie for first place - You Can Rock
- Berni added anothe instrument to our list with A Wild Whistle heard on the Wind
- Alan gave us another piana song with Oh Suzanna (Dust Off That Old Piana)
- Dave's Dirty & Sweet gave us our first gong song. (Hey that rhymes.)
- And for Twofer Tuesday, Dave also gave us Steve Earle's Guitar Town, putting guitars in the lead alone again.
- And to keep the ukulele in a tie for first place, I've added My Ukulele Helps Me Beat The Blues by John and Edward Rutherford.

That brings the score up to:
-Guitars - 6
-Ukuleles - 6
-Piano - 4
-Trumpets - 3
-Drums -3
-Harps - 2

-Banjo - 1
-Kazoo - 1
-Dan moi - 1
-Ondes martenot - 1
-Coronet -1
-Clarinet -1
-Trombone -1
-Fiddle -1
-Cello -1
-Bassoon -1
-Flute -1
-Euphonium -1
-Accordion - 1
-Whistle - 1
-Gong - 1



Please let me know if I've missed putting a video on the Play List.
 
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Got Melissa to play one with me…in spite of her being totally gassed (she works A LOT this time of year)…dug this out of the record collection and learned it.
“You Play Glockenspiel, I’ll Play Drums” by The Beautiful South. Paul Heaton is a HUGE guilty pleasure of mine.
 
The Piper o' Dundee is about the subversive influence of music during the Jacobite times. In Scotland the bagpipes were banned because they were considered to be an "instrument of war" and certain songs and tunes were known to stir up the blood so that full grown men would dance madly and wildly to themselves.
The piper of Dundee was thought to be Carnegie of Phinhaven and he played a selection for rebel songs to welcome the Stuarts over the main from France and back to Scotland.
It has been suggested that this particular "rogue" piper has a basis in history - Antonie Court was a piper in Dundee who played "subversive" tunes.



Piper of Dundee
The piper came to out town,
To our town, to our town
The piper came to our town
And he played bonnielie*
He play`d a spring the laird to please
A spring brent new from `yont the seas
And then he gae his bags a wheeze
And played anither key
And wasna he a rougey, a rougey, a rougey
And wasna he a rougey, the piper o` Dundee
He play`d `The Welcome Ower the Main`
And `Ye`s Be Fou and I`se be Fain`
And `Auld Stuart`s Back Again`
Wi` muckle mirth and glee
He`d play`d `The Kirk`, he play`d `The Queer`
`The Mullen Dhu` and `Chevalier`
And `Lang Awa` But Welcome Here`
Sae sweet, sae bonnielie
It`s some gat swords and some gat nane
And some were dancing mad their lane
And mony a vow o` weir
Was ta`en that night at Amulrie
There was Tillibardine, and Burleigh
And Struan, Keith, and Olgivie
And brave Carnegie, wha` but he,
The piper o` Dundee.
 
Cheers for hosting Jim. I'm giving this song a third appearance purely because Its a lovely song and Its a real pleasure to play. Not been happy with the way the mics performing lately so moved to the bathroom for acoustics, balanced my phone in the toothbrush holder and the chords in the sink ...........and then began to plink.

 
hi Jim, thank your for hosting.
This is a song by Sophie Madeleine. I read that her then-boyfriend bought her a uke and she wrote this song, her first uke song.
I tuned my uke 1 full step down. And it was raining on the day I recorded it. And, boy, I sang it like I was in a hurry.

I could navigate the ocean in a homemade boat
And fly across the desert on a ten pound note.
I could do most anything if everywhere I go I could take your love with me.
I could tame the wildest animals with just one stare.
I'd even take my chances with a polar bear.
I could be in mortal danger but I wouldn't care,
If I could take your love with me.
And so you made me a promise
That you would always be around.
And you would stay true and honest
Because I need you in my pocket,
In my heart and in my head,
So I just had to find a way to take you everywhere I went.
And so you bought a ukulele with a message inside
That I should always have it with me never leave it behind
And now everywhere I play it I will keep you in mind
So I can take your love with me.
And I can take your love with me

 
We need a dulcimer and a zither, Jim.

I wrote this song in 2015 for a Season on the theme of Fairs, hosted by Leslie.
I used Lynda (Birdseye) as the main character in this silly song. :---) Because I had, still have, no idea how she looks like, so it was fun to make up characters that could be her. (I bet none of them was anywhere near to the real Birdseye).
I thought of fairs as places to see and hear lots of different musical instruments.... also stalls that sell goldfish or give them away as prizes.... and strange characters....

I saw Lynda at the fair. She was wearing a green velvet dress.
Her hair was a ringlet ponytail. She was playing a violin.
I saw Lynda at the fair. She was wearing her stripey pants.
Her hair was hidden under a yellow beret. She was blowing a trumpet.
I saw Lynda at the fair. She had her head completely shaved.
She was wearing as see-through cape. And hugging an out-of-tuned zither.
I saw Lynda at the fair. She was wearing a cartoon knitted blanket.
I couldn't even see her head. She was talking to her ukulele.

I saw Lynda the next day. I asked her about her violin.
She said the bow broke up with the neck. Her tears soaked her velvet dress.
I saw Lynda the next day. She was coughing really bad.
She had acute bronchitis. I told her to take a break.
I saw Lynda the next day. She was making out with the circus vet.
I asked her about her out-of-tuned man. She said: "I now love a dulcimer."

I saw Lynda the next day. She was especially quiet.
I asked her about her little friend. She said her goldfish ate her ukulele.

 
last one from me. Thank you for being so kind and supportive these past months, Jim.
all my videos are impromptu...hope they are ok.

A song by Mark Heard.

Appalachian melody drifting softly down
Instruments of gold and red and brown
Do not need no dulcimer or banjo-fiddle sound
For right now I'll watch these leaves come down
How peculiar liking old dead leaves against the sky
There is something more than meets the eye
Funny how I sit and watch these leaves come down from high
But these things are music to my eyes
Such a pretty song I see, have I been beguiled
This day is not imagination's child
Every time the leaves come down
I've just got to smile
For they sing a melody so mild
But these things are music to my eyes

 
I asked Jon Duncan to help me out with this Guy Clark song. He and I hadn't worked on something together since Week 474, March of 2021. I'm very happy we put this together. Maybe it will kickstart something.
It's also been almost as long since I'd edited any of the footage I took during the trip I took in January 2020, just before the pandemic stuck. Odd that I should wait until I finally contracted the virus all this time later to pick it up again.

I have COVID, but feel no symptoms (I did for 1 day).

 
As a failed piper (took a while to find the uke) I thought I would try this one out.

 
Here's a zither song for Joo. I actually have a zither now. My wife bought it at a little import shop near here. Since it was imported from Mexico, all the songs that came with it are Mexican, and most of them I've never heard. The zither always came with these music sheets that you fit under the strings to show where to pluck each note. All you have to worry about is getting the rhythm right. It's a 15-string model. The first time I tuned it, it took me about 45 minutes just to tune it.

 
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