SOTU 635: Castles

[jtsteam]

Here's my attempt at the opening track from Mark Knopfler's 2000 album "Sailing to Philadelphia". The song, "What It Is", is about Edinburgh, and references the castle.



I can't play guitar like Mark Knopfler, so I didn't. I did overdub a tenor anyway to see if it helped. It is, as they say, what it is.

 

[hands_on_lanzon]

The limited song library in my brain could only thing of two songs with the word "castle" in it, so it was either Castles Made of Sand by Jimi Hendrix or this. Since there's no way I could take on a classic Jimi track in a week, I ridiculously decided to go with a classic Stevie Wonder track with only 32 unique chords. I'm happy with a take that only has a couple fumbles... that dang G9/B chord was a bugger for me! I've always liked singing this one, so thanks for hosting this Season, Sabine, giving me an opportunity to have a go at it... Here's my hotel take of 'Overjoyed'

 

[DelGriff]

Three of my most favourite songs in the whole wide world contain castles - I’ve covered them all relatively recently (and my voice probably still isn't quite good enough yet to attempt them again, anyway).

They are:

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
Viva La Vida by Coldplay

I hope somebody might give them a go?

 

[hands_on_lanzon]

Three of my most favourite songs in the whole wide world contain castles - I’ve covered them all relatively recently (and my voice probably still isn't quite good enough yet to attempt them again, anyway).

They are:

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
Viva La Vida by Coldplay

I hope somebody might give them a go?

Ahhhh yes! Expanding my song lyric library! I know all these songs, enjoy them all, and they're all easier than Jimi Hendrix!!

 

[ukudancer]

Kudos for tackling a Stevie tune, his songs are ALWAYS a challenge! I once took on I Just Called To Say I Love You and that thing had 2 key changes.

 

[hands_on_lanzon]

Kudos for tackling a Stevie tune, his songs are ALWAYS a challenge! I once took on I Just Called To Say I Love You and that thing had 2 key changes.

awww thanks! I'm a bit of a rook(ie) when it comes to theory, but I'm sure there's at least a couple in keys in those 32 chords. I know my voice sure felt like it! I couldn't help but think of Eddie Murphy's old bit from his Delirious special, "Stevie Wonder is a musical genius!" (NSFW).

 

[DelGriff]

Thanks for hosting, Sabine.

I heard this song as a kid on the radio in the ‘70s and it had quite an impact on me. Yes it’s a bit cheesy, but it made me properly realise how lucky I was to be born into a loving and stable family environment. Prompted by Sabine’s theme to listen to it again, it reminds me of the real-life heroes out there who foster and adopt children who are in desperate need of the love and support and stability of a good family.

Just me and baritone uke here. My voice is still a bit croaky from the laryngitis - not sure how much longer I’ll be able to use that excuse for my vocal shortcomings!

 

[mythinformed]

Thanks for hosting Sabine x I've covered this one a few times In different forms, here's another variation........

 

[acharman]

I had 2 songs in mind today. I ruled out The Queen and the Soldier by Suzanne Vega as it was palace not castle and is a long song needing a great voice so I intended to do Castles in the Air by Don McLean (not the Spinners song that Del did). I had one more quick search for castle songs and came across this one and roughly learnt it instead.

It is King of a Lonely Castle written by Kenny Divine in 1954 or earlier. Song has been done by Ferlin Husky (who I've never heard of) and Willie Nelson. I've done it mainly on a Richard Wilson tenor with the solo on Ohana 5 string all accompanied by a drum and bass backing track.

 

[LimousinLil]

Hello again, Sabine! I am having great difficulty finding "castle songs," so I hope that this poem with ukulele accompaniment will be acceptable. (Actually, it's also accompanied by a lot of other weird sounds which might make it rather noisy. And my apologies for the fluctuating light levels in the video - the sun kept going in and coming out again. I tried to re-record, but the same thing kept happening.) I have always loved A.A. Milne and can still recall my own blue cloth copy of "Now We Are Six" which I think I inherited from a second cousin twice removed ... or someone of that ilk. Anyway, herewith ...

 

[UkingViking]

Songs mentioning palaces you say?
What qualifies as a palace?

What makes a house grand?
Oh, it aint the roof or the doors.
If there is love in a house, it's a palace for sure.
Without love, it aint nothing but a house.

A House where nobody lives.



I messed it up just before the important part, but I could only stretch my lunch break so far, no time for more takes . Probably my only chance to record this week, so here it is, bloopers and all.
Recorded on my phone with a Blue Yeti attached.
First song song with a palace I though of, I cant believe nobody else have done it by now.

Edit: After discovering that the audio was difficult to hear, I imported it from my phone to my laptop, turned up the volume and re-uploaded the video. So it is a new link, not the one from earlier today.

 

[jtsteam]

Here's a short song inspired by Lord of the Rings. It's been a while since I read it (or even watched it) so I've no idea if the Council of Elrond took place in an actual Castle, but for the purposes of this song I've decided that it did.

I apologise in advance. You'll see why. And if you don't, lucky you.

 

[Ms Bean]

Things turned out busier than expected today.
Whilst I have updated the playlist, I've not been able to listen to the last six songs. I have time tomorrow morning to listen to them, so keep your contributions coming!

 

[AlanDP]

The limited song library in my brain could only thing of two songs with the word "castle" in it, so it was either Castles Made of Sand by Jimi Hendrix or this. Since there's no way I could take on a classic Jimi track in a week, I ridiculously decided to go with a classic Stevie Wonder track with only 32 unique chords. I'm happy with a take that only has a couple fumbles... that dang G9/B chord was a bugger for me! I've always liked singing this one, so thanks for hosting this Season, Sabine, giving me an opportunity to have a go at it... Here's my hotel take of 'Overjoyed'

Jimi also wrote one called "Spanish Castle Magic."

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Three of my most favourite songs in the whole wide world contain castles - I’ve covered them all relatively recently (and my voice probably still isn't quite good enough yet to attempt them again, anyway).

They are:

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
Viva La Vida by Coldplay

I hope somebody might give them a go?

Yesterday morning, Del made a suggestion of Viva La Vida. I didn't think I'd have the stamina for recording a 5 minute song, so I just cooked up a 1 minute abridged ukulele-only version. It's only ingredients are soprano and baritone ukulele, percussion, and a single vocal.

 

[cua94]

This is a fun song to do and it mentions castles.

 

[Jazzbanjorex]

Here's a song published in 1932. Songwriters: Joe Young, Jack Little, Ira Schuster.

 

[acharman]

My 4th for the season so it needed to be an instrumental. This is a basic arrangement I did for Dunbury Castle from Playford volume 3 published around 1726.

 

[mountain goat]

it'd be nice if, when folks are doing covers,
that they posted the name of the original songwriter/artist
in their you tube descriptions.
credit where credit is due.

 

[hands_on_lanzon]

Three of my most favourite songs in the whole wide world contain castles - I’ve covered them all relatively recently (and my voice probably still isn't quite good enough yet to attempt them again, anyway).

They are:

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
Viva La Vida by Coldplay

I hope somebody might give them a go?

You asked for it.

Thanks for your suggestion, Del, and thanks again for hosting, Sabine! This Season has been getting me to push my vocals quite a bit... from Stevie to Joni.

Here's my take on Both Sides Now. (<‐‐ the sweat is from my false reaches!)