I remember hearing this growing up, and assuming it was about a homeless person or tramp or some such – but I recently read that it was probably about John Lennon himself, and the emptiness that he was feeling – sobering stuff.

When I came out to write with him the next day, he was kipping on the couch, very bleary-eyed. It was really an anti-John song. He told me later, he didn’t tell me then, he said he’d written it about himself, feeling like he wasn’t going anywhere. I think it was actually about the state of his marriage. It was in a period where he was a bit dissatisfied with what was going on; however, it led to a very good song. He treated it as a third-person song, but he was clever enough to say, ‘Isn’t he a bit like you and me?’ – ‘Me’ being the final word.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

Anyhow, it’s a cracker of a song if you have a penchant for melancholic pop (like me)…

You’ll need three major chords (G, C and D), and three minor chords (Am, Bm and Cm) – and the Bm and Cm chords could be a stretch if you’ve not encountered them before – but be adventurous! You can also change the C’s to Cadd9 and the D’s to Dadd4 for a little extra sparkle…

I’m always on the look-out for songs that people don’t expect to hear on a ukulele – this is one of my favourites. Even just the chord sequence can make people go “Huh? I recognise that… where’s that from?”.

With only three and a half chords in, it’s also deceptively simple in structure – however, it’ll test your counting ability, and if you want to get that intro strumming sorted you’ll need flexible fingers and a bit of practice. Also, did I mention that the three chords are rarely played together – Em, Cm and Bbm6 – dark and juicy…

The melody needs to be played short and snappy – pay attention to the dotted rhythms which make a tasty counterpoint to the underlying triplet rhythms of the intro and percussion.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the Wizard of Oz – it’s just a bit weird and kitsch for me – I know there are many that love it. So this song never made much impact on me – until I heard one of the many amazing covers. Eva Cassidy did a wonderful version – but it’s the Israel Kamakawiwoʻole version (recorded in one take in 1988) which helped me re-discover this song – and incidentally, the ukulele.

I think this song did more to help folks take the ukulele seriously than any other song – it’s just beautiful!

It’s not particularly difficult, you’ll just need C, Em, Am, F and G – with a brief E7 in the intro and outro – but you will need a rock solid and incredibly sensitive strumming hand pattern.

I know this song from the wonderful Madness version. Dark glasses and flat caps are required if you want to look the part – but otherwise you’ll need a really good sense of when to play swing, and when to play straight.

This is a deceptively complicated song – it’s got lots of chords, and lots of different strumming ideas, and even a time-signature change in the chorus… all good fun!

Make sure to keep the short chords short

Made famous for this (or the previous) generation by the definitely non-ukulele based film Reservoir Dogs – this is a classic from the 70s, that still sounds incredibly fresh. Check out the original recording if you’ve not had a listen in a while. This arrangement is in the original key as well – so go join in with Gerry Rafferty and co…

It’s got some great rhythms for strumming – chords aren’t too hard (it’s mostly D and G) but it’s got a few tricky moves. You’ll need to get comfortable with D7 and G7 in particular, and some off-beat strums. Best played in a group so the non-ukulelists can do the (surprisingly tricky) claps, and the pros can do the chord stabs.

Oh, and you’ll need a cowbell…

“Best Song About Stalkers Ever”

Here’s a song that is incredibly well known and loved but is actually rather unsettling lyrically. However, it’s absolutely great musically so lets give it a go…

The chords are fairly straightforward, although the bridge Eb might be new – however, the magic of this piece happens when you add a 9th interval to virtually every chord of the piece! Also an opportunity for some fingerpicking here.

For intermediate players, and the new add9 chords might stretch a few more confident players too…