Rock Anthems – Ukulele Songbook

There’s an argument to be made that Rock is dead. Certainly if you look at the charts, at what is popular, it’s been a very long time since there was anything approaching “Rock” hitting the peaks of popularity, and an even longer time since Rock music was the dominant popular music form.

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Rock has arguably become a tired cliché, a historical curio that has had its time and should be left to lie in piece. And there is definitely some truth in all of that. And yet. And yet.

Whilst new, original rock music may not be the popular force it once was (but it is for sure still out there, still going, still evolving) the classic rock sounds show no sign of losing their grip on the public consciousness. “Classic” rock is music that is almost part of the our music DNA, songs that are timeless, ageless, have always been there (except clearly they haven’t!), and are etched in the permanent rock of ages. Whilst you can make the point that much of it is – in objective terms – faintly ridiculous, grown men (mostly) who should know better, adolescent posturing that has no place in today’s enlightened society, the reality is that for pure escapist thrills, for losing yourselves in fist-pumping, scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs anthems and self-indulgent soloing, there is nothing to beat a great rock tune.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I present you with 28 of said classics, to be played on your humble ukulele. From the late 60s to the late 80s, these songs span a period of time where the rock star was king and strode the earth as an unchalleged deity, where excess and indulgence was taken for granted, and where thumping great tunes high on testosterone (and other more dubious substances) were the order of the day. If you’re looking for subtlety, then look away now (with maybe one or two notable exceptions) – these are tunes that turn it up to 11 and beyond. From the genuine, 18-carat classics of Free, Bachman Turner Overdrive and Lynyrd Skynyrd, through to hard rock from the likes of Motorhead, Black Sabbath and AC/DC, the 80s hair rock of Bon Jovi, Kiss and Whitesnake, AOR US giants like Boston and REO Speedwagon, and even the space-rock of Hawkwind, there should be something here for everybody.

And whilst these are far and away for your stereotypical ukulele tunes – George Formby would probably be turning in his grave, and there ain’t no room for Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue here – these are, I believe, songs that adapt well to the four-string wonder. So give them a bash, and sing the out loud. Enjoy!

Oh, and here’s the full list of tunes, together with links to individual song sheets, if a whole book is too much for you:

• 2-4-6-8- Motorway – Tom Robinson Band
• Ace Of Spades – Motörhead
• All Right Now – Free
• Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
• Crazy Crazy Nights – Kiss
• Dead Ringer For Love – Meatloaf
• Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
• Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
• Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Here I Go Again – Whitesnake
• Highway To Hell – AC/DC
• Kayleigh – Marillion
• Keep On Loving You – REO Speedwagon
• Livin’ On A Prayer – Bon Jovi
• More Than A Feeling – Boston
• Paranoid – Black Sabbath
• Rockin’ All Over The World – Status Quo
• Run To You – Bryan Adams (in Gm, with riffs)
• Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting – Elton John
• Silver Machine – Hawkwind
• Since You’ve Been Gone – Rainbow
• Start Me Up – The Rolling Stones
• Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns ‘N’ Roses
• The Boys Of Summer – Don Henley
• The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy
• We Are The Champions – Queen
• We Built This City – Starship
• Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
• You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Livin’ On A Prayer – Bon Jovi – Ukulele Chords

I recently came to the conclusion that I’m not a big fan of rock music. That might seem strange if you’ve ever trawled through these pages, and come across more than a fair share of music that could very easily be described as “rock”. And it came as something as a surprise to myself, after a lifetime of thinking that rock music was what I liked. But what I’m talking about here is the “Are You Ready To ROCK!” kind of rock music, the kind of music that – for me – is the media caricature of rock, the “classic” rock beloved of unimaginative and formulaic radio stations, the rock of wild hair, big guitar solos, macho posturing and wild excess.

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So what am I doing, then, posting THIS song, a song, and a band, that could be pointed to as the epitome of everything that I don’t like about Rock? Well, that’s a good question, and one that I probably don’t have an adequate answer for. But as with most music, a blanket dismissal of a particular genre is not something I tend to favour, believing there is merit in even the darkest and unlikeliest of corners. And so, despite my previous assertion, there are still songs that I can still enjoy that would definitely and defiantly fall fully inside the world of “rock”. And this is one of them.

To be honest, though, this is as much a pop song as it is out-and-out rock. The very think that might make those rock purists hate it is the thing that probably attracts me to it. A tune. A massive irresistible, fist-pumping chorus. Huge production. Even a key change (this would have slaughtered all opposition if it had been eligible / entered for Eurovision!). What’s not to like. It’s never going to make me a Bon Jovi fan (believe me, I’ve sampled elsewhere it really does nothing for me), but this is a proper choon.

(N.B. There’s possibly a song book budding here, but I’m not committing to that at this point of time)

And so to the song sheet. This one is – I think – an easy one. Even the key change at the end is playable, although to be honest that might make this a challenging sing. But you’ll have fun trying! Enjoy!

Livin’ On A PrayerDownload