Journey | Uke Tunes

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.

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:

From the off, let me be upfront. I don’t personally hold truck with the concept of guilty pleasures. I’m fully on board with New York Times journalist Jennifer Szalai, who wrote in The New Yorker that:

If you want to listen to Rihanna while reading the latest from Dean Koontz, just go ahead and do it. Don’t try to suggest you know better. Forget the pretense and get over yourself. You have nothing to lose but your guilt.
The New Yorker, September 2013

For me, good music is good music. Just because some critic or some friend somewhere may have judged something less worthy, less culturally edifying, less highbrow, less on-trend, doesn’t mean it is without merit. And certainly doesn’t mean that anyone should feel guilty about it. And I’m not talking in an ironic way either – if you enjoy it, then own it. The opinions of others shouldn’t have any bearing on it.

Having said all that, however, the phrase “Guilty Pleasures” is a useful shorthand for those songs which have, over the years, been somewhat denigrated and judged as somehow naff or unworthy, despite having accrued significant measures of popularity and commercial success. Often these are songs that have gone against the grain of contemporary trends, and yet have been embraced and loved – at the time, at least – by a significant group of off-trend, couldn’t-care-less punters. Sometimes these songs and artists have been re-evaluated in retrospect (Abba being a case in point), but often these songs end up languishing in a kind of artistic purgatory, forgotten and unloved.

All the songs in this collection are ones that have, at one time or another, fallen into these categories. Some have been, or are in the process of being, rehabilitated – the likes of Toto’s MOR classic Africa, Rick Astley’s Stock-Aitkin-Waterman stormer Never Gonna Give You Up, or Journey’s pop-rock barnstormer Don’t Stop Believin’ have all had their credibility restored of late (as an aside, I do find that the younger, Spotify generation have less hang-ups about these kind of things – maybe because they are distant from their origins and less likely to engage in “culture wars” – and are happy to just go with what they enjoy). Some – notably Bryan Hyland’s angsty, teenager-woe-is-me Sealed With A Kiss, or Terry Jack’s adaptation of Jacques Brel’s death ballad Le Moribond (Seasons In The Sun) – still seem to languish in the not-really-credible pile, despite both having been hits again when covered by others (Westlife and Jason Donavan respectively – OK, I can see why that might not have garnered them additional respect!). And some seem to languish still in relative obscurity – nobody is expecting a David Soul or Gilbert O’Sullivan revival any when soon.

But every song in this collection is one that I will argue strongly for. And every song in this collection is one that nobody should feel bad about singing – in fact many of these songs are, in my book, at least, the kind of song that just feels great being belted out – alone or in a group. These are pleasures that nobody should feel guilty about.

As well as links to the songbook above, below is the list of songs, with links to individual song sheets:

Uke Tunes

Uke-ifying my favourite songs

Tag Archives: Journey

Rock Anthems – Ukulele Songbook

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