Hoagy Carmichael has always been a huge favorite of mine. A legendary songwriter, and under-rated performer. I have always been a sucker for songwriters performing their own songs. Hoagy is at the top of my list.

I took this arrangement from my official Hoagy Carmichael songbook and reworked it for ukulele. Hoagy is known for his difficult songs. Stardust in particular is often lauded as difficult to sing. Baltimore Oriole is no exception. This tune took me about two months to nail down.

There is chart on my website:
http://thebigreason.com/music/2015/11/20/baltimore-oriole/

Baltimore Oriole

How did we get to where we are
Closer than the nearest star

Light could carry me to you
Water flowing through and through…
to something new

We didn’t know it at the time
Closing on the spectral line

Light could carry you to me
Strange rocks clanging in the deep…
like something new

Will you come forward
Will I turn toward

Or am I what I fear you are
Old echoes bouncing through the dark…
Like nothing new

Light will carry me to you
When we are ready to pursue…. something new

Proxima B (original song)

Europa's Waltz (Ukulelephant Cover)

I’d like to be in the Sea of Tranquility
We’d be so happy in the Sea of Serenity
But I’m in the Sea of Crises
This is the Ocean of Storms

I’d like to drink from the Sea of Cleverness
We could bathe every day in the Bay of Success
But I’m in the Lake of Sorrow
This is the Marsh of Decay

Isn’t life supposed to be a Bay of Rainbows?
Aren’t we supposed to sing in the Bay of Harmony?
But every night we sink in the Lake of Forgetfulness
Cause just around the corner is the Lake of Death

There’s the Lake of Hatred, the Lake of Fear
The Bay of Roughness, the Sea of Cold
Here’s the Marsh of Epidemics
And this is the Sea That Has Become Known

Come float with me in the Sea of Luxury
We could go skinny dipping in the Lake of Dreams
Forget the Sea of Crises
Ignore the Marsh of Decay

Cause wasn’t life supposed to be a Bay of Rainbows?
Weren’t we supposed to sing in the Bay of Harmony?
But every night we sink in the Lake of Forgetfulness
'cause one day we’ll be floating in the Lake of Death

So if you want me
Come and find me
I’ll be whistling this tune
I’m leaving all my maps behind me
Buried on the dark side of the moon
Come join me soon


Lunar Geography (original song)

It finally happened! I got a banjo ukulele! Eeeee!

Here's me testing it out (it's a Duke banjouke from New Zealand). Looking forward to learning how to clawhammer and all that on this bebe.

Worried Man Blues (banjolele test)

There's a sinkhole down in Florida 
If you enter you will die
So says the picture of the Grim Reaper
Cemented in rocks outside  

But you and I will still dive in there
Seeking a vast network of caves
A stunning gallery of stalactites
Punctures our underwater grave


There's this letter that you wrote me
If I read it I may die
Chaos scribbled in the margins
A strange purpose I can not divine

But I'll devour each word in there
Seeking the center of your maze
Patterns of truth and lies in graphite
Blot out my hopes in tangled grays 

Sweetly we seek out our own deaths
With each word we swallow our last breaths

Sweetly we follow our own deaths
With each word we swallow our last breaths

Death Trap (original song)

Ahhhh it's been forever since I recorded anything. This is so rough but, hey, it's something new!

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Two kids wandering down an overgrown road
Both with sweaters on to ward off the evening cold
Oh the cold, do you feel it grow?
I don’t know, I don’t know, there’s not far to go

Ooooh what will we find down in the pines
Or will we say never mind

Tiny mushrooms springing from the rotting earth
Little whisperings as the leaves shake off the birds
Oh the birds, what have they heard?
I don’t know, I don’t know, but time will soon show

Ooooohhh what we will find down in the pines
Or will we say never mind

A clearing, some pines up ahead
Or should we turn back instead?
A sharp glint of silver in your hand
Wait oh wait I don’t understand 

----

At the bottom of the hill, a thick patch of mud
Are these pine needles enough to cover the blood?

Oh the blood, why must it flood
I don’t know, I don’t know, where else can it go?

Ohhhhh don’t leave me behind down in the pines
Or will we say nevermind

Ohhhhh don't leave me behind down in the pines
I should have said nevermind

The Pines (original song) (demo)

A ridiculous song for ridiculous times, in honor of my friend Kim! 

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Can't try to make me what I'm not
Don't tell me I can't smell the rot
But nothing here's going to waste
Cuz I'm cooking up some real fresh shit without delay

(All I need's my)
Food processor love
Grind it hard and fast with just one touch
Holy fuck, we're killing the planet
Our president's a fuckwit bandit
But at least I've got my food processor love

Even if at first it might resist
Nevertheless we will persist!
Chop all the bullshit down to bits
Puree that false purity til it's smoother than your tits

(All I need's my)
Food processor love
Grind it hard and fast with just one touch
Holy fuck, there's a global pandemic
Idiocy remains systemic
But at least I've got my food processor love

Dear Mother Russia
Please abort your shitbag son
Not tryin' to rush ya
But it's high time this shit was done
Cuz I've fucking had enough
So I'm calling all your bluffs
And I'm ready to move onnnnnnnnn

(All I need's my)
Food processor love
Grind it hard and fast with just one touch
Holy fuck, the rich get richer
There's a glitch in the bigger picture
But at least I've got my food processor love

Food processor love
(Gazpacho!)
Food processor love
(Hummus n shit!)
Food processor love
(Ratatouille!)
At least I've got my food processor love
(Revolution!)

Food Processor Love (original song)

I play bluegrass, honky tonk, and rockabilly double bass. I took up the ukulele in around 2006 because it’s more portable. I didn’t count on falling in love with it so much.

Baltimore Oriole

Mark Eagleton