Locked down with my Ukulele 2

These are strange times and I have been forced to cut my own hair. Instead of getting longer it got thicker and then just seemed to be growing sideways. I looked in the mirror and was increasingly starting to bear a startling resemblance to Dr Emmitt Brown in the Back to the Future movies. I joked about this in a Zoom call with friends. I got an image of him on my phone and did a face to face. It was scary and the mop needed to go.

I’ve had clippers for a while so a delivery from Argos was not required. I braced myself over the bath, applied oil to the cutting edges, clipped in the number three comb and began.

Eventually after several sweeping passes I had a sizeable pile of my previously luxurious tresses in the bottom of the bath. I now don’t recognise the person that starts back at me in the mirror each morning. I didn’t realise my head was so round. I imagine this is part of my new normal. I might have to get a hat, which is a problem because I have a large head and look really silly in any hat.

These Boots are Made for Walking

We don’t play this tune very often I don’t think we like it very much. I think it’s the run, getting 15 to 20 people in time with a switch from cords to picking can be a bit tricky. It’s song 30 in our book. Originally recorded by Nancy Sinatra, the writer Lee Hazlewood had intended to record it himself but Sinatra convinced him that “coming from a guy” the lyrics were harsh and abusive. When you look at the lyrics, if sung by a male singer it is true. Coming from a girl it’s more playful.

This was recorded in 1966, so has been part of my childhood. It was one of those songs that when it came on the “wireless” we subconsciously sang along. It’s one of the songs I associate with our old radiogram. For those of more tender years a radiogram was a massive coffin of a piece of furniture that was a combination of record player and radio. It had a feature that meant you could stack a few vinyl 45’s and play the records in sequence. It seems odd now that music could be played through ear buds from a device not much bigger than a credit card. But, however miraculous this technology is I still have never heard a sweeter bass tone than that oozed from that great smelling machine. It did have a wonderful odour. This will only make sense to someone who had one.

My connection to this tune is however far more recent. It was the third week I attended the ukulele group. Week one I showed up unannounced and met Mike in the corridor. I thought he might be the right guy to talk to as he had a ukulele on his tee shirt. He introduced me to Judith who inducted me into the group and allowed me to share the book and music stand. I instantly that first week felt at home and remember going home with a bit of a warm glow.

Week two: more of the same. The group was smaller then but really nice and friendly people. I had got my own stand this week. I had as yet to decide if this was going to be a permanent commitment.

It was week three that made me decide. It all started as normal, all was going well. Then someone chose “These boots are made for walking”. I was struggling with the run. I was double playing the second fret and the open string. I looked up and first saw John (our current bass player), Jade his daughter, Moira (one of our more senior members), and “young” Ian all bent over their ukuleles concentrating on the riff. It was that moment I decided I was going to do this regularly. We were all trying to play this 60’s pop fluff tune and there was Ian displaying an Iron Maiden tee shirt. I thought I belong.

Stay safe.