September 1: Summer has come and passed… “When September Ends” by Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 2: Ain’t no need to complicate it… “SIMPLE” by Florida Georgia Line. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 3: You got dreams he’ll never take away… “9 To 5” written and performed by Dolly Parton (and here’s a video with clips from the movie). LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 4: Who could ask for anything more? “Nice Work If You Can Get It” by George & Ira Gershwin and sung here by Frank Sinatra & Peggy Lee. LYRICS SPOTIFY
September 5: Got that sunshine in my pocket… “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake. Happy Birthday to the wonderful, sunshine-delivering Donna Santorella! LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 6: I’ll make the most of it, I’m an “Extraordinary Machine” by Fiona Apple. Happy Birthday to Barbara, Darcy & Eric; for you, some of my favorite people, I chose one of my favorite songs (introduced to me by Darcy & Josh’s son as his “DJ of the Week” selection when he was in 5th grade at GFS. Thx, Hicks/Koskoffs!) LYRICS SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 7: You can make it all true.. “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out” by Yusuf (a.k.a. Cat Stevens). LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 8: Time only adds to the flame…. “I Fall To Pieces” written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard and sung by Patsy Cline, who shares a birthday today with two beautiful people: happy birthday to Gayla Dean & Karen Mutter! LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 9: You’re a dream to me… “Dreams” by The Cranberries (written by Dolores O’Riordan and The Cranberries lead guitarist Noel Hogan). LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 10: “Hold Your Head Up” written by Chris White and performed by Argent. (Thanks to The Forward for the suggestion. L’shana tova.) LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 11: Who can say where the road goes… “Only Time” by Enya. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 12: Pitter, patter, pitter, patter…. “Rhythm of the Rain” by John Gummoe and performed by his band The Cascades, in which he was the lead singer. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 13: We are lead to those who help us most to grow, if we let them… “For Good” from Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and sung by Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel. A belated happy birthday wish to my first principal, Kaye May, who believed in me and gave me the best job ever. LYRICS SPOTIFY
September 14: I just can’t believe the loveliness of loving you… “Sugar, Sugar” performed by The Archies and written by Andy Kim & Jeff Barry. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 15: You saw me standing alone… “Blue Moon” written by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart and sung here by Billie Holiday. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 16: “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?” written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel and performed here by Randy Travis. LYRICS & SONG HISTORY SPOTIFY
September 17: Good vittles, love and kissin’ are waiting at the end of my ride… “Rawhide” written by Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington and performed here by The Blues Brothers. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 18: What would you ask if you had just one question?
“One Of Us” written by Eric Bazilian and performed by Joan Osborne. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 19: Hear my words that I might teach you… “The Sound of Silence” written by Paul Simon and performed by Disturbed. (Thanks, again, to The Forward, for the suggestion.) LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 20: We gotta make it work… “Same Dirt” by Victoria Vox. Just 9 days until the 1st ever Connecticut Ukulele Festival sponsored by SPREAD MUSIC NOW! SPOTIFY
September 21: Today is the International Day of Peace, so… “Let There Be Peace On Earth” sung by the African Children’s Choir. Thank you to Suzanne Welch for the song suggestion; here’s another beautiful version by Vince Gill. (Learn how to play this song on the Ukulele, thanks to MunsonCovers; then get yourself and your ukulele to the first-ever Connecticut Ukulele Festival on September 29th at the Suzuki School of Music in Westport, CT. See you there!)
September 22: Do you remember (as if it was only yesterday?)… “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire. Thanks to CJS for arranging an amazing weekend. ILY. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY (Only seven days until the first annual Connecticut Ukulele Festival presented by Spread Music Now. Hope to see you all there!)
September 23: Get ready to fall in love with the ukulele*: “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” performed by Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots and written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. (The melody is based on “Plaisir d’amour“, a popular romance composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini). LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY *T-6 for the Connecticut Ukulele Festival!
September 24: la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la-ti-da… “Brown Eyed Girl” written & performed by Van Morrison. And, for all you Uke fans, here is a Uke Version of Brown Eyed Girl performed by Aldrine and Friend. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY (T-5 for the Connecticut Ukulele Festival!) Happy Birthday to Jeff Provost!
September 25: Qu’est-ce que c’est? “Psycho Killer” written by David Byrne and played by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY Happy Birthday to my talented, beautiful and sweet colleague, Mary Gardner!
September 26: Let’s get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance… “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson. Best. Uke. Song. Ever. (IMHO) Learn it on the Ukulele! LYRICS SPOTIFY T-3 for the Connecticut Ukulele Festival!
September 27: You can spend all your time making money, or you can spend all your love making time… “Take It To The Limit” by The Eagles. Happy Belated Birthday to Bill Derry! LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 28: I’m in heaven and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak… “Cheek To Cheek” written by Irving Berlin and sung here by Fred Astaire. Learn to play it on the Ukulele and join us TOMORROW for the Connecticut Ukulele Festival sponsored by SpreadMusicNow. No uke? No problem! You can borrow one from the Magic Fluke Ukulele Company. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY
September 29: How sweet it will seem (when I see you at the CT Ukulele Festival today!)… “Tonight You Belong To Me” written in 1926 by lyricist Billy Rose and composer Lee David and sung here by Eddie Vedder & Cat Power. LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY Come on down to the Connecticut Ukulele Festival at the Suzuki Music School in Colonial Green, Westport, CT and learn to play ukulele so that you, too, can play this song and many others!
September 30: It’s gonna be a bright, sunshiney day… “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash and sung by Jimmy Cliff. Congratulations to Peter Propp, Steve Forlano, Lori Hashizume, Katia Garcon, Cheryl Hilsop, Winni Paul, Rose Propp, Ruthie & Larry Sherman, Victoria Vox & Jack Maher, SpreadMusicNow, Magic Fluke and all for throwing a wonderful party yesterday; the first ever CT Uke Festival was so much fun. Can we do it again?? LYRICS & SONGFACTS SPOTIFY P.S. Happy Birthday to Abby Judge, who always helps me see things a little more clearly…