Saturday 19 February 2011

The beauty of the ukulele

When Frank Zappa famously asked the question "Does humour belong in music?", Lord Bassington-Bassington assumed that it was rhetorical – as there can only be one sane answer to Mr. Zappa's question. But it's important to remember that humour does have its dangers.

Much as Lord Bassington-Bassington enjoys what people like the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer are doing with the ukulele, he does have a certain fear that it can cause the instrument itself to become some sort of joke. Much like what has happened with the pan pipes or digeridoo (the pan pipes of the backpacker generation).



Luckily, there is always the native-born Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. A few bars of Mr. Kamakawiwo'ole’s music, and one is readily reminded of what a truly beautiful instrument the ukulele can be.



Lord Bassington-Bassington also recommends a gander at the lyrics to this song.

If just for a day our king and queen
would visit all these islands and saw everything
How would they 'bout the changing of our land
Could you just imagine if they were around
and saw highways on their sacred grounds

cry for the gods, cry for the people
cry for the lands that were taken away
and in it you'll find Hawaii


This is, quite possibly, what Forseti would sound like if Andreas Ritter were born in Hawaii. Though the lyrics remind more of Fire&Ice.

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