Michael Costanza and several others have suggested that we share some ideas in advance of the singalongs so that singers can get familiar with the melodies and players can learn the chords.
I figured I’d set up a page for each month, and you can either submit ideas in the comments or email me to noebie@gmail.com and I’ll add them to this post.
If you have links to lyrics, chords, videos or what-have-you please include those.
We will still go around the circle in turn on the night of the gathering, and people should still feel free to suggest or lead other songs as the spirit moves them that night, but this may help us enjoy the ones we identify early a little bit more.
I’d also like to find a volunteer to start keeping track of the songs we play at each gathering from start to finish. That way we can begin to create our own “repertoire” of memorable songs that we especially like. Please let me know if you’re interested in helping with that.
Here’s a link to an Evernote note that has lyrics and chords for everything suggested so far. Here’s a YouTube Playlist of the songs.
Here’s a song I’d like to sing: Joe Hill, by Phil Ochs.
Lyrics and Chords
Note: I don’t capo this – just play it in C.
YouTube Video: Joe Hill by Billy Bragg
The song tells the true story of IWW member Joe Hill, who was executed by the State of Utah one hundred years ago. Phil wrote the lyrics to the tune of Woody Guthrie’s song Tom Joad, which Guthrie wrote to the tune of a traditional West Virginia Folk song John Hardy.
From Hannah: I Have Made Mistakes, by The Oh Hellos
Lyrics and Chords: http://www.keycitysingalong.com/wp-content/uploads/i-have-made-mistakes.pdf
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Here’s another from Brian: The Preacher and the Slave, by Joe Hill
Lyrics, chords and sound file are on Wikipedia.
From Anne: Bottle of Wine and Shall We Gather at the River, both of which are in Rise Up Singing
From Brother Jesse: Ripple by the Grateful Dead – Here are the lyrics and chords.
From JC: The Titanic – Here’s the PDF.
Need some help learning to strum?