GUGUG – Ruby (Chords)
Whenever I spot Gus and Fin in my YouTube Subscriptions I get as excited as a sack full of hyperactive puppies. They are certainly the most punk ukulele players around. As well as the fantastic sound they make, the editing of the videos adds another dimension. So much so that it’s not surprising that Angus McIntyre (the one without a beard) is a TV producer in his civilian life. Given that he produces for the BBC, you have to wonder if he even owns a ukulele or if it’s all cleverly edited scam.
The story of this song has spread itself over many wars. Mel Tillis was inspired to write the song by a true-life paralysed World War II veteran and his frustrated wife. The setting was updated to the Korean War for the song. It became a hit for Kenny Rodgers during the Vietnam War.
The song uses chords straight out of Baby’s First Uke Chords. Don’t be panicked by the Fmaj7; on the uke it has exactly the same shape as an Am. The only thing that might confuse you is that in the GUGUG version the ukes are tuned up a semitone to g#C#FA#. So if you want to play along you’ll have to do likewise or use a capo. I’ve written the chords as they would be in standard C-tuning to avoid confusion.
Buy the Kenny Rogers version
I always thought the one line was, “And I won’t stand the needs of a woman your age,” which makes it not only a complete sentence, but fits in with the paralysis.
The online lyrics sites I’ve checked don’t agree, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, because many of them just copy what shows up elsewhere. I wrote a post once (on my previous blog) about trying to track down a definitive attribution for a particular quote.