Dec/12/09
16comments

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Tab)

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Tab)

Hello, Bret. A wuzza wuzza. This is 1983 David Bowie. I’m I’m buried up to my neck in sand. Am I freaking you out? (You can’t tell – because it’s written down – but I’m doing a brilliant impression of Adam and Joe’s impression of FotC’s impression of David Bowie in my head).

Nick B-C requested a tab of nomipyon‘s version of Sakamoto Ryuichi’s theme to Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and it struck me as an excellent idea. It’s an excellent arrangement but I’ve changed a few bits and pieces – some to make it easier to play and some (particularly the intro) to let notes ring into each other and make it a bit more piano-like.

You are reading Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Tab) - permalink
View Comments

16 Comments

  1. Donnie Bubbles December 12th, 2009 3:09 pm

    Not to give the one guy who tabs my favorite not-well-know songs a hard time, but just in case someone is inspired to look for him, it’s Ryuichi Sakamoto, not Sakamoto Ryuichi….

  2. J-Hob December 12th, 2009 6:03 pm

    Wow! That was an amazing performance, spine tingling. I’ll be practising that piece this weekend then, it’s so beautiful and works fantastically on the uke. Give yourself a large pat on the back.

  3. J-Hob December 12th, 2009 6:08 pm

    Just noticed that it’s an 8 stringer uke too

  4. Nick B-C. December 13th, 2009 8:26 am

    …It really is a great tab Al…the changes make a great difference, I’d been repeatedly watching the vid’ and trying to sort it out to no avail…thanks for posting it, it’s the first thing I saw after logging on following a really terrible week that ended with a 48 hour stay in hospital…to see me mentioned on my favorite site along side some of my personal favorites ( A&J, FOTC) has really cheered me up…as I’ll have a bit of time to kill I’ll have bags of practice time…P.s. you can join the Bowie crotch appreciation society on facebook, a group dedicated to his wonderous codpiece in Labyrinth…

  5. Woodshed December 13th, 2009 10:05 am

    Donnie: Thanks for the info. There seems to be some disagreement on which way round to write Japanese names. I’ve seen his name written both ways round. I’ll take your word for it.

    J-Hob: Fabio does a great version of it on uke too.

    Nick: Hope you’re on the mend, Nick. Glad I could help you feel better.

  6. Donnie Bubbles December 13th, 2009 5:10 pm

    I had never heard that about Japanese names. Wikipedia does list last name first as proper for Japanese names (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_name) but also lists him as first then last name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryuichi_Sakamoto) as does his own web site (http://www.sitesakamoto.com/data/)

    So I think proper or not, the accepted norm would be first than last. Sorry to take you off the ukulele track…call him whatever you like, just keep making the great tabs!

  7. milko December 13th, 2009 7:38 pm

    What a great tab! I can’t do it except at about 1/10th the speed it should be yet, but I’ll get there hopefully.

  8. vatsal December 14th, 2009 6:48 am

    This sounds so nice. Definitely going to spend the month off (will probably need the whole month) for winter break practicing this one.

  9. Woodshed December 14th, 2009 3:18 pm

    Donnie: I had the same problem with Tsuji Ayano/Ayano Tsuji. I think I’ll leave this business to Armelle.

    milko: That’s the right way to go about it. If you’ve got it down slowly it’s only a matter of time before you get it up to full speed.

    vatsal: Good luck with it.

  10. Brenna July 29th, 2010 5:51 am

    This took me a really long time to get down pat, it would’ve taken me FOREVER without the tab you wrote. But now im really happy that i got it, so thanks bunches and bunches of something awesome.

  11. Woodshed August 3rd, 2010 4:33 pm

    Brenna: Glad you got it down. And in plenty of time for Christmas!

  12. YongYongE January 10th, 2011 6:57 am

    WOW :)

  13. Joey May 13th, 2012 9:59 am

    can u uploading the video again, this one is closed….

  14. Woodshed May 16th, 2012 10:46 am

    Joey: Afraid not. It’s not my video.

  15. Kawatapuarangi October 25th, 2012 9:07 am

    Yes, now I’m trying to learn this fantastic haunting melody!! Makes me shiver everytime I remember the movie. I shall be victorious!!

  16. Woodshed October 25th, 2012 10:11 am

    Kawatapuarangi: Good luck with it!

Sorry, Comments Are Broken Right Now

You must be logged in to post a comment.