Charlie McDonnell – Exterminate, Regenerate (Chords)

Charlie McDonnell – Exterminate, Regenerate (Chords)

My post on the adorable Charlie ‘charlieissocoollike’ McDonnell’s A Song About Acne proved very popular, so I thought I’d follow it up with his latest tune despite the fact I don’t understand a single reference in it. I’ve only watched two episodes of Dr Who (one set in Rome and one with Peter Kay in) and they were both unremittingly dreadful. I didn’t even get that it was a song about Dr Who until he explained it at the end. Turns out I fail at video games as well.

The chords aren’t the standard fare – there’s not an open string in the whole tune.

Suggested Strumming

For the intro:

d – d – x u – u
– u – u – u d –

The verse starts with some single strums then doubles up the tempo with this strumming pattern twice for most of the chords but once each in the E – F# move.

d – x u – u d –

Download the band version on iTunes and subscribe to charlieissocoollike on YouTube.

View Comments

40 Comments

  1. cardboardfrog March 28th, 2010 6:31 pm

    well this officially settles it, i need a melodica, its past wanting one, i really genuinely need one.
    good work mr woodshed as per usual!

  2. skacrazy March 29th, 2010 6:39 am

    I will be the first to mention that he his wearing a really cool Captain Hammer t-shirt, which makes him at the top of my cool list.

  3. Jimmy March 29th, 2010 9:39 pm

    If you sing songs about Doctor Who on ukulele you’re already one of my favourite people. Good tune, that

  4. skacrazy March 30th, 2010 3:21 am

    That just puts him higher. Three of my favorite things: Doctor Who, Doctor Horrible, and Ukulele.

  5. Woodshed March 30th, 2010 7:53 am

    cbf: The melodica has never much appealed to me.

    skacrazy: I think that makes me bottom of your cool list.

    Jimmy: Glad you like it.

  6. kaðlín March 31st, 2010 5:36 pm

    This is one of my favorite songs :) Thank you!

  7. Woodshed April 3rd, 2010 3:50 pm

    kaðlín: You’re very welcome.

  8. AndreaHHN August 19th, 2010 5:10 am

    Thanks so much for posting this! I’ve been going around trying to find songs I can play as a beginner ukulele player and then I came across this which is one of my absolute favourite songs :D
    I just have one question… What does the G’ in the music mean? That’s the only part that really confuses me. Thanks again!

  9. Kelsi August 20th, 2010 1:32 am

    G’ is just a variation of playing the normal G chord. If you look at the top of the sheet, there are actually two ways of playing G for this song. I’m pretty sure the second one is G’. I don’t really think it matters toooooo much which you play though, it should still sound alright if you use either version =)

  10. Woodshed August 24th, 2010 5:23 pm

    Kelsi: Thanks very much, you’re spot on.

  11. Gabii September 19th, 2010 11:13 pm

    I’m not quite sure what the x u means for the chords. I can’t find what it is on google or anything and I want to learn this song for ukulele.

  12. Woodshed September 20th, 2010 10:07 pm

    Gabbi: There’s a guide to strumming here.

  13. Will November 28th, 2010 10:47 pm

    Thanks so much for this! Now I just need to get better at fast strumming. :)

    Oh, and when you referred to an episode of Doctor Who with Peter Kay in it, I’m pretty sure you meant the episode “Love & Monsters,” which pretty much any Who fan will admit is a terrible episode. ._.” It’s just… Bad. Really bad.

  14. AndreaHHN November 29th, 2010 3:17 am

    Hey! I love that episode! In fact, it’s one of the few that I’ve seen multiple times. I can admit that the abzoraboloff is a pretty stupid villain but I like the eopisode anyway :P
    It might have something to do with the fact that I absolutely HATE Martha. That episode was a break from her..

  15. skacrazy November 29th, 2010 3:35 am

    Exactly. Its not as good as the empty child, but its still a cute episode.

  16. AndreaHHN November 29th, 2010 3:50 am

    Empty Child. Best. Episode. Ever.

  17. Moonset December 9th, 2010 11:05 am

    I’m going to sound like an idiot here but what do Xu and U stand for? They’re not standard chords…

  18. Woodshed December 13th, 2010 8:53 pm

    Moonset: Those are the strumming directions. The chords are under the video in the orange box.

  19. Becca December 25th, 2010 6:09 am

    Well- darn it now I HAVE to comment. I’ve been lurking around here for a month learning all I can. I thought that a ukulele would be the perfect instrument to take to filk circles (since my hands are too small for a guitar, no really, wayyyyy too small).

    Then this. This hits ALL my geek buttons (even if he does have beiber hair). I must now learn this. It will be a great follower to Vixy and Tony’s song ‘Companion’.

    (no filk is not a typo- see filk.com)

  20. Woodshed January 1st, 2011 12:45 pm

    Becca: Thanks for teaching me the word ‘filk’!

  21. Xavvi January 13th, 2011 2:12 pm

    HI, thanks so muck for this I love all Charlie’s stuff! Could you please do some more of his songs?
    Thanks!

  22. Alex January 14th, 2011 3:22 am

    It’s a song about the Daleks and their neverending fight against the Doctor. The Daleks seek to become the only living beings in the entire universe, and its up to the Doctor to make sure that they never achieve their goal

  23. Woodshed January 16th, 2011 10:54 am

    Xavvi: I was thinking about writing up that medley of tracks on his album that he did.

    Alex: Thanks for the info.

  24. Frederik January 26th, 2011 5:10 pm

    Someone who know what kinda ukulele he is playing on?

  25. Woodshed January 28th, 2011 10:11 am

    Frederik: I think it’s a Tanglewood TU2.

  26. Dairycow February 3rd, 2011 10:22 pm

    This was great and i thank you very much Woodshed,but could you do chemical love?

  27. Maggie February 10th, 2011 1:13 am

    Dr. Who has it’s ups, which are very very high, and it’s downs, which are usually pretty darn low. It’s overall great, in my opinion though :) Thanks for posting this.

  28. Charlie June 15th, 2011 12:28 pm

    Massive fan of Doctor Who here :)
    Matt Smith and Doctor Who rule and this gives me something awesome to relate to. Chameleon Circuit, TROCK ON!!!

    :P I’m also on Youtube..haven’t posted anything yet but planning to get a Doctor Who song up there sooon…
    “TheDoctor737” If anyone was wondering…

    P.S:This is brilliant.

  29. Woodshed June 16th, 2011 8:44 am

    Dairycow: I like Charlie so there’s always a chance.

    Maggie: You’re welcome!

    Charlie: Look forward to seeing your videos.

  30. Samwell July 2nd, 2011 6:34 pm

    Can you do some more trock pleasesesandthankyouses?!

  31. Teddy September 30th, 2011 10:40 pm

    Nerdgasm! Thanks for posting this Woodshed, massive Doctor Who fan, this is so cool. And he gets tons of geek cred for the Captain Hammer t-shirt.>

  32. brain-dead December 26th, 2011 6:47 am

    you are perfect. can we elope? also I love your Capitan hammer shirt

  33. sydney February 1st, 2012 7:05 pm

    Hello I’m still not sure what the x u is for I know that d- down and u- up but what’s the x for??

  34. Woodshed February 1st, 2012 10:41 pm

    Sydney: It’s a chnk.

  35. sydney February 3rd, 2012 12:08 am

    Thanks!

  36. Dan July 31st, 2012 3:38 pm

    I’m sorry to be a bit picky, but on the second line of the intro the G’ is acctualy a Bm7 and the G at the end is acctually a D & an F#. But the rest is great! THANK YOU!

  37. Chelsea September 12th, 2012 2:46 am

    I love this guy because he loves Doctor Who.

  38. Benda December 23rd, 2013 4:33 pm

    How do you do it, so that your left thumb doesn’t fall off in brutal pain ? I’m trying my best, but seriously, the constant holding of my index finger is making my thumb squeal in terrible suffering…

  39. Woodshed December 24th, 2013 12:04 pm

    Benda: You need to build up your strength over time. This one isn’t really suitable unless you’ve got plenty of experience playing barre chords. If it starts to hurt too much while you’re playing it’s best to take a rest before you do any damage.

  40. sand July 1st, 2014 4:15 pm

    i thought chameleon circuit wrote this?

Sorry, Comments Are Broken Right Now

You must be logged in to post a comment.