Mar/16/08
32comments

Father Ted Theme

Father Ted Theme (Tab)

Father Ted is one of my favourite sitcoms of all time. I don’t think it made its way across the Atlantic. So, for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, it’s about three Catholic priests who are banished to a remote island; one for being so stupid… , one for being drunken and comatose and one for having church funds “resting” is his account. The series was co-written (along with Arthur Matthews) by Graham Linehan who wrote the equally hilarious IT Crowd.

The theme tune for Father Ted was written by, Divine Comedy man, Neil Hannon (who also wrote the music for IT Crowd). The tune was expanded to become Songs of Love. The song was later covered by Ben Folds, who added a rather fantastic Stylophone solo).

I’ve arranged the tune a couple of different ways. The tune is in three four time and the first beat of the bar is always a melody note (with occasional melody notes on the third beat) with supporting chords in between. The supporting notes can be fingerpicked (as in the version above and the tab) or strummed.

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32 Comments

  1. zym March 16th, 2008 6:37 pm

    Nice work :)

    Although im a big fan, im not sure about Ben Folds version if this:\

  2. Jimmy March 16th, 2008 9:36 pm

    Dear lord, Woodshed, your blog now wins at life. I honestly thought you were going to do Dearg Doom.

    You do love theme tunes, don’t you?

  3. Woodshed March 17th, 2008 9:09 am

    zym: I’m not sure Song of Love works as a full song.

    Jimmy: I do love theme tunes. And I get loads of requests for themes. That’s why I’ve made Sunday official theme tune day.

  4. Liam March 17th, 2008 12:51 pm

    Nice one again! I’m kind of glad they never remade Father Ted for the US… how would that work anyway? Would they be not-Irish? I hope the IT Crowd remake doesn’t get it completely wrong…

  5. Howlin' Hobbit March 17th, 2008 4:08 pm

    I don’t have a television anymore but I’ve seen at least a couple episodes of Father Ted.

    It was either on PBS (where I ran across many of my favorite “BritComs”) or the cable version of BBC called, appropriately enough, BBC America. I think it was the former.

  6. Liam March 17th, 2008 4:38 pm

    Glad it wasn’t a remake. I don’t understand why they feel things need to be remade… they show US stuff here without remaking it…

  7. Irish Ukulele Tabs | Uke Hunt March 17th, 2008 5:49 pm

    […] in the Jar/Kilgary Mountain Streams of Whiskey Irish Rover Father Ted Theme Fairytale of New […]

  8. John March 17th, 2008 7:43 pm

    Genius! Father Ted is indeed the best comedy in the world ever. Such a shame he died so young and there couldn’t be more Father Teds. I never get bored of re-watching the episodes, that’s a very rare thing for me.

  9. John March 17th, 2008 7:50 pm

    Check out the My Lovely Horse video, the psychedelic horse’s head at the end is class!

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=8linZiGYSeE

  10. Liam March 17th, 2008 8:47 pm

    If anything in the world needs a uke tab it’s My Lovely Horse. The nice (well, you know what I mean) Neil Hannon version, not Ted and Dougal’s original one.

  11. Woodshed March 17th, 2008 9:09 pm

    I think Richard Ayoade is in the US version, which is a good omen.

    When I sing My Lovely Horse in my head, it’s always the Ted version. But I’ll have a go at the Hannon version sometime.

    Hobbit: It wasn’t on the Beeb over here. So I think you might have been right with your first guess.

  12. Liam March 17th, 2008 10:12 pm

    You mean Ted’s monotone version with the old nylon string guitar and casio rhythm or the version in his dream?

    Also, Robert Llewellyn reprised his role as Kryten in both the American pilots of Red Dwarf and they were both dreadful. Having said that, that was probably the fault of the scriptwriters. If they stick to Graham Linehan’s scripts, I think it’ll be alright.

  13. Woodshed March 18th, 2008 8:28 pm

    The terrible, monotonous version.

    I’ve heard on the rumour mill that the IT Crowd isn’t going to be picked up for a full series in the US.

  14. Matt March 20th, 2008 4:06 pm

    I love you for this…

  15. Woodshed March 22nd, 2008 7:29 am

    Oh stop it, I’m blushing.

  16. Mute April 9th, 2008 7:36 pm

    Speaking of the Irish Ukulele scene, would be happy to get together with other uke players. In Ireland, if there are any about.
    Near Dublin if that s a help, email me if you’re up for it.

    I’m keen anyway, not sure about talented though.

  17. natalie August 11th, 2008 7:39 pm

    THANKS SO MUCH! Any chance you’ve got other Divine Comedy tabs up your sleeve?

  18. Woodshed August 11th, 2008 8:59 pm

    Glad you enjoyed it, Natalie. I’ll keep DC in mind for the future.

  19. Meg January 5th, 2009 10:18 pm

    where is the tab? I can’t find it!

  20. Woodshed January 6th, 2009 5:39 pm

    Meg: At the start of the post where it says “Father Ted Theme (Tab)” in red.

  21. Kiana April 13th, 2009 1:59 am

    I absolutely adore father ted
    i have all of the seasons on dvd
    definately worth learning!!

  22. Emily August 31st, 2010 10:49 pm

    You know I’ve been looking for this song for awhile. Another case of me being forgetful. Thanks for posting, Al.

  23. Emily September 1st, 2010 1:57 am

    And Father Ted is one of my faves as well. It airs on BBC America over here on ocassion.

  24. Woodshed September 1st, 2010 8:44 pm

    Emily: You’re welcome. Are you ever going to do a video?

  25. Emily September 2nd, 2010 4:59 am

    I’m shy. I’d have to have some liquor in me. And then my voice would be shite. But I’m working up to it. Lots of practice is involved. And scotch.

  26. Conán August 20th, 2011 12:07 am

    does anyone have tabs for it ??

  27. Woodshed August 20th, 2011 6:56 am

    Conan: No, no one does.

  28. Michel October 25th, 2011 10:32 am

    We have the complete series on DVD and watch it regularly. It is so funny. I have printed this off to give it a go.

  29. wayne December 17th, 2011 2:23 am

    The show has made it across the Atlantic. I’m in Canada and it’s one of my favourite shows. Your uke version sounds awesome but I was looking for the guitar tabs.

  30. Jules January 2nd, 2012 2:10 pm

    This is brilliant. They had a number of the making of ‘Father Ted’ programmes on over Christmas visiting the film locations etc with the writers, so i’m glad I searched for this. The house is now a tea room. They have had a ‘Tedfest’ festival in the past. Don’t know if it still runs though.

  31. Woodshed January 3rd, 2012 9:22 am

    Jules: Thanks. Glad you like it.

  32. hen April 30th, 2012 7:16 pm

    the second version isn’t showing up

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