A song from the more ukeable end of Radiohead’s career (although Dani Joy does a great There, There).
The arrangement is pretty straightforward. The trickiest part is the signature Jonny Greenwood ascending line in bars 24-25. Make sure you play the first verse nice and softly so you can create a juxtaposition with the second verse by blasting it out.
Here’s a tab for The La’s’s massive (and only) hit There She Goes. Despite their one-hit-wonder status, they were massively influential and were the template for the Britpop fad that kicked off a few years later.
This arrangement kicks off with the riff moved up to the key of C. That makes things much easier because you can use the open g-string as the pivot note. Things get a little trickier in bar 5 when the chords come in. If you’re struggling with that, you can keep playing the single note version and no one will care.
You can make the chorus easier with some forward-thinking fretting. If you fret the C chord at the start of bars 11 and 13 with your middle finger, you’ll be able to transition into the G chord much more smoothly. And at the start of bars 15 and 17, fret a Dm chord like you usually would and play the E-string third fret with your pinkie.
Next it’s back to the riff with a short solo section. Then the song shifts to A minor in the bridge but keeps the same melody. From there, the arrangement switches to mostly strumming as it builds towards the end.
I’ve used some artificial harmonics in the intro because they’re the spaciest sound you can get on a ukulele. But you can play this section without them and it won’t be a problem. Or you could come up with your own intro.
The first verse is the simplest part of the song. Then comes the “Lift Off” section. Pretty much any rising figure will work here. You can go as simple as grabbing a note and sliding up the neck. I took the opportunity to have a bit of fun with effects.
The second verse is more much of a challenge. There are a lot of moves up and down the neck and a few finger-twisting bits. On the upside, it has the strange change from F major to F minor that mirrors the shift in the song from triumph to tragedy.
After some quick chord changes, the solo starts up. I’ve stayed fairly close to the original here. Just adapting bits for uke. But I couldn’t resist throwing in a Day Tripper reference on the A chord (bar 44) as the original comes so close to it.
The song is built around a sample of Ike’s Rap by Isaac Hayes (the same sample used in Tricky’s Hell is Round the Corner). So the whole song is on an Em chord (Ebm in the original) with descending bass notes on the C-string of E, D, C#, C.
By far the hardest part of the arrangement is the artificial harmonics in bars 21-22 (“A thousand flowers could bloom”) played at the same time as the bass notes. If, like me, you struggle with that bit, you can ignore the harmonics all together and just play it as written.
The solo starts off like the original but I go off on my own from there. I suggest you do the same. I’m using notes from the melody plus a Bb (A-string, 1st fret) that lends some gritty dissonance to the solo.
Till There Was You was originally recorded by Meredith Wilson. But, of course, is much better known by The Beatles’ cover.
This arrangement is heavily based on The Beatles’ version but is closer to the tempo of the original. I’ve taken a few liberties including adding my own intro and solo. Feel free to do the same for your version.
I recommend one finger per string picking for everything but the solo. I just used whatever falls under my fingers in that section.
There are a few fancy chords in the arrangement. Including my favourite chord: C7(#5). C7 is already an unsettled chord and adding that #5 creates even more tension that is released when you move back to the F chord.
It’s always fascinating to see how bands deal with the death of musical fads and Travis are a prime example of it. Their debut album Good Feeling was full of Oasis-y rockers about good times and picking up girls. Which would have flown off the shelves if it had been released in the Britpop era rather than in 1997, the year Radiohead killed off the genre with OK Computer. After the lukewarm success of the album, they shamelessly reworked themselves into a Radiofriendlyhead sounding band on The Man Who (even slagging off Wonderwall on the first verse of the album) and had a breakthrough Why Does It Always Rain On Me?. Setting the scene for Coldplay who released their debut a year later.
The chords for this one are very easy. The only challenge is some rapid picking (which you’ll need to do some alternate picking) and pull-offs.
I had always assumed the first verse was mocking George Harrison’s Taxman. But it appears Sunny Afternoon was released a couple of months before Taxman. So phenomenally rich people moaning about taxes must have been the rage at the time. Thank god that’s over.
The tune starts off with a bit of a stretch but an otherwise simple descending riff. Be sure to release the pressure with your fretting hand shortly after playing to keep the notes short. The melody is reasonably straightforward as well.
The problems only start when you have to combine the descending run with the melody notes in bars 35 to 40.
A short and sweet one I worked out while watching the New Zealand version of Taskmaster.
The theme is mostly just chords with a few notes picked out. The tricky bit comes right at the end (bars 8-9) that goes way up the fretboard. You can safely chop it short and end the run at the first 12th fret.
After that, I’ve added in the little theme that plays at the start of the tasks.
I’ve cut the intro way down from the original version. You’re welcome to use any picking pattern and any inversion of the chords here.
The chorus is brilliant. It manages to pull of the trick of being both bleak and catchy.
The verses are angry and even more sparse than the chorus. In a case of do as I say not do as I do, let the verse breath and try not to rush the melody.
Finally, the legendary drum Phil (bar 60). I’ve gone with a descending run based on the D blues scale with the last four notes played chromatically.
Putting it together made me realise it’s structured similar to Rhapsody in Blue (and that other rhapsody). It’s made of a few very catchy but unrelated sections that rub together and sometimes outright interrupt each other.
The song starts in that fashion with the lyrical, “I want to…” line being interrupted by them yelling bicycle. You can bring out that contrast by playing the lyrical section smoothly and the shouty section brashly and more staccato.
It then switches from major to minor for the hard-edged verse. I like to give the strings a bit of a snap for this section.
The middle section, which returns to a major key and a more gentle style cuts, the second chorus shor and shifts to12/8 time. Make sure you’re warmed up before attempting the big stretch up to the 11th and 12th frets.
The next chorus starts off two frets higher (making it a bit more difficult to play) before dropping back down to the original key in bar 31. Strumming the strings above the nut does a good job of imitating the bells at the end of this section.
The solo is the trickiest part to play. The original has two guitars playing answer and response phrases. Moving both to one ukulele means some big, quick moves up and down the neck. It’s tricky. I certainly make a hash of it.