Cenote Afternoon

This song came out of a vacation trip to Mexico with Deb and this is a version of the A part.

We spent a lovely afternoon at a cenote in the jungle, kind of off the beaten path. I think we may have been the only Americans there that day, but the place was full of families just enjoying the beautiful natural scenery. A wonderful day.

Cenotes are natural, crystal-clear sinkholes formed by collapsed limestone bedrock, primarily located in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Derived from the Mayan word tz’onot (“sacred well”), they were once sacred to the Maya. With over 6,000 in Mexico, top examples include Ik Kil, Dos Ojos, and Azul, offering popular swimming and diving spots.

“Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken people’s curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is some good inflammable stuff, it will catch fire.” – Anatole France

Paul2026-05-01T12:33:58-04:00

Catzilla

Catzilla!

…one crazy kaiju, she’s both angry and bitter cuz for half a million years she used the same kitty litter- CAT ZILLA! A fun tune about a giant cat monster.

“Teach the student first, the music second and the guitar third.” -Frances Clark

Paul2026-04-29T15:40:30-04:00

Way Down in the Hole

Way_Down_In_The_Hole

“Way Down in the Hole” is a song written by the singer-songwriter Tom Waits. It was included on his 1987 album Franks Wild Years, which was first presented as a stage production put on by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois.

The song was used as the theme for HBO’s The Wire. A different recording was used each season. Versions, in series order, were recorded by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Neville Brothers, DoMaJe, and Steve Earle. Season four’s version, performed by the Baltimore teenagers Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse, was arranged and recorded specifically for the show. An extended version of the Blind Boys of Alabama recording was played over a montage in the series finale.

In 2004, music historian Kim Beissel said that the 1994 song “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was loosely based on “Way Down in the Hole”.

“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music […]

Paul2026-04-30T12:17:26-04:00

Too Close for Comfort

“Too Close for Comfort” is a popular song by Jerry Bock, George David Weiss, and Larry Holofcener.

It was written in 1956 as part of the score for the Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful starring Sammy Davis Jr., who released the song as a single on March 3, 1956 on Decca Records prior to the musical’s premiere. Several other pop vocalists, such as Eileen Barton, also recorded their own competing versions around this time, as well as other songs from the musical.

Paul2026-04-08T18:38:57-04:00

Picture To Burn

Paul2026-04-20T16:46:05-04:00

God Bless America

Paul2026-04-16T14:06:43-04:00

My Favorite Things

Download the my favorite things chart

“My Favorite Things” is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

In the original Broadway production, the song was introduced by Mary Martin playing Maria and Patricia Neway playing Mother Abbess. Julie Andrews first performed the song in a 1961 Christmas special for The Garry Moore Show, recording it again when she starred as Maria in the 1965 film adaptation of the musical.

Many of the favorite things evoke winter time imagery including warm mittens, packages, sleigh bells, snowflakes, and silver white winters. The song’s cozy lyrics inspired its adoption as a staple of the holiday season, significantly bolstered by the movie’s popularity.

The screen version of the song was ranked number 64 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs, a 2004 survey of top tunes in American cinema.

“How is it that music can, without words, evoke our laughter, our fears, our highest aspirations?” Jane Swan

Paul2026-04-16T14:07:10-04:00

Let It Snow

“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!“, also known as simply “Let It Snow“, is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. The song was first recorded that fall by Vaughn Monroe, was released just after Thanksgiving, and became a hit by Christmas.

Other U.S. recordings during the 1945–46 winter season included those by Danny O’Neil (Majestic), Connee Boswell (Decca), Woody Herman (Columbia), and Bob Crosby

The song makes no mention of any holiday. The lyrics include spending time with a loved one during a snowstorm, enjoying a fireplace and popcorn. When the singer has to leave, feelings of love will keep him warm once he is outside in the cold. The song has come to be regarded as a Christmas song worldwide due to its winter theme, and is often played on radio stations during the Christmas and holiday season. It has been covered by multiple artists on Christmas-themed albums.

Paul2026-04-21T08:21:16-04:00

Waltzing Matilda

“Waltzing Matilda”

Waltzing_Matilda is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country’s “unofficial national anthem”. The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot, by walking (waltzing) with one’s belongings in a “matilda” (swag) slung over one’s back, a slang expression that may have originally been repurposed from a work of light verse by Charles Godfrey Leland.

The song narrates the story of a “swagman” (itinerant worker) boiling a billy at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat. When the jumbuck’s owner, a squatter (grazier), and three troopers (mounted policemen) pursue the swagman for theft, he declares “You’ll never catch me alive!” and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site.

The original lyrics were composed in 1895 by the Australian poet Banjo Paterson, to a tune played by Christina MacPherson based on her memory of Thomas Bulch’s march Craigielee, which was in turn based on James Barr’s setting for Robert Tannahill’s poem “Thou Bonnie Wood o Craigielee.

Download a PDF with tabs, lyrics, chords and notation

Paul2026-04-16T14:08:13-04:00

Molly Malone

Molly_Malone

Molly Malone” (Roud 16932; also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City“) is a song set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become the city’s unofficial anthem.

A statue representing Molly Malone, designed by Dublin artist Jeanne Rynhart, was unveiled on Grafton Street during the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations by then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ben Briscoe. In July 2014, the statue was relocated to Suffolk Street, in front of the Tourist Information Office, to make way for Luas track-laying work at the old location.

The song tells the fictional tale of a fishwife who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin and died young, of a fever. In the late 20th century, a legend grew up that a historical Molly lived in the 17th century. She is typically represented as a hawker by day and a part-time prostitute by night. In contrast, she has also been portrayed as one of the few chaste female street hawkers of her day.

There is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman in the 17th century or any other time. The name “Molly” originated as a familiar version of the names Mary and Margaret. Many such “Molly” Malones were born in Dublin over the centuries, but no evidence connects any of them to the events in the song. Nevertheless, the Dublin Millennium Commission […]

Paul2026-04-19T16:14:53-04:00

About Paul

“Waltzing Matilda”