Mr. Bojangles

“Mr. Bojangles” is a song written and originally recorded by American country music artist Jerry Jeff Walker for his 1968 album of the same title. It has since been recorded by other artists, including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1969 whose version hit number 9 on the Hot 100 in November 1970.

Walker said he was inspired to write the song after an encounter with a street performer in a New Orleans jail. While in jail for public intoxication in 1965, he met a homeless man who called himself “Mr. Bojangles” to conceal his true identity from the police. Mr. Bojangles had been arrested as part of a police sweep of indigent people that was carried out following a high-profile murder. The two men and others in the cell chatted about all manner of things, but when Mr. Bojangles told a story about his performing dog who was killed by a car, the mood in the room turned heavy. Someone else in the cell asked for something to lighten the mood, and Mr. Bojangles obliged with a tap dance. The homeless “Mr. Bojangles”, who was white, had taken his pseudonym from Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878–1949), a black entertainer.

“Music is powerful. As people listen to it, they can be affected. They respond.” – […]

Paul2026-04-08T18:29:50-04:00

It Had To Be You

It Had to Be You

“It Had to Be You” is a popular song composed by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was published on May 9, 1924. by Jerome H. Remick & Co. of New York. The Isham Jones Orchestra recorded an instrumental version of it on April 24, 1924, at Brunswick Studios, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City, and it was released in July.

A version with lyrics by Gus Kahn and vocal by Marion Harris (who had signed with Brunswick in 1922) and Phil Ohman on piano was recorded for Brunswick in March 1924.

“Music is only understood when one goes away singing it and only loved when one falls asleep with it in one’s head, and finds it still there on waking up the next morning.” – Arnold Schoenberg, 1934

Paul2026-04-19T08:52:39-04:00

It’s a Jungle Out There

It’s A Jungle Out There

“It’s a Jungle Out There” is a song written by Randy Newman and used as the theme song of the TV series Monk starting with its second season. In 2004, it won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. As the first season’s theme song “Monk Theme” had won the same award the previous year, Monk became the first series to have two different theme songs win an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in consecutive years. The song is not to be confused with the Harry Nilsson song of the same name from his 1975 album Duit on Mon Dei.

Paul2026-04-19T13:51:31-04:00

Blue Moon

Download the Blue Moon leadsheet

“Blue Moon” is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 that has become a standard ballad. The song was first recorded by Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino on vocals. Other early recordings included those by Connee Boswell and by Al Bowlly in 1935. The song was a hit twice in 1949, with successful recordings in the U.S. by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.

In 1961, “Blue Moon” became an international number-one hit for the doo-wop group the Marcels, on the Billboard 100 chart and in the UK Singles Chart, and later that same year, an instrumental version by the Ventures charted at No. 54. Over the years, “Blue Moon” has been covered by many artists, including Frankie Avalon, the Beatles (as studio jam), Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Ray Stevens, Billie Holiday, Al Bowlly, Elvis Presley, Bobby Vinton, Sam Cooke, the Platters, Julie London, the Mavericks, Dean Martin, the Supremes, Showaddywaddy, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, and Rod Stewart. Bing Crosby featured […]

Paul2026-04-14T08:20:20-04:00

clap for the wolfman

“Clap for the Wolfman” is a song written by Burton Cummings, Bill Wallace, and Kurt Winter performed by their band, the Guess Who. The song appeared on their 1974 album, Road Food. The song was ranked #84 on Billboard magazine’s Top Hot 100 songs of 1974.

Background

The song is an homage to Wolfman Jack, who is featured talking in his typical on-air DJ voice several times on the recording, including echoing Steve Miller‘s “pompatus of love” remark from his own contemporary hit The Joker. Wolfman Jack performed the song with the Guess Who in “The Midnight Special” and even in some live dates with the group. On other occasions Burton Cummings would impersonate Wolfman Jack’s voice.

“I don’t think you can ever do your best. Doing your best is a process of TRYING to do your best.” – Townes Van Zand

Paul2026-04-13T16:53:06-04:00

Picture To Burn

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

God Bless America

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

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

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Take_Me_Out_To_The_Ball_Game music sheet ”

Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is a 1908 waltz song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game before writing the song. The song’s chorus is traditionally sung as part of the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game. Fans are generally encouraged to sing along, and at many ballparks, the words “home team” are replaced with the team name.

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is one of the three-most recognizable songs in the US, along with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Happy Birthday.” However, most people are only familiar with the chorus. The verses of the song likely failed to gain popularity due to being in third person.

Paul2026-04-22T19:49:03-04:00