ukulele anthem

amanda palmer

sid vicious played a four-string fender bass guitar and couldn't sing

and everybody hated him except the ones who loved him

a ukulele has four strings

but sid did not play ukulele

he did smack and probably killed his girlfriend nancy spungen

if only sid had had a ukulele

maybe he could have been happy

maybe he would not have suffered such a sad end

he maybe would have not done all that heroin instead

he maybe would've sat around just singing nice songs to his girlfriend

so play your favorite cover song

especially if the words are wrong

'cause even if your grades are bad

it doesn't mean you're failing

do your homework with a fork

and eat your fruit loops in the dark

and bring your etch-a-sketch to work

and play your ukulele

ukulele small and forceful

brave and peaceful

you can play the ukulele too it is painfully simple

play your ukulele badly

play your ukulele loudly

ukulele banish evil

ukulele save the people

ukulele gleaming golden on the top of every steeple

lizzie borden took an axe

and gave her father thirty whacks

then gave her mother thirty-one

and left a tragic puzzle

if only they had given her an instrument

those puritans

had lost the plot completely

see what happens when you muzzle

a person's creativity

and do not let them sing and scream

and nowadays it's worse 'cause kids have automatic handguns

it takes about an hour to teach someone to play the ukulele

about same to teach someone to build a standard pipe bomb

you do the math

so play your favorite cover song

especially if the words are wrong

'cause even if your grades are bad

it doesn't mean you're failing

do your homework with a fork

and eat your fruit loops in the dark

and bring your flask of jack to work

and play your ukulele

ukulele

thing of wonder

ukulele

wand of thunder

you can play the ukulele

too

in london and down under

play joan jett

and play jacques brel

and eminem and neutral milk hotel

the children crush the hatred

play your ukulele naked

and if anybody tries to steal your ukulele

let them take it

imagine there's no music

imagine there are no songs

imagine that john lennon wasn't shot in front of his apartment

imagine if john lennon had composed imagine" on the ukulele