songs

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☞  I arrange various songs for fretted dulcimer.  Click about arrngements or scroll to the bottom for more info about my arranging. I discuss my lyrics/chords PDFs – what you’ll find on one and how to learn a song with it (on dulcimer or something else)  – and my 4½ fret.

This site and its files contain lyrics to both original songs and covers along with chord progressions.  I own rights to my original lyrics.  For covers, my PDFs identify songwriters and I make no ownership claims.  Any copyright notice near a song title refers to the song – I make no claim about images used to illustrate it.  All rights of the owners of material used are reserved.  If you own rights to material I’ve used and you’d like me to attribute or remove it, you can contact me directly via jburrill {at} gmail {dot} com. 

Besides arrangement PDFs (in two flavors) and JPGs, the posts for my song arrangements include  descriptions, comments and often YouTube links.  Posts for original songs may also have direct links to media such as sound files.
The lists of the songs here are a quick way to find a song on the page where it’s posted.  Click on a title to open its full post on one of those pages.  (That new page should be scrolled correctly to the post.   But due to slow-loading images, you might need to refresh that page [or scroll down a bit] after clicking a title here.)

(Most are on the four song-post pages at this site, but a bit further down there are two more lists of my arrangements.
Clicking a title on the list of Carl Oglesby or Reinvention of Everyday Life songs gets you to post pages at other sites.)

arrangements (0-9,A-J):

     »   Factory Girl  traditional, an updated version by Rhiannon Giddens

     »   Blank Space  by Taylor Swift  (a string of toxic relationships, insanity – I’ll put ya on my list!)

     »   Because Of  Shervin Hajipour’s social-change Grammy-winning song “Baraye”  – in English

     »   The Coachman  a traditional bawdy ballad

     »   Bubble-Up Economy  Peter Krug’s “brand new economic philosophy.”

     »   Fire in the City  by P. Krug (the Jon Hendricks / Grateful Dead version + more of Peter’s orig. lyrics)

     »  Amphitrite’s Warning  by Ruairidh Greig (don’t mess with the Greek goddess of the sea...)

     »   Burning Gold  by Christina Perri (I need a change; starting fires till our lives are burning gold)

     »   9-5 Pollution Blues  by Neil Innes  (only got my soul to lose, wish I didn’t have to choose...)

     »   I Give Myself to You  by Neil Innes  (Darling, believe me – I’m incredible.)

     »   Equestrian Statue  by Neil Innes  (Here comes the equestrian statue, prancing up and down...)

     »   Bonny Portmore  trad., via Loreena McKennitt (For the Oak & the Ash, they are all cutten down...)

     »   Already Dead  by Gwion (blood & bones in the desert sun, little bits of skin with the hair still on)

     »   I Wanna Be a Bonobo (Bonobo Wanabee) by Holly Tannen  (the “make love, not war” apes)

     »   Ballad of the Microwave Poodle by Joellen Lapidus  (... the old woman gave her poodle a bath)

     »   Ding Dong Blues  by Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead’s blues: H-bombs, hallucination, loquats)

     »   Call the Lamas!  by Marshall Chapman  (little Buddha in the checkout line at the grocery store)

     »   Glory Hallelujah  by Frank Turner  (a song of celebration – “There is no God!”)

     »   Footprints on the Moon  by Gabby Barrett  (You can do anything, anything you want to.)

     »   Bad Blood  by Vivian Stanshall (Bad Blood...  will drive you crazy.)

arrangements (K-Z):

     »   Lives in the Balance  by Jackson Browne (plus alternate lyrics based on Richie Havens’ version)

     »   We Have a Dream  by Lisa Aschmann & Georgia Yates (MLK Jr.’s dream, a world that’s truly free.)

     »   You Are Not Alone  by Jasey Schnaars (1st heard Washington Squares’ cover), versions in 2 keys

     »   Summertime  by the Gerswins & Heyward / Wayfaring Stranger traditional, versions in 2 keys

     »   Mrs. Murphy  by Marie-Lynn Hammond & Bob Bossin (from the Canadian band “Stringband”)

     »   Land of the Bottom Line  by John Gorka (...time to wonder and to dream. I need the money...)

     »   Raven in the Storm  by John Gorka & G. Bartley (the latest apparition cutting slices in the night)

     »   So Long Mom  by Tom Lehrer (So long, Mom, I’m off to drop the bomb, so don’t wait up...)

     »   Man Walks Among Us  by Marty Robbins (Man walks among us, be still, be still.)

     »   Like the Way I Do  by Melissa Etheridge (Tell me, does he love you like the way I love you... ?)

     »   Their Brains Were Small and They Died  by Mark Graham (... may stumble on our fossils, ...)

     »   One More Minute  by Weird Al Yankovic (the quintessential epic song ’bout bein’ dumped...)

     »  We Will Not Bow Down to Genocide by Len Chandler (...I’ve gone stark-ravin’ sane, ’cause I will...)

     »   The Leaving of Liverpool  trad. (not the leavin’ of Liverpool that grieves me, but my darling...)

     »   Permission to Dance  recorded by BTS (the music’s got me going, a K-pop song in two keys)

     »   My Country ’Tis of Thy People You’re Dying  by B. Sainte-Marie (US mistreatment of natives)

     »   Mary Had a Little Lamb  by S.J. Hale / L. Mason (civil disobedience vs. systemic speciesism)

     »   Still Scared of You  by Amber Ruffin (...scared of you a year ago, & I’m still scared of you today!)

     »   No Man’s Land  by Eric Bogle / Nobody’s Moggy Lands  by Bob Kanefsky (world war / dead cat)

     »   The Killer in Me  by Amy Speace (delicious dangerous dysfunctional co-dependent love song)

     »   Price Tag  by Jessie J and B.o.B  (not about the money, money, money)

original songs (0-9,A-J):

     »   Cold Mountain (This is No Moon)  by Jim Burrill (versions for guitar [in E] & dulcimer [in D])

     »   Crackdown Addict  by Jim Burrill  (inspired by a poem written by Garrett Murphy)

     »   The Doctor  by Jim Burrill (re the BBC SciFi series Doctor Who, the Tom Baker incarnation)

     »   254 Shades of Gray  by Jim Burrill  (Uh, what’s the difference between “erotic” & “kinky”?)

     »   Heat Detector  by Jim Burrill  (handy gadget to find hints of interest in potential partners) 

     »   Ceres & Pluto & Eris, Oh My!  by Jim Burrill (orbits, cereal, death, strife, Pacific & Inuit myth)

     »   How Anarchy Could Function  by Jim Burrill (seeds Marx sowed ... how anarchy could function)

     »   I Am Cherry Alive  by Jim Burrill (... the little girl sang – from a poem by Delmore Schwartz)

     »   Hear Lyrics Clearly  by Jim Burrill (a song can turn absurd if a word’s misheard)

     »   Downtown Zeno Exit  by Jim Burrill (navigating a new relationship:  can we make it there?)

     »   Greatest Story of All  a carol by Jim Burrill  (the Annunciation + the first Xmas, told candidly)

     »   The Ball-Playing Song  by Jim Burrill (Three Ryōkan poems, children sing ball-playing song)

     »   AI Writes Better Songs  by ChatGPT & Jim Burrill (Humans should stop tryin’; listen & enjoy ’em)

     »   I’m a Hippie Freak  by Jim Burrill & Camille Fischer (parody of “I’m An Old Cowhand”)

     »   The Anti-Vaxxer & the Climber  by Jim Burrill (What about them having kids?  Well...)

     »   A Circle Game (Not the Song by Joni)  by Jim Burrill (Fun with a circle and some string...)

     »   Halve, by Yourself, that  a parody carol by Jim Burrill  (respect for indigenous ingenuity)

     »   I Still Breathe  by Jim Burrill (Nov. 2016: versions for guitar [in E & D] and dulcimer [in D])

     »   Always Forty-Two  (version of a Bob Dylan song by Jim Burrill, inspired by Douglas Adams)

original songs (K-Z):

     »   Sea Change  by Jim Burrill (Can we change the world - with the strength of a river & the sea?)

     »   The Music of Strings  by Jim Burrill (Brian Greene’s books as song: string theory, the Universe)

     »   The Rasta Masta Has to Ask for Special Pesto on His Pasta  by Jim Burrill (sweet sauce)

     »   Safe Romance  by Jim Burrill (Cupid’s arrows struck my core, so now I practice  safe romance.)

     »   ...When I’m Drunk  by Jim Burrill (Americana heartbreak with beer. Uh, any driving involved?)

     »   See No Evil  by Jim Burrill (Covid vaccine, we gather again... but could someone else get hurt?)

     »   Lynn’s Dream  by Jim Burrill (versions in two keys [for guitar & dulcimer] + the song’s story)

     »   Summer Sunlight  by Jim Burrill (young love, a summer day, mind-blowing feelings, 1970)

     »   Time to Love Again  by Jim Burrill (just a smile to mark the way to bring a bitter heart to joy)

     »   This Morning  by Jim Burrill (... you stop there to think. You start to wonder what to do.)

     »   Mask of Life  by Jim Burrill (What’s trending? The distancing 2-meter rule! & displaying your...)

     »   Mathematics  by Jim Burrill (meter-shifting chant based on part of Lautréamont’s Maldoror)

     »   When I Have Seen  by Shakespeare & Jim Burrill (When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defaced) 

     »   Tomorrow  by Jim Burrill (if I wait till tomorrow, will I find that tomorrow’s come and gone?) 

     »   Vicky’s Secret  by Jim Burrill (football, new-fangled genders - what’s under her muddy clothes?)

     »   Pointing to the Moon  by Jim Burrill (Are they the same thing - a finger, the moon? Or is it...)

     »   My, My, Mama  by Jim Burrill (re Peter Krug’s tale: French gal’s African-print South Seas dress)

     »   Neocortex  by Jim Burrill (with more of the creative brain part, we could modify our genes to...)

     »   O, Cinnabon by Jim Burrill (a parody. ...where ya gonna run to? Run to the coffee.  Coffee is a-boilin’.)

     »   The One-Legged Cowboy  by Jim Burrill (inspired by a single line in a Carl Oglesby song.)

     »   People Say Strange Things  by Jim Burrill (there’s really no way we’ll ever figure out why...)

     »   ...The Really Strangest Dream  (a warning by JimB: a talking version of Ed McCurdy’s song)

     »   Republican Children  by Jim Burrill  (Could we pass legislation using Trump’s new strategy?)

Most (but not all) of my original songs are licensed with a type of Creative Commons license which gives you permission to perform or republish a song without contacting me or paying royalties – just as long as you attribute the song to me and, where text is used, include my copyright notice and the URL of the license.  A few do use a different type of Creative Commons license which does – for commercial use only – require you to contact me (and only possibly pay royalties). For more about this, see the Licensing Orig page.

So, which of my song arrangements are easiest to learn?  Whether a song is easy to learn is not the same for everyone. It depends on many factors, including your motivation to learn a particular song.  But some of my arrangements are difficult.  So... in the song lists on this page I’ve made a subtle change to the  »  bullet.  It’s lighter, [a green  » ] for songs which could be considered easiest.

(Below, “Black Panther” is so marked.  But click to its posting and you’ll see my rant on how it’s a tricky song for me – due to difficulty striking the right balance for the emotional tone expressed vocally.  “Factory Girl,” above, is basically an easy song, but its odd tuning and instrumental part can be difficult.  And “Mathematics” has very easy chord positions, but its meter‑shifting rhythm can be hard.  “Lives in the Balance” “No Man’s Land” “Killer in Me” “Suburbs of Eden” and “Dragon Song,” are not marked “easiest,” but might be easy if the song is one you like.  Difficulty – and ease – can come in many forms.)

I created that site in hopes of increasing awareness of his music.  It’s worth a visit.  In addition to PDF lyrics/chords song arrangements of some of his songs, you can also find more information about Oglesby, as well as links to audio of all 19 of his recorded songs – listed in the original order from his two LPs.

Here’s a list of my arrangements there of Carl Oglesby’s songs. Click on a title to open its full post:

      »   Suburbs Of Eden  by Carl Oglesby (souvenir virgin)

      »   Le Chinois  by Carl Oglesby (China, 1949)

      »   The Prophet  by Carl Oglesby (byzantine scandal)

      »   Black Panther  by Carl Oglesby (better beware)

      »   Dragon Song  by Carl Oglesby (pity’s not the game)

      »   Till The Dance Is Mine  by Carl Oglesby (splash my face in wine)

      »   Going To Damascus  by Carl Oglesby (tell you another story)

      »   The Working Class Stranger  by Carl Oglesby (waiting to see how you choose)

      »   Light The Pipe  by Carl Oglesby (beware the man who stones himself, and ...)

JNB has published various uncopyrighted posters, leaflets, signs, songs and booklets with a revolutionary perspective under the Reinvention of Everyday Life name since the 1970s.  I worked with him on lyric/chord PDFs for three songs, performed his songs and built his web site.  (Some folks speculate I know him about as well as Clark Kent knows Superman, based on a silly theory that the symbol he uses as a name could be my initials!)  Instead of posting my arrangements of his songs (plus comments) here on the “arrangements” pages, they’re on his own “Reinvention of Everyday Life” site:

http://sites.google.com/view/ReinventStuff .

Here’s a list of my arrangements of his songs at that site.  Click on a title to open its full post:

    »   It’s Up to Us  (The 99%)  lyrics by JNB (for OWS, a diversion of a Daniel Lanois song.)

    »   Bottle Against the Wall  (The Energy of Everyday Life)  by JNB , based on Raoul Vaneigem’s text

    »   Life Passes By  English translation  by JNB , of Raoul Vaneigem’s “La vie s’écoule, la vie s’enfuit”

 ☞  I arrange various songs for fretted dulcimer. My arrangements have lyrics and chord progressions plus dulcimer fingering (notated with small numbers after chord names to indicate fret positions for chords).  This system is very similar to tablature –  I often include ornamental notes as well.  I just make chord names more prominent than tab numbers – so if you don’t play dulcimer, you can use chord names to learn the song on guitar, ukulele or whatever.

There’s sort of a divide between dulcimer players who think in “modal patterns” vs. those who think in “chord-progression functions.” Both are valid approaches. (I’m chord-oriented, but do have modal-pattern songs, to which I assign often-awkward chord names...) But if you’re also chord-oriented, my “Dulcimer Laughs” sidebar above can be an inspirational-quote sticker on your dulcimer case!  Use the PDF “Fit” option to print this print-area PDF (or this JPG) on full‑sheet 8½" x 11" label stock. (Check out a different dulcimer sticker [Laramidian Dulcimer] on this site’s main Jim Burrill page.)

Most contemporary dulcimer players have a 6½ fret on their instrument.  I also have a 4½ demi‑fret under the bass and middle strings.  (To expand the possibilities of the dulcimer, I strongly recommend adding a 4½ rather than the more common 1½.)  My arrangements occasionally use the 4½ fret.  (If you don’t have a 4½, don’t simply substitute a 4 – but you can usually find some way to fake a chord where I’ve used a 4½.)  I sometimes take pity on those with no 4½, and write an arrangement (often in a different key) which differs from how I play a song, so that it can be more easily played by the 4½‑deprived.  I did this for “Price Tag,” for one version of “9‑5 Pollution Blues” and one version of “Crackdown Addict.”