The Jonathan Richman songbook

Hey, you crazy kids! I ordered the songbook when it first came out, but now have looked it over and have some pictures for you!

I highly recommend this. It's for guitar, which couldn't find online before I bought it. Unsurprisingly, the two albums that are best represented are Not So Much To Be Loved As to Love and Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild, but it still holds a nice sampling of Jonathan's songs from the past and present, including the semi-grudgingly added "Roadrunner". Of it, he says: "Plus, I no longer want to drive around the cold, sterile, industrialized highways of America's suburbs, and I won't pretend I do for love or money". And that's really what makes this songbook so great. Jonathan has a bunch of commentaries, some printed, and some notes are in his handwriting. And he's his hilarious, off the cuff self. It's probably the most that we'll ever get to hear him say about some of these songs directly, I don't even play the guitar, and I found this entertaining. There's a shot of the intro over here.

You can buy it from several different places, one of them is Hal Leonard.

Songs in the book:
Because her Beauty is Raw and Wild
Behold the Lilies of the Field
El Joven Se Estremece
Es Como El Pan
Girlfriend
Give Paris One More Chance
He Gave Us the Wine to Taste it
Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eyeshadow
I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar
In Che Mondo Viviamo
Le Printemps des Amoureux est Venu
Let Her Go Into the Darkness
No One Was Like Vermeer
Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love
Pablo Picasso
Roadrunner
Springtime in New York
Surrender
There's Something About Mary
This Romance Will Be Different for Me
Vampiresa Mujer
Vampire Girl
Vincent Van Gogh
When We Refuse to Suffer