Kid’s Songs

My goal at Oliver di Place is to present the best music I can find. This provides, I believe, a valuable antidote to the cookie-cutter mentality especially at the major labels that results in so much pop music sounding the same.

Nowhere is this approach more needed than in the category of kid’s music. The formula for kid’s music is to use simple-minded lyrics and the intrusion of squeaky high voices, that either are, or are trying to sound like, children. The playing and the arrangements are also simplistic. The result is often sappy and condescending at the same time. Actually, that’s not an easy combination to achieve!

But kid’s music doesn’t have to be like that. The best kid’s music also appeals strongly to the parents. Many of the finest talents in folk music have tried their hands at music intended for children Nowadays, there are also artists from other genres who find themselves recording music for kids. Many of them started writing and recording music for children as a direct response to becoming parents themselves. So there is a ton of great music to choose from. The trick is finding the wheat among the vast amount of chaff. Let me be your guide.

In putting this post together, I had to leave out a great deal of wonderful material. So this might become a series. Let me know in the comments if you would like to hear more.

Pete Seeger: Abiyoyo

[purchase]

Let’s begin with a classic from my own childhood. Pete Seeger combines music and storytelling in his telling of the tale of Abiyoyo. The tale delights kids because it is laced with humor. It also has characters the kids can identify with: two normal sized people must overcome a fearsome giant, just as kids must learn to deal in a world where everyone is a giant compared to them. And the giant turns out to love music, as long as it has a good beat. Kids often feel the same way.

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer: Rhythm of the World

[purchase]

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer were well known in the folk world, both together and individually, before they ever recorded a note of music for children. But they recorded a trilogy of albums for kids that is some of the best kid’s music out there. They have a sweetness that is never cloying, and the music swings and sways.

Trout Fishing in America: What I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee

[purchase]

What I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee has the same appeal to kids as the Dr Seuss classic Fox on Sox. This is a tongue twister, only set to music.

Trout Fishing in America has devoted their entire career to making music for kids and their adults. There are very few songs in their catalog that miss the mark. What comes through is their warmth, and their willingness to take kids seriously.

Billy Jonas: Some Houses

[purchase]

Billy Jonas plays percussion on found instruments. His stage set up includes plastic drums in various sizes, as well as other odd percussible items. The emphasis is on rhythm. Jonas also makes the point that anything can be an instrument, and anyone can play something. This is as empowering to kids as the tale of Abiyoyo.

Jessica Harper: A Crazy Machine

[purchase]

Did you know that Jessica Harper, the actress, was also a fine source of music for kids? This could easily be nothing more than a vanity project, but her kid’s music is the real deal. All of the key elements are in place: strong rhythms; sensitivity to a kid’s point of view; and a sweetness that never becomes cloying.

A Crazy Machine is about a toy that seemingly does everything, although no one is sure how. Yes, this is another take on The Marvelous Toy. It takes guts to take on a classic like that, but Harper pulls it off.

Billy Jonas - Happy Accidents

[purchase]

Billy Jonas: Who‘s Gonna Make Our Music?

Billy Jonas: One Tutu Too Many

Of all the artists I’ve reviewed here to this point, Billy Jonas is the first one I was familiar with before receiving the new album. In particular, my family and I had the great pleasure of attending one of Jonas’ family shows. Yes, you heard that right. This week, Oliver di Place takes on the dreaded subject of kid’s music.

My standards for judging kid’s music must be different from the norm. First of all, mine is not the most important opinion here. What do my five-year old son and thirteen-year old daughter think? If they don’t like it, it’s not good kid’s music. Then and only then do my views become relevant. But it’s still not good kid’s music if they never get to hear it, because I can’t stand it. So the music must offer something to keep the adults interested as well. This is a very difficult balance to achieve.

When we saw Billy Jonas perform, he opened his show with a brief explanation of his strange percussion instruments. Jonas uses a set of plastic containers in various sizes from small to huge, and he also keeps an acoustic guitar on stage for later in the show. He explained quickly that he wanted us, the audience, to find car keys to shake, or slap on ourselves (my preference), or some other means of making a beat. He also wanted us to sing along as soon as we knew the words. As Jonas put it, he wants the audience to join the band. And we did. There was none of the embarrassment that sometimes follows when a musician asks the audience to sing along. And the place rocked!

Happy Accidents opens with Eyes Wide Open; this is just the way Jonas probably opens shows on the current tour. The song is mostly percussion and voice, and it is clearly a piece that Jonas hears in his head with the audience included. The background vocals serve as a guide to where to sing along at the next show. But even if you never see a Billy Jonas show, this is a dive-right-in, high energy open, and a good listen.

Who’s Gonna Make Our Music? is a statement of purpose. The song clearly states Jonas’ musical philosophy of audience involvement. I’m surprised that Jonas only just thought of this song. The song is arranged for a full band, and is another high energy track.

From here, Jonas mostly keeps the energy high, sprinkling in an occasional slow number to make the overall listening experience more interesting. The slower numbers tend to have the greatest appeal for adult listeners, but the subject matter is also completely appropriate for the kids as well, of course. In these slow numbers, Jonas sings optimistically, but never cloyingly, about the state of the world.

There are also some mid-tempo numbers, which involve inspired nonsense to tickle the funny bones of adults and kids alike. One Tutu Too Many is a fine example.

Throughout, Jonas demonstrates a mastery of the art of pacing. He knows how to start with a bang, when to take it down a bit, and how to build it back up.

The album concludes with the Wake Up Suite. This can be considered as five short songs, or as a medley. The five parts tell of a boy’s morning rituals, from getting up to leaving the house for school. The musical styles change for each part of the suite, and the tempos shift as well. But somehow, the whole thing hangs together, and takes the album out on a high note.

Just a few final words. As an adult listener, I would prefer fewer kid vocals on the album. And one song, What Kind of Dog Are You? is a sequel to What Kind of Cat Are You?, the title track of an earlier album; the new song strikes me as fun, but unnecessary. But these are minor complaints. My kids love this album. And I want to point out one more standout track, which has quickly become a favorite among the adults; Hollow Bamboo is evidently a traditional song from Bali, rendered here in English, and it is just beautiful.