Ask Alternadad
Buried in the comments section of a previous post was this:
Neal, I wanted your opinion. I perform children's music at festivals and parties - mostly Pete Seeger stuff, and yes, some Dan Zanes. I'm always looking for new material. How about a list of Neal-approved songs I can play to the 3-5 year olds on acoustic. Any other readers want to add any as well?
Eric
Well, Eric:
I'll recommend a couple of favorites from our house: Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog and You Can't Roller-Skate In A Buffalo Herd. In a previous post, a reader suggested Blackbird. The rest, I'll leave up to my vast readership. Suggest away, denizens of Alternadadland!
Comments
My kid likes "Free Bird" and has been known to request it at concerts. She also likes Zappa's "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow."
Posted by: Chumly | February 6, 2007 4:02 AM
"Red Sweater" from The Fury of The Aquabats by The Aquabats
"Dickie Built a Half-Pipe" from Rusty Never Sleeps by The Ziggens
Posted by: Steve | February 6, 2007 8:43 AM
My kid loves the following:
"Do You Realize" and "The Spiderbite Song" by the Flaming Lips
"Ron Jeremy" by Young People
He gets them every night at bedtime - actually, yesterday he sang them to me as I fell asleep for a nap.
Posted by: Korum | February 6, 2007 3:58 PM
There are a bunch of Modern Lovers songs that kids would love. Ice Cream Man, Abominable Snowman in the Market, Little Dinosaur, Here Come the Martian Martians, etc.
Posted by: Matthew Tobey | February 6, 2007 5:50 PM
"Lookin' Out My Back Door" by Credence, "Superman" by REM/The Clique, "Birdhouse in Your Soul" by TMBG, "Message in a Bottle" by the Police.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis | February 6, 2007 7:03 PM
We did a post on this a while ago on BabyRoadies (click Here:)
Though I guess if you're trying to actually perform them you may need to hire Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem...
Posted by: Zac | February 6, 2007 7:34 PM
they're singing the Australian ditty "Kookaburra" in my kid's music class, and I can't get the damned song out of my head. "kookaburra sings in the old gum tree, blah blah blah." It's a very catchy round. Also it seems to hypnotize the kid, so I can get him to do almost anything (i.e., brush his teeth) while singing it.
Posted by: Julia | February 6, 2007 8:27 PM
"Only You" by NRBQ (used by PBS as a backdrop to their PBS Kids montage). Awesome opportunity for a toy piano solo.
Posted by: Foz | February 7, 2007 6:45 AM
"I Am the Walrus". It's the perfect nonsense song, plus all those neat "sound effects" (Goo goo ga joob, hooHoohoo HeeheeHee HaHaHA). Who cares if the kids don't get any of the references (pornographic priestess singing Hare Krishna?)... it's Lewis Carroll for Generation X and our children.
Posted by: Mark Nielsen | February 7, 2007 7:39 AM
Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm going to sort through them and see what I can learn :)
-Eric
Posted by: Eric | February 7, 2007 8:16 AM
My 2 1/2 yr-old girl, much to my shaggrin, loves Anthrax. It is through her that my appreciation of them grew. I have the hubby to thank for this. Her first lullaby was "Mercedes Benz" of the Janis Joplin persuasion. I couldn't remember any of the "real" ones so this was my fav. Bob Marley - 3 little birds.
Jack Johnson, Beatles.
Posted by: jane | February 7, 2007 9:53 AM
"I Walked With a Zombie" is still #1 at our house, months after Halloween. Used to be "Pour Me Another Cup of Coffee", but the truckin' songs are dropping off the charts...
Posted by: kat | February 8, 2007 9:19 AM
"Nelly the Elephant" by Toy Dolls is a fun song for kids,
or, to give the kid a little edge:
"American Waste" by Black Flag
anything by Cannibal Corpse
"South of Heaven" by Slayer
"I Knocked Out Dan Zanes' Teeth" by Rollins Band
Posted by: punkerdad | February 8, 2007 10:01 AM
"Nelly the Elephant" by Toy Dolls is a fun song for kids,
or, to give the kid a little edge:
"American Waste" by Black Flag
anything by Cannibal Corpse
"South of Heaven" by Slayer
"I Knocked Out Dan Zanes' Teeth" by Rollins Band
Posted by: punkerdad | February 8, 2007 10:02 AM
"Nelly the Elephant" by Toy Dolls
"American Waste" by Black Flag
"Recognize a Playa" by Slim Thug
"Hell Awaits" by Slayer or
pretty much anything by Cannibal Corpse
Posted by: punkerdad | February 8, 2007 10:06 AM
How about Terry Allen's "Amarillo Highway"? Or Guy Clark's "The Cape"? There's a lot of better folk/country stuff out there beyond Johnny Cash.
Posted by: Texarican | February 8, 2007 10:32 AM
My friend Anne swears by all of Led Zeppelin IV. And she home schools her kid. See?
Posted by: Larry Smith | February 8, 2007 12:52 PM
I've been singing Taj Mahal's "Fishin' Blues" to Sam lately, he loves it - I can't sing though.
I'd also recommend "Delaney's Donkey" by Val Donnican. Of course I'm a Delaney which explains that.
I also made a few mix CDs for Sam to sleep too. Mainly Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Sinead O'Conner, Mary Black, Dick Gaughan.
We save the Ramones and Sabbath for when he's awake and rockin' out.
Cheers
Dave
Posted by: Dave Delaney: Two Boobs and a Baby+ | February 10, 2007 7:09 PM
My daughter's #1 freak out tune is Harry Belafonte's "Jump in the Line."
Posted by: PhillyD | February 11, 2007 12:21 PM
Justin Roberts and lately a lot of Pete Seeger.
Posted by: rwc | February 12, 2007 3:12 PM
As a kid we would always sing Jimmy Buffet songs at the top of our lungs. Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road is a good one.
Posted by: Ashley | February 14, 2007 10:03 AM
Just so we're all on the same page, "Dead Skunk" was by Loudon Wainwright III, not Jimmy Buffet.
I dunno if that was what was being implied, but I felt it was important to get that out there.
Posted by: Zac | February 16, 2007 1:25 PM
I am yet to be a father (my wife is due in June) and have yet to test this song on any kid, but I'll be damned if any kid doesn't start bopping around the living room to "Hoodoo Voodoo" by Billy Bragg and Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue.
Posted by: Sully | February 20, 2007 5:21 AM