It's time to complete the Wheeled Transportation Trilogy. Yes, after train songs and car/bike/miscellaneous songs, it's time for airplane songs. (OK, so airplanes typically don't go very far on wheels.)
This list joins the many different lists in my "Songs For..." category. Maybe one day I'll get around to a seafaring list, but that list seems like it'd be so broad -- virtually its own genre -- that I may not tackle that one.
As always, additional suggestions welcomed in the comments...
Music To Vote By
Arizona has early balloting, but even though I had my mail-in ballot, I took it to the polls this morning. I also took my kids. Given the historical nature of the election, no matter who wins (especially if you're an Arizona resident), I wanted Miss Mary Mack and Little Boy Blue to say they went to the polls on Election Day 2008. (Oddly enough, there were hardly any Obama or McCain signs at the polling place, so the kids got their photos taken in front of assorted signs for the Legislature, school board, and propositions.) They'll thank me when they're older, they will.
Even though you don't get a day off, Election Day is a holiday to me. A party for democracy, how aweome is that?
My sense is that my (United States) readership probably will exhibit a near 100% turnout this year, but if you need some more kids music to get you in the proper frame of mind to vote (or to register for the next election), Brady Rymer has posted "My United States," a bluesy roots-rocker that, well, lists the United States. Check out the rhyme scheme (and his take on "Mississippi") and listen to or download the track here.
Songs For Halloween (Updated Again)
I'm not a huge Halloween fan, but lots of other people are. So I'm once again updating last year's list. At least this year I'm doing this the day before Halloween.
If you have more suggestions, leave 'em in the comments...
First, 2 new albums appropriate for the season. A bit too late too order in time for this year, but definitely worth getting if you collect Halloween albums like some people collect Christmas albums...
-- Eban Schletter's Witching Hour is a full hour of Halloween-themed music, some pretty hysterical ("Devil Doll," featuring Paul F Tompkins, or the droll "Some Things To Know About Monsters," featuring Jill Sobule), some melancholy ("Forever Lurking," featuring Grant Lee Phillips), and some even a little creepy ("Incantation"). (The 9-minute-long "Headless Hitchhiker of Highway 13," featuring comedian Dave Foley, is a story that didn't quite meet my outrageously high expectations for something featuring Foley.) It's not really a kids' record per se, but there's nothing on here that a 7- or 8-year-old with their head on straight wouldn't be too freaked out by. Listen to selected songs here.
-- Wee Hairy Beasties' Creepy Lullabies, a double 7" single, features Halloween-ish, monstery songs that are appropriate for all but the most timid (and youngest) of kids. The monsters here are mostly humorous, with just as many problems (if not more so) than the "normal" among us. I mean, who can be churlish about the instant classic "Monster's Disco," which features lyrical nuggets such as "The boogiemen / Sang 'Boogie Nights'?" As noted here before, you can stream essentially the whole thing at the Beasties' Myspace page. (Buy it digitally here.)
Songs With Wheels (Car Songs, Truck Songs, Bike Songs, You Get The Idea)
I participated today in Little Boy Blue's classroom. It was the tail-end of two weeks of transportation-themed activities, where the preschool brings in tons of different vehicles for the kids to explore. Today was a Jeep. Yesterday, sadly (for me), was the ice cream truck.
So, anyway, I gave you a list of train songs last week. Here, then, are more songs about getting around, this time focusing on cars, trucks, bikes, and a whole bunch of other ways of getting around by wheel.
(And, as always, your favorites that I've missed are welcome in the comments.)
Train Songs (Updated)
It's "Transportation Week" at Little Boy Blue's preschool, so I decided to put together a CD of transportation-related kids music to be played in his class.
Man, was that hard work.
I don't have anywhere near all my kids' CDs loaded on my hard drive, and even then, I had waaaay more good music than I could fit on a CD. (And, really, 2 CDs would've been overkill.)
So I've decided to update my list of train songs for kids.
If you've got more (and I know there are, there was only so much I could do), list 'em in the comments.
Songs For Pirates
In honor of International Talk Like A Pirate Day, here are some songs for pirates from the kids music tradition, which you can listen to while pondering how pirates say "Arrrrgggghhhh, mateys" in non-English langauges.
First off, the obvious:
-- All albums by >Captain Bogg & Salty (search on 'em here to find reviews -- some are more appropriate only for slightly older kids).
-- Sam's Rot'n Pot'n Pan Band's self-titled debut, which isn't entirely piratical, but fun nonetheless.
-- Mike Mennard's Pirates... Do the Darnedest Things, which definitely is on the jokier side of things.
-- Sea Music from Dan Zanes isn't really pirate songs, but definitely puts you in a seafaring mood. (And Dan Zanes does a pretty good version of "Drunken Sailor" on one of the Old Town School disks.)
And now songs:
-- "Blackbeard, Bluebeard, and Redbeard," Eric Herman
-- "Drunken Sailor," many sources, including a rambunctious version from Astrograss and a spoof version ("What Can You Do With a Baby Brother?") from Ralph's World.
-- "I'm A Pirate," Uncle Rock
-- "A Pirate's Song," Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
-- "Pirates," Milkshake
-- "Pirate Ship," traditional -- Little Miss Ann does a nice version
-- "Pirate Girls Nine," They Might Be Giants
-- "The Ballad of Dirty Joe," Bill Harley
I have little doubt I'm overlooking some... care to help?
