I've been mulling over a couple posts on how kids music has infiltrated my "regular" world. To begin, let's take a look at my iPod.
It's an iPod Shuffle, actually, the first generation, with -- OMG! -- a full 1 GB of storage, enough for maybe 300 songs if you like blissful (and short) pop songs for your 5:30 AM jogging or workout pleasure. At the moment iTunes says I have 313 songs on my "Workout" playlist, or about 1.03 GB. In assembling my playlist, I need to be cognizant of the fact that my wife will sometimes use my Shuffle. The upshot of this is that the playlist is devoid of Nirvana (wife: not really a Nirvana fan) and a lot of somewhat harder-edged tunes I might otherwise put on the playlist.
My playlist is, aside from that caveat and the absence of workout-unfriendly string quartets and Miles Davis, fairly representative of my overall collection -- 21 TMBG songs, 12 U2 songs, 11 Spoon tracks, 10 from R.E.M., and so on.
There are also in those 313 songs a total of 31 songs -- almost exactly 10% -- I'd classify as "kids music" (iTunes' categorization isn't the best -- it puts some Elizabeth Mitchell stuff in "Alternative & Punk," which is true, but I think you get my point). Frankly, if I were more assiduous about transferring my kids' music to iTunes, I'd probably have more songs here, but I'm happy with that list. Save for a couple tracks (e.g., Ben Folds on "Red Is Blue"), they're totally upbeat and put a grin on my face.
Which, when you're cruising on that fifth or sixth mile, is a nice bump. The list is after the jump. And feel free to suggest any other workout-friendly kids music tracks in the comments.
"Great Big World" - Anne Hathaway, Hoodwinked Soundtrack
"The Other Day I Met A Bear" - Barenaked Ladies, For The Kids Three
"Red Is Blue" - Ben Folds, Hoodwinked Soundtrack
"Mahna Mahna" - Cake, For The Kids
"Rise And Shine" - Central Services, Presents... The Board Of Education
"The Lonely Tomato" - Central Services, Presents... The Board Of Education
"The Season Song" - Courtney Kaiser & Benjamin Cartel, Park Slope Parents: The Album (Vol. 1)
"Pay Me My Money Down" - Dan Zanes, Night Time!
"Let's Shake" - Dan Zanes & Friends, Catch That Train!
"While The Music Is Playing" - Dan Zanes & Friends, Catch That Train!
"Give It Away" - Dog On Fleas, When I Get Little
"Green Grass Of Summer" - Dog On Fleas, When I Get Little
"What Goes On" - Elizabeth Mitchell, You Are My Little Bird
"Jubilee" - Elizabeth Mitchell, You Are My Sunshine
"Grizzly Jive" - Georgie James, Play Compilation
"Educated Kid" - The Hipwaders, Educated Kid
"The 3 R's" - Jack Johnson, Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies For The Film Curious George
"Bicycle" - The Jellydots, Hey You Kids!
"Three Is A Magic Number" - The Jellydots, Hey You Kids!
"Old Dan Tucker" - Johnny Bregar, Hootenanny
"Our Imaginary Rhino" - Justin Roberts, Meltdown!
"Cartwheels & Somersaults" - Justin Roberts, Meltdown!
"Crayola Doesn't Make a Color For Your Eyes" - Kristin Andreassen
"Tricycle" - Lunch Money, Silly Reflection
"Fee Fi Fo Fum" - Ralph Covert, The Amazing Adventures Of Kid Astro
"I'll Never Fear Ghosts Again" - Soccer Team, Play Compilation
"Pizza And Chocolate Milk" - The Terrible Twos, If You Ever See An Owl...
"Clap Your Hands" - They Might Be Giants, Here Come The ABCs
"Four of Two" - They Might Be Giants, No!
"Bounce" - Todd Collins, Hoodwinked Soundtrack
"Critters Have Feelings" - Todd Edwards, Hoodwinked Soundtrack
