Old MacDonald: And Other Songs I Hate

I love music. All kinds of music, but mostly I love good music. And I characterize good music as anything that seems to have soul -- a heart -- that has been created in the pursuit of an unattainable, intangible perfection. Music that doesn’t sound like it wants to please everybody, that it wasn’t conceived with a focus-group in mind. I like the classics. I mean, I like classical music. I don’t listen to it all the time but I can appreciate it. I also like classic rock, classic country, but I am also a fan of new bands, some current favorites include, Bloc Party, Interpol, and Scissor Sisters just to name a few. However, U2, Van Morrison, Bruce, AC/DC, and Zep and other heavy hitters from my teenhood take up a big chunk of my iPod space. I also really enjoy singer/songwriters such as Charlie Robison, Joe Ely and Robert Earl Keen. Growing up in the New York Metro area it has been difficult to find “good music,” especially in the radio. I have found myself seeking out new and different means of finding the good stuff. Mostly, this has come from like-minded folks living outside of the NYC area who have put me on to different bands and talents.
One of my hopes for my children is to encourage a sense of musical freedom that will, to quote New York free-form dj Vin Scelsa, “Respect the elders. Embrace the new. And encourage the impractical and improbable without bias.”
One of the things I have done to nurture this seed, I am trying to plant in my children’s conscious is never shy away from them listening to “adult music.” I don’t mean porn music and I have tried to avoid music with profanity. When a song that has a word that should not be heard by little ears, I try to cover it with a very loud cough. The kids must think I am deathly ill sometimes.
Nursery rhymes songs should stay in the nursery. As such, I trying to identify songs in my, rather vast, music collection that kids would enjoy, that aren’t “children’s songs.” It is an ongoing process. And I am familiar with folks like Dan Zanes and Laurie Berkner who seem to write music for children that adults can enjoy without feeling like an elder aunt singing songs for the baby.
I am also a big fan of They Might Be Giants, and have been since college. I always thought they sounded like children’s music, at least cartoon music. And now, the are Disney’s go-to guys for theme music for new shows, they wrote and perform the theme for both The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Reagan’s favorite show) and Higglytown Heros. They have also done two albums (Are the still called albums?) of “children’s music.” Which are in pretty heavy rotation here. I am especially fond of their song “No,” which goes “No mean no. No is always no. No. No. No No. A thousands times no. Finger pointing, eyebrows low, mouth in the shape of a letter O.”
One of the first “adult” songs that Tiernan showed interest in was the Beatles’ classic, “Baby Driver” and that was what told me that I didn’t have to listen to Polly Wally Doddle all the time.
Tiernan’s current favorite is Elton John’s Crocodile Rock thanks to Bob the Builder’s Special Christmas guest starring Elton John. I am I the only person that didn’t know that Crocodile Rock was co-written by Rolly the steamroller, and Rolly is the one who came up with putting Elton in front of John?
He was in the den watching Elton do his thing on Bob DVD, and I start thinking, I wonder if he’d recognize that song if he heard it without the DVD. So I go into the kitchen, and put Crocodile Rock on. Soon Reagan and I are “hoppin’ and boppin’ to the Crocodile Rock” I have EJ turned way up so that the neighbors can hear it and I am singing to Reagan. Tiernan comes out to the kitchen looks at me and says, “Daddy, Daddy. Turn that down. I can’t hear Rolly and Elton John.”
I don’t think he recognized the song. But then one day I put it on in the car, and the light bulb went on. Now, every time he gets in the car, he wants to here the “La la la laaaa” song. At least he’s stopped asking to hear “Life is a Highway” and “Real Gone” from the Cars soundtrack. He listens to those songs and makes engine revving noises at the same time the race cars rev the in the movie. Ya think he’s seen it a few too many times?

A short list of songs that seem to get Tiernan and Reagan rockin’ include:
Elton John – Crocodile Rock
The Beatles – Baby Driver
The Beatles – Obla Dee, Obla Da
Grateful Dead – Franklins Tower
Ray Charles – I Got a Woman
The Killers – Mr. Brightside
Cheryl Crow – Real Gone (Cars Soundtrack)
Rascal Flatts – Life is a Highway (Cars Soundtrack)
Old Crow Medicine Show – Wagonwheel
U2 – Vertigo
Arctic Monkeys – Fake Tales of San Francisco
Gnarls Barkley – Smiley Faces

Anybody that has any suggestions for other kid friendly non-children tunes let me know.