The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #2667   Message #167927
Posted By: Pelrad
25-Jan-00 - 12:47 AM
Thread Name: Songs to sing with Children
Subject: RE: Songs to sing with Children
I hear Hal Palmer does good kids' songs (Can Cockatoos Count By Twos? etc); I have not actually heard any of his stuff, but I think the song titles are interesting... Personally, I cannot stand Raffi; to me he does to folk music what Disney does to good stories. Bleah.

David Jones has a cassette out which has plenty of fun songs; unfortunately I don't think the tape is widely distributed. It includes When Father Papered the Parlor, Henry the Eighth, The Body In The Bag, Logdrivers' Waltz, All Right Said Fred, and other music-hall style songs. The chorus to When Father Papered the Parlor (just to give you an idea) goes:
When father papered the parlor you couldn't see Pa for paste
Dabbing it here, dabbing it there, paste and paper everywhere
Mother was stuck to the ceiling, the children were stuck to the floor
I never knew a bloomin' family so stuck up before!


Bill Harley has some real gems on his albums, and he seems to specialize in the 7-10 age group. You're In Trouble, Monsters In The Closet, There's a Pea On My Plate and dozens of other songs all from the kid's perspective and not the least condescending.

My brothers and I delighted in the song Our House around that age. I don't remember who wrote or recorded it; we learned it at a live performance from Bill Staines. It's the one where various people come to the house and the family disposes of them in creative ways. I think it's in the database here at Mudcat.

Malcolm Dalglish has some interesting stuff. His newer work is not really sing-along material, but some of his earlier pieces are fun to sing. Little Potato is really cool.

Woody Guthrie is a big hit around our house. My toddler has a vocabulary of 5 words, three of which are "hey pretty baby," thanks to that catchy Guthrie song (Hey hey pretty baby, who's gonna be my pretty little baby?)

Some of their material is very dated, but RosenShontz is also a great source of songs. My son loves the "Life is over and under and up and down" song...Sorry, it's very late at night and this is probably not coherent. If anyone wants particulars, let me know.