It's that time of year again -- the male mallards in the pond on my street have been passionately quacking their views re: why this year's ducklings should inherit THEIR earlobes. (You don't think ducks have earlobes? You clearly don't have ducks living on your street.)
I trust that one day soon a row of paddling puffballs will appear on the water, and when they do, I shall gift their parents with a new-baby mix CD. (You don't think ducks have CD players? Geez, ya snobby urbanite -- you probably think they don't have indoor plumbing or electricity, either!)
Several years ago I sifted my music collection for baby/childhood/parenthood songs to make a mix for a friend, and since then have been forcing these songs upon friends and family as two by two they go off to try their hands at little-person wrangling. (I'm sure they'd prefer a Dr. Spock book or help with late-night feedings, but this is much more fun.)
If you have other songs for my collection please let me know. I'm mostly after positive songs, though if they're not strictly rosy on the topic of parenthood, beautiful or charming will serve as well. Eastery-springy-metaphory also works.
A Little Bit (At the Beginning) -- Joe Raposo with Patti LaBelle and the Abyssinian Baptist Choir
All the Pretty Horses -- Hem
All We Ever Look For -- Kate Bush
All We Ever Look For -- Kate Bush
Annabelle -- Gillian Welch
Babies If I Didn't Have You -- Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Back Home Again -- Low
Be Careful There's a Baby in the House -- Loudon Wainwright III
Beautiful -- Paul Simon
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)* -- John Lennon
Bertie -- Kate Bush
Bertie -- Kate Bush
Birth-day (Love Made Real) -- Suzanne Vega
Birthday -- Beatles
Born at the Right Time -- Paul Simon
Born, Never Asked -- Laurie Anderson
The Castle of Dromore -- Cherish the Ladies
Cheerios on the Floor -- Black Eyed Snakes
Cherry Tree Carol -- Emmylou Harris
Child Among the Weeds -- Eliza Carthy
Child of Mine -- Carole King
Circle Game -- Joni Mitchell
Come Little Children -- Donny Hathaway
Creatures of Love -- Talking Heads
Cry Baby Cry -- Beatles
Dance Me to the End of Love -- Leonard Cohen
Danny's Song -- Kenny Loggins
Diamond Day -- Vashti Bunyan
Don't Drop the Baby -- Low
Father and Daughter -- Paul Simon
First Born -- Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Freedom Hangs Like Heaven -- Iron and Wine
Golden Slumbers -- Beatles
Goodnight -- Beatles
Growing Up -- Peter Gabriel
Happy Birthday -- Innocence Mission
Happy Birthday -- Innocence Mission
Heirloom -- Bjork
Here Before -- Vashti Bunyan
Hey Girl -- Donny Hathaway
Holly Up on Poppy -- XTC
How Beautiful Could a Being Be? -- Caetano & Moreno Veloso
...I Love -- Low
I Need a Nap -- Kate Winslet & Weird Al Yankovic
I Wish -- Stevie Wonder
Isn't She Lovely -- Stevie Wonder
Kiss of Life -- Peter Gabriel
Kooks -- David Bowie
Lately -- Vashti Bunyan
Little Green -- Joni Mitchell
Little Things -- Joe Raposo
Lord, Blow the Moon Out Please -- Hem
Love That Boy -- Innocence Mission
Love That Boy -- Innocence Mission
Loves Me Like a Rock -- Paul Simon
Memo to My Son -- Randy Newman
Mother and Child Reunion -- Paul Simon
Mother and Son -- Babe Soundtrack
Mother Stands for Comfort -- Kate Bush
My Darling -- Wilco
My First Child** -- Nil Lara
New Mama -- Neil Young
New Star in the Sky -- Air
Ob la di Ob la da -- Beatles
The Obvious Child -- Paul Simon
Orphan Girl -- Gillian Welch
Ovary Z's -- Geggy Tah
P. Sluff -- Geggy Tah
Pony Boy -- Bruce Springsteen
Precious -- Annie Lennox
Reaching Out -- Kate Bush
Room for the Life -- Kate Bush
Season Cycle -- XTC
Skip Rope Song -- Kate and Anna McGarrigle, et al.
St. Judy's Comet -- Paul Simon
Stay Up Late -- Talking Heads
Summertime -- Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald
Sun, Son (Shining on the Water) -- Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Surfer Girl -- Low
Sweet and Low -- Bette Midler
The Sweetest Gift -- Sade
That Was Your Mother -- Paul Simon
Things We've Handed Down** -- Marc Cohn
This Woman's Work -- Kate Bush
This Woman's Work -- Kate Bush
Then She Appeared -- XTC
To Zion -- Lauren Hill
Upward over the Mountain -- Iron and Wine
Valentine's Day -- Hem
Waters of March -- Jobim & Elis Regina or Marissa Monte & David Byrne or Basia or Anya Marina or....
Wayward -- Vashti Bunyan
Welcome into the World -- Geggy Tah
What a Wonderful World -- Louis Armstrong
When a Man Needs a Woman -- Beach Boys
When Mac Was Swimming -- Innocence Mission
When I Called Upon Your Seed -- Low
Wiggle Wiggle -- Bob Dylan
Wonderful / Song for Children / Child Is the Father of the Man / Surf's Up -- Brian Wilson
Ye Yo -- Erykah Badu
* Suggested by Sharon.
** Suggested by some dude in a Yahoo Group.
Take the Quiz here!
11 comments:
Oooh, ooh, I want one! Does that make me sound greedy?
By the way, Sofia likes to bop to "Don't Worry Be Happy"
That fabled, not-physically-possible mobile I was trying to make for Sofia was going to come with a baby CD :) I'll send the music now, and figure out Sofia's gift later!
BTW, she has great taste in music. You know that amazing clown I was telling you about at dinner? Bill Irwin? He's in the music video of "Don't Worry Be Happy," along with McFerrin and Robin Williams -- if I can find my dad's Bobby McFerrin DVD, I'll send a copy of that as well....
You seem psychologically healthy to me, so I presume you're mistaken about the effects on you of making baby mix CD's.
It's nice to hear from you again. I was getting weary of looking at Rick's face.
(Rick might be more healthy, psychologically, than I, but his face isn't as pretty as mine.)
Dad -- Given your admission of a possibly Abby-Normal brain, I am forced to take the clean bill of health you gave me with a grain of salt. But who wants to be 100% mentally sound, right? Reality is way overrated. And yes, you are much more attractive than Rick Steves, and your voice isn't grating like his. Daniel Day-Lewis, on the other hand, has you beat in almost every category.
Marie...you're cool and NOT a spinster. Nerd, maybe. Spinster, nay. The end.
I base my assessment on the fact that spinsters do not regularly include LOW among their baby CD mixes. That is, if I polled any actual real spinsters, I guess that we would find that.
Ninny -- I use the word spinster mostly joshingly, though I thank you for the words of encouragement as I have just this week decided it might be time to start giving my eggs away to loving homes/wombs. However, I'm worried that the spinstertudeness manifest in my choice of Kenny Loggins cannot be completely neutralized by Low. Here's hoping.
I can't access hotmail or facebook at work but wanted to say thanks! Did you by chance send it yet? I have a new address. If you have, don't worry, I have mail forwarding and will let you know when it arrives. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner! I didn't realize your blog post was for Sofia's sake!
I'm trying to track down two more CDs floating around my house that have songs on them that I need -- then I'll get it sent off ASAP. This wouldn't be a problem if I were more organized :)
Post a Comment