The Kid's Project = Record a song for children.
“This project was deceptively difficult. It seemed like a simple task: write a kids tune. As an elementary music teacher I’ve placed my head in the melodic vice of children’s songs 182 days out of every year for the last 17 years and repeatedly squeezed. I assumed I could toss off 40 or 50 children’s songs late some afternoon and call it quits, but I was (and still am) an idiot. Writing good kid’s tunes is hard.
I wanted to create something that I wanted to listen to as well as something kids would like. In the back of my mind I had an imaginary 5 year old in a Wiggles concert shirt hugging a plush Elmo. I couldn’t stomach singing anything that kid wanted to hear. Then it occurred to me that I had 2 flesh and blood kids of my own and what they listened to was Weird Al, They Might Be Giants and Guided by Voices. In short, they listened to what I listen to.
So, what types of songs do kids really like? I wish I’d asked that question before I started recording this project, but I didn’t. I asked it the week the songs were due. So, what type of songs do they like? According to them they like rock. Of the roughly 900 kids I asked (remember I’m a music teacher) only 1 in 20 named something other than a rock song. Most of their favorites were swiped from mom or dad’s iPods (We Will Rock You, Don’t Stand So Close to Me), or were picked up from older siblings (Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga) or head-banging uncles (Anything by Ozzy, Led-Zep, Metallica) or lifted from Singstar and Rockband (Eye of the Tiger, anything by the Beatles). With the recent death of the King of Pop, there was a rash of Michael Jackson songs (everybody respects the dead).
Some answers were quirky like the Theme From Beverly Hills Cop, holiday favorites like Dominic the Donkey and Frosty the Snowman, and theme songs from Sponge Bob and Johnny Test. Even in first grade, only 5% of kids named bonafide kids songs. (Way to go Muffin Man, win one for the team.)
I see a clear correlation between Bad Romance and the old camp favorite Madalina Catalina; Taylor Swift’s silly, G-rated, romantic story line in You Belong With Me and Pete Seeger’s silly, G-rated, monster story Abiyoyo… What do all these songs have in common? They are nearly unanimously repetitive with short earworm melodies. No minor keys or weird time signatures.
So what does that all mean to us? Was it useless to record a collection of kids’ songs for a generation of kids who hate Barney as much as we do? No. It means there is a giant void of decent music written specifically for children after they have out grown Raffi and Lauie Birkner and before they hit puberty.
We helped fill that void. Our collections, like the songs my kids listed as their favorites, is a mixture of old chestnuts and quirky oddities. We created predominantly upbeat, happy-sounding, rock tunes written with repetitive earworm melodies. I can’t really reach far enough to pat you all on the backs, but I would if I could. Well done.”
Project Manager,
Stephen Romone Lewis
2/22/2010
I wanted to create something that I wanted to listen to as well as something kids would like. In the back of my mind I had an imaginary 5 year old in a Wiggles concert shirt hugging a plush Elmo. I couldn’t stomach singing anything that kid wanted to hear. Then it occurred to me that I had 2 flesh and blood kids of my own and what they listened to was Weird Al, They Might Be Giants and Guided by Voices. In short, they listened to what I listen to.
So, what types of songs do kids really like? I wish I’d asked that question before I started recording this project, but I didn’t. I asked it the week the songs were due. So, what type of songs do they like? According to them they like rock. Of the roughly 900 kids I asked (remember I’m a music teacher) only 1 in 20 named something other than a rock song. Most of their favorites were swiped from mom or dad’s iPods (We Will Rock You, Don’t Stand So Close to Me), or were picked up from older siblings (Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga) or head-banging uncles (Anything by Ozzy, Led-Zep, Metallica) or lifted from Singstar and Rockband (Eye of the Tiger, anything by the Beatles). With the recent death of the King of Pop, there was a rash of Michael Jackson songs (everybody respects the dead).
Some answers were quirky like the Theme From Beverly Hills Cop, holiday favorites like Dominic the Donkey and Frosty the Snowman, and theme songs from Sponge Bob and Johnny Test. Even in first grade, only 5% of kids named bonafide kids songs. (Way to go Muffin Man, win one for the team.)
I see a clear correlation between Bad Romance and the old camp favorite Madalina Catalina; Taylor Swift’s silly, G-rated, romantic story line in You Belong With Me and Pete Seeger’s silly, G-rated, monster story Abiyoyo… What do all these songs have in common? They are nearly unanimously repetitive with short earworm melodies. No minor keys or weird time signatures.
So what does that all mean to us? Was it useless to record a collection of kids’ songs for a generation of kids who hate Barney as much as we do? No. It means there is a giant void of decent music written specifically for children after they have out grown Raffi and Lauie Birkner and before they hit puberty.
We helped fill that void. Our collections, like the songs my kids listed as their favorites, is a mixture of old chestnuts and quirky oddities. We created predominantly upbeat, happy-sounding, rock tunes written with repetitive earworm melodies. I can’t really reach far enough to pat you all on the backs, but I would if I could. Well done.”
Project Manager,
Stephen Romone Lewis
2/22/2010
Nap Time
A collection of quiet time favorites by the Society for the Advancement of Hearing Loss. |
Lunch Time
A delicious high fiber collection of ditties, ballads and vitamin enriched oddities. Kids will eat Lunch Time and beg for more, and best yet, it's good for them*! |
If I Only Had a Brain
Old Joe Clark All the Pretty Little Horses Moonflower Chim Chim Cher-ee Wildwood Flowers Precious Flower You’ve Got a Friend in Me Keep Your Skillet Greasy What a Wonderful World Blue Skies Fluffy |
Rock’n Ride Pony
Banana Peel I Get to Lick the Spoon World on a String Nocturnal My Bike The Edge of Thirteen The Ballad of the Bubblegum Kid Bongo Boy I Hit My Head Sneezy Suzy Nursery Rhyme Jam Sesame Street Theme Gopher Guts Banjo Billy Mary Had a Little Lamb Wake Me Up The President Big Ball of Cheese Sweet Zoo Bonus Track! Mahna Mahna |