Children’s Songs That Are Actually Good

A week or two ago I received an e-mail from my good friend Swan Dancin’.  He was looking for some kid’s songs because he was about to become a father himself, but he had some very specific requirements.  The first, of course, was that they are songs that kids will like.  There’s no point in singing songs to your child if your child will hate them.  The second requirement was that the songs be excellent in and of themselves.  This means Barney is out, as well as a lot of Elmo.  No, these had to be songs that even adults would find some musical merit in.  The last requirement was that they be reasonably easy to sing and play.  As much as kids dig “Flight of the Bumblebee,” that’s not what we’re looking for here.

Swan gave me his list of what he had already thought of, which gave me a good idea of the direction in which he wanted to head, and I sent him back some of my own ideas as well.  Since then I have had even more excellent ideas to share, and I figured that maybe all of you parents out there had some ideas as well.  Please feel free to share in the comments, so we can give Swan a ton of music to learn over the next several months (and years).

Swan’s List
This Land is Your Land
Rainbow Connection
Puff the Magic Dragon
If I Had a Hammer
Yellow Submarine
I Got You Babe
If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out
Rock Around the Clock
Shake Rattle & Roll

So what we have here is where I would have gone anyway.  Folk songs, classic early rock and roll, and obviously The Muppets.  Here is what I sent back to Swan:

My List
The Muppets – Rainbow Connection is perfect, I agreed with him, and it would be a crime to not look into old episodes of The Muppet Show for inspiration here.  The show is a perfect example of, at the very least, songs that fit the first two requirements.  They filled the program with excellent songs that would appeal to kids, such as “Lullaby of Broadway,” “The Banana Boat Song,” “Crocodile Rock,” and “Happy Days are Here Again,” as well as originals like “Bein’ Green.”  You can always count on The Muppets to be appealing to both adults and children.

More Beatles – “Yellow Submarine” is a perfect choice, but so is “Octopus’ Garden,” “Drive My Car,” and “Blackbird.”  Maybe stay away from “Revolution #9” for a while though…

More Oldies – Ah, the golden era of Rock ‘n’ Roll, when everything was more innocent, or at least could pass as innocent when played for children.  Songs that kids love from that age gone by are things like “Splish Splash,” “Rockin’ Robin” and “Blue Moon.”

Tumblebee, by Laura Viers – One of my other friends, Never Troublin’, gave us this excellent album of classic folk tunes for children.  The songs are easy to play, fun to sing, and are good for grown-ups as well.  She plays familiar favorites like “Jamaican Farewell” and “All the Pretty Little Horses,” as well as some old stuff I had never heard before that I’m glad to have found, such as “Jack Can I Ride,” and “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O,” which I know a different version of simply called “Froggy Went a Courtin'” but hers is a lot more exciting!

So that’s what I told him, but the more I think about it, the more songs I think of.  Here’s a quick list of a few more that I’ve rememered:

My New List
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Candy Man
At the Hop
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Here Comes the Sun
With A Little Help From My Friends
Fun Fun Fun
Surfin’ Safari (I know Surfin’ USA is better, but it is also a lot harder!)
Hippopotamus Rock (and many other things by Rosenshontz)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Bare Necessities
Everybody Wants to Be a Cat
Shenandoah
Michael Row the Boat Ashore

And lots more of course!  I’m going to keep thinking, but let me know which ones I’ve missed, or which ones are your favorites, either from having kids, or from being a kid yourself!  So much great music, so little time!