Songs For Groundhog Day

A last-minute collection of songs for Groundhog Day, a short-but-sweet list:

"I Hog the Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns / Steven Drozd: view the YouTube video for this awesome song here
"Oh Groundhog" - Elizabeth Mitchell / Lisa Loeb: Off their Catch the Moon album, this is a pleasant and mellow little ditty
"How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck?" - Danny Adlerman and Friends: It's not really a groundhog song, but this is a fun little ditty off their One Size Fits All disk that at least mentions groundhogs...

Readers Who Need Readers: Upbeat Passover Music

Readers. Readers who need... readers.

Are the luckiest readers... in the world.

Got a request from a reader as follows:

I'm looking for some upbeat Passover Song and Dance Music for children between the ages of 6- 12. Something we can beat tambourines too and for the most part has English lyrics but a Hebrew tone.

I don't think the Why Not Sea Monsters? discs are quite what this reader is looking for, and other than that I don't have any good ideas.

But I'm sure you do. E-mail me or just go ahead and share them in the comments. Thanks.

Songs For Adoption

I don't share many details about my life here. I never envisioned this as a "dadblog" -- there are way too many acute observers of either gender of parenting and family life on and off the Internet for me to feel like I could add anything significant to the conversation.

Having said that, at the risk of turning this into a Very Special Episode of Zooglobble, I think this post deserves a bit of an introduction.

On November 18, 2006 families across the United States will celebrate National Adoption Day.

For the first time, our family will be among those celebrating.

Although the day is specifically designed to raise awareness about adopting children from foster care, the day and month -- November is National Adoption Month -- are used to celebrate adoptions of all types.

Our family has two children -- one is a "bio" (short for "biological") child of ours, as the phrase goes in the adoption community, while the other came into our family via adoption. Both children are a blessing to us. Because we've experienced both ways of adding a child to our family, the notion of an "adoption" song is a little odd to me. I view it as a method, one with serious implications to be sure, but still a means to an end. But there are tons of songs about the birth of a child -- why shouldn't there be a few songs about the adoption journey?

Which brings up the point that everybody's adoption journey is a little bit different. A song that may perfectly capture the feelings of one family's adoption journey may be completely alien to another family. And, hey, that goes for childbirth, too.

Here, then, is a short list, which I've generally tried to restrict to very adoption-specific songs. I've cribbed from a few sources. If you're looking for more songs, try here or there. Many of the songs were certainly not written with adoption in mind and could just as easily be sung to a lover, but that's the beauty of music, isn't it? You never know what songs people will find strength in. I've also left off songs that are more about giving a child up for adoption. That's really for older kids, not the audience I'm aiming for here.

If you've got more, leave 'em in the comments.

"Happy Adoption Day," by John McCutheon (off his Family Garden CD or his Supper's on the Table... best-of)
"From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours," by Michael McLean
"The Red Thread," by Lucy Kaplansky, off the album of this same name
"Cartwheels and Somersaults," by Justin Roberts, off Meltdown! -- OK, this isn't really about adoption, but it is all about the joy of adding another child to a family and it spoke to our family's situation wonderfully.

Songs For Halloween

Halloween does not rank high on my list of holidays I enjoy, which probably goes a long way toward explain why I'm half-heartedly putting this list together the night before Halloween. Perhaps next year I'll get an earlier start.

(Devon has a lot more suggestions, including this list of songs.)

First, 3 CDs that might be appropriate (if a little late to order) for the season:
-- Sue Schnitzer's Boo, Cackle, Trick or Treat is a fairly tame (read: appropriate for preschoolers) celebration of the holiday that matches Schnitzer's folk-pop songs (and some traditional songs) with Halloween themes. If Halloween is more about the candy in your household than the scary, this is for you. (The album is also available on iTunes.)
-- Katherine Dines' Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Spooky! is for older kids (ages 6 and up). It's a little scarier, though many of the songs and stories (they're about evenly split) have a purpose -- overcoming fears. The song arrangements are a little more electronic, but it's still most folk/pop. (This album is available on iTunes as well, though it'll come without the excellent liner notes, which include all the lyrics and stories, plus other stuff.)
-- Magic Maestro Music's The Sorcerer's Apprentice is for kids of all ages. It plays Paul Dukas' famous "Sorcerer's Apprentice" (you know, Mickey and the nightmare of the ever-multiplying broomsticks in Fantasia) both with and without narration. There are plenty of versions available, of course, but this one does provide some context for kids to help them enjoy the piece.

Next, a couple podcasts:
-- Mr. David recorded a new Halloween podcast recently, including a new song, "The Winchester Festival," which continues the story-paintings of his Great Adventures of Mr. David CD. You can hear (and see) the podcast here.
-- Monty Harper also put out a Halloween podcast recently; check it out here.

Finally, a list of other songs:
-- "Skin and Bones" -- countless recordings (Raffi, Sam Hinton, the Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Spooky disk above)
-- "Dia de los Muertos," Uncle Rock -- off his Plays Well With Others disk
-- "A Skeleton Bang," Rasputina -- off the Colours Are Brighter

I'm sure I'm missing some songs... care to help add to the list?

Songs For Singing and Playing Together

I had a birthday in the not-too-distant past but did not have a soiree with, you know, beer and chips and the like. That will occur this weekend, when friends will come over and celebrate. I had been thinking initially about having a karaoke party, but thought that might require a bit too much courage of many celebrants. It also required renting a karaoke machine, which requires both money and time.

Instead, I decided to have a party of singing and playing music together. While I don't think the Dan Zanes interview itself directly inspired the idea -- I'd been pondering it even before that -- his general emphasis through the years on making music in communities did.

The only problem is, I'm at a bit of a loss for good songs to play in groups. So I'm asking you, dear readers, for suggestions of good songs for singing and playing together. We have a piano (and friends are bringing keyboards) and I have a basic ability to plunk out chords while sightseeing. Beyond that, I'm not quite sure of the music-making skills of all my friends -- except for our friends with the Phoenix Bach Choir, who, yes, can sing.

Beyond that, no restrictions other than kids are going to be invited as well, so while drinking songs and murder ballads aren't necessarily off-limits, it'd be nice to have something of greater interest for the kiddos, too.

What songs have you enjoyed singing together? What songs are easy for people to pick up? And any suggestions in general? Respond in the comments...