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Songs about/for kids

cosmickid

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Oct 23, 2009
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I'm not a parent,but I was just thinking about some of the songs over the years that were either about a specific kid or written for kids. Paul Simon wrote a lullaby for his son Harper that was included on There Goes Rhymin Simon.

Harper grew up in his father's footsteps, and says he was greatly influenced by both his father's music and his father's album collection. At the age of 12 he played guitar during the Graceland tour,and he's still in the music business today. I just read an interview where he mentioned working on a song with Irana George, who is Lloyd George's daughter and Jackson Browne's Goddaughter.

"Well I sang it once
And I sang it twice
I'm going to sing it three times more
Going to stay til your resistance
Is overcome
Cause if I can't sing my boy to sleep
Well it makes your famous daddy
Look so dumb"

 
I'm not a parent,but I was just thinking about some of the songs over the years that were either about a specific kid or written for kids. Paul Simon wrote a lullaby for his son Harper that was included on There Goes Rhymin Simon.

Harper grew up in his father's footsteps, and says he was greatly influenced by both his father's music and his father's album collection. At the age of 12 he played guitar during the Graceland tour,and he's still in the music business today. I just read an interview where he mentioned working on a song with Irana George, who is Lloyd George's daughter and Jackson Browne's Goddaughter.

"Well I sang it once
And I sang it twice
I'm going to sing it three times more
Going to stay til your resistance
Is overcome
Cause if I can't sing my boy to sleep
Well it makes your famous daddy
Look so dumb"



Another lullaby that I've always loved is Firefall's Dolphin's Lullaby. I know nothing about Rick Robert's child, but I've loved Rick's iconic vocals since his days in the Flying Burrito Brothers on through his mid 70's work with Firefall and including a few solo albums I bought over the years. Firefall is one of my guilty pleasures, another group that you can trace back to Buffalo Springfield, Burritos, and the Byrds...

 
Another lullaby that I've always loved is Firefall's Dolphin's Lullaby. I know nothing about Rick Robert's child, but I've loved Rick's iconic vocals since his days in the Flying Burrito Brothers on through his mid 70's work with Firefall and including a few solo albums I bought over the years. Firefall is one of my guilty pleasures, another group that you can trace back to Buffalo Springfield, Burritos, and the Byrds...


Shifting gears a bit... Joni Mitchell had a daughter (long before she became famous) that she decided to give up for adoption rather than try to raise alone as a single parent. A different time- different options back in the 60s compared to now. They reunited at some point later in life,but I'm not sure how that stands presently.

She immortalized the situation in 1970's Blue. At the time I didn't realize exactly what the lyrics were saying, or even that it was based on real life. This Blue, For the Roses, and Court and Spark, era impresses me as the zenith of Joni's lyrical brilliance. These lyrics are heartbreaking...

"Born with the moon in Cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters can not fade her
Call her green for the children who have made her little, green
Be a gypsy dancer

He went to California
Hearing that everything's warmer there
So you write him a letter, say, "her eyes are blue"
He sends you a poem and she's lost to you
Little, green, he's a non-comformer"

and later...

"Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You're sad and you're sorry but you're not ashamed, little green
Little green, have a happy ending"

 
Shifting gears a bit... Joni Mitchell had a daughter (long before she became famous) that she decided to give up for adoption rather than try to raise alone as a single parent. A different time- different options back in the 60s compared to now. They reunited at some point later in life,but I'm not sure how that stands presently.

She immortalized the situation in 1970's Blue. At the time I didn't realize exactly what the lyrics were saying, or even that it was based on real life. This Blue, For the Roses, and Court and Spark, era impresses me as the zenith of Joni's lyrical brilliance. These lyrics are heartbreaking...

"Born with the moon in Cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters can not fade her
Call her green for the children who have made her little, green
Be a gypsy dancer

He went to California
Hearing that everything's warmer there
So you write him a letter, say, "her eyes are blue"
He sends you a poem and she's lost to you
Little, green, he's a non-comformer"

and later...

"Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You're sad and you're sorry but you're not ashamed, little green
Little green, have a happy ending"


Another song to/about a child that experienced tragedy early in life. In 1976, during work on The Pretender, Jackson Browne's wife (Phyllis) committed suicide. It wasn't Jackson's first brush with suicide as a high school friend jumped/fell out of a skyscraper while working with the Peace Corps in India. Jackson immortalized that situation on Song For Adam off of his 1970 debut album...

Anyway he wrote this song for his young son Ethan, his only child with Phyllis. Ethan is an actor/ model and I guess his most notable role is in Rasing Helen- a film I know nothing about...

A heartbreaking song, yet full of encouragement and a call to fight for justice and the welfare of the less fortunate. In Jackson's lyrics "brother" is a synonym for mankind...

"Boy of mine
As your fortune comes to carry you down the line
And you watch as the changes unfold
And you sort among the stories you've been told
If some pieces of the picture are hard to find
And the answers to your questions are hard to hold

Take good care of your mother
When you're making up your mind
Should one thing or another take you from behind
Though the world may make you hard and wild
And determine how your life is styled
When you've come to feel that you're the only child

Take good care of your brother
Let the disappointments pass
Let the laughter fill your glass
Let your illusions last until they shatter
Whatever you might hope to find
Among the thoughts that crowd your mind
There won't be many that ever really matter

But take good care of your mother
And remember to be kind
When the pain of another will serve you to remind
That there are those who feel themselves exiled
On whom the fortune never smiled
And upon whose life the heartache has been piled
They're just looking for another
Lonely child"

 
Another song to/about a child that experienced tragedy early in life. In 1976, during work on The Pretender, Jackson Browne's wife (Phyllis) committed suicide. It wasn't Jackson's first brush with suicide as a high school friend jumped/fell out of a skyscraper while working with the Peace Corps in India. Jackson immortalized that situation on Song For Adam off of his 1970 debut album...

Anyway he wrote this song for his young son Ethan, his only child with Phyllis. Ethan is an actor/ model and I guess his most notable role is in Rasing Helen- a film I know nothing about...

A heartbreaking song, yet full of encouragement and a call to fight for justice and the welfare of the less fortunate. In Jackson's lyrics "brother" is a synonym for mankind...

"Boy of mine
As your fortune comes to carry you down the line
And you watch as the changes unfold
And you sort among the stories you've been told
If some pieces of the picture are hard to find
And the answers to your questions are hard to hold

Take good care of your mother
When you're making up your mind
Should one thing or another take you from behind
Though the world may make you hard and wild
And determine how your life is styled
When you've come to feel that you're the only child

Take good care of your brother
Let the disappointments pass
Let the laughter fill your glass
Let your illusions last until they shatter
Whatever you might hope to find
Among the thoughts that crowd your mind
There won't be many that ever really matter

But take good care of your mother
And remember to be kind
When the pain of another will serve you to remind
That there are those who feel themselves exiled
On whom the fortune never smiled
And upon whose life the heartache has been piled
They're just looking for another
Lonely child"


This song sort of speaks for itself- sort of generic from Graham. But I love this version with the beautiful harmonies and Stills' usual brilliance on guitar...

 
This song sort of speaks for itself- sort of generic from Graham. But I love this version with the beautiful harmonies and Stills' usual brilliance on guitar...


Some people may not know this song since it is from the non-ESB portion of Springsteen's career, early 90's simultaneous release of Human Touch/Lucky Town. While Human Touch was basically an album of "love songs", Lucky Town was a more stripped-down set of songs about specific events in Bruce's life
One of those events was the birth of his first child (Evan), and Living Proof reflects his joy at Evan's birth. I also see in the lyrics a sort of celebration of what Springsteen considers his own rebirth, and how that sprang from the mutual love he and Patti have for each other...

More brilliant songwriting from the Master...

Well now on a summer night, oh in a dusky room
Come a little piece of the Lord's undying light
Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon
In his mother's arms it was all the beauty I could take
Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make
Oh, in a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused
Searching for a little bit of God's mercy
I found living proof

Well, I put my heart and soul, babe, I put 'em high upon a shelf
Right next to the faith, the faith that I'd lost in myself
I went down into the desert city
Just tryin' so hard to shed my skin
I crawled deep into some kind of darkness
Lookin' to burn out every trace of who I'd been
You do some sad, sad things baby
When it's your you 're tryin' to lose
You do some sad and hurtful things
I've seen living proof

You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys no guards
Oh, just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars"

Love this performance from Met Life in 2016...

 
Some people may not know this song since it is from the non-ESB portion of Springsteen's career, early 90's simultaneous release of Human Touch/Lucky Town. While Human Touch was basically an album of "love songs", Lucky Town was a more stripped-down set of songs about specific events in Bruce's life
One of those events was the birth of his first child (Evan), and Living Proof reflects his joy at Evan's birth. I also see in the lyrics a sort of celebration of what Springsteen considers his own rebirth, and how that sprang from the mutual love he and Patti have for each other...

More brilliant songwriting from the Master...

Well now on a summer night, oh in a dusky room
Come a little piece of the Lord's undying light
Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon
In his mother's arms it was all the beauty I could take
Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make
Oh, in a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused
Searching for a little bit of God's mercy
I found living proof

Well, I put my heart and soul, babe, I put 'em high upon a shelf
Right next to the faith, the faith that I'd lost in myself
I went down into the desert city
Just tryin' so hard to shed my skin
I crawled deep into some kind of darkness
Lookin' to burn out every trace of who I'd been
You do some sad, sad things baby
When it's your you 're tryin' to lose
You do some sad and hurtful things
I've seen living proof

You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys no guards
Oh, just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars"

Love this performance from Met Life in 2016...



Not just for Parrotheads, Jimmy B wrote Little Miss Magic for his daughter Savannah Jane. It's off of Coconut Telegraph (circa 1980) I think at one point she was involved in some aspect of his career- part of his management/promotion team. Maybe she did learn how to fly- and even pilots his seaplane...

 
Not just for Parrotheads, Jimmy B wrote Little Miss Magic for his daughter Savannah Jane. It's off of Coconut Telegraph (circa 1980) I think at one point she was involved in some aspect of his career- part of his management/promotion team. Maybe she did learn how to fly- and even pilots his seaplane...



Here's another rare Springsteen song that was basically under wraps until very recently. Originally Bruce was inspired by the Harry Potter books he read to his kids in the early 1990s,and so he wrote I'll Stand By You (Always). He made it available to director Chris Columbus, who is a huge Springsteen fan and has appeared multiple times as a guest DJ on E Street Radio playing his favorite Bruce songs. Ultimately Chris decided it didn't fit with the Harry Potter theme (I've never seen a Harry Potter movie), so Bruce just shelved it...

Then when Gurinder Chadha and Sarfraz Manzoor were doing the "Blinded" movie they were aware of the song and Bruce agreed to let them use it. It plays over the end credits, but I really like this lyric video...

 
Always assumed this Rod Stewart song was written with a child in mind.



This Eric Clapton song was written after he lost his son.

 
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Milk Carton Kids - Charlie

That's my daughter in the water - everything she owns I bought her - Loudon Wainwright

Beautiful boy - Lennon

Jeremy - by that one 90's band
 
"Hey Jude" was written by Paul McCartney for Julian Lennon. I had forgotten why until I looked it up. It was written to comfort Julian after John left his wife for Yoko Ono. The song was written as "Hey Jules".
 
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Martha Washington? ;)

That's OK, it still reminds me of a busy, joyous 3-4 year old girl.
It reminds me of hundreds of hours of practice and listening to it note per note. over and over and over again.... in an attempt to rearrange it into a single instrument piece and getting all the feels correct .. it really needs two guitars.

I have a long arduous and personal love hate relationship with that song.
 
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Milk Carton Kids - Charlie

That's my daughter in the water - everything she owns I bought her - Loudon Wainwright

Beautiful boy - Lennon

Jeremy - by that one 90's band
Charlie is a great song!
 
It reminds me of hundreds of hours of practice and listening to it note per note. over and over and over again.... in an attempt to rearrange it into a single instrument piece and getting all the feels correct .. it really needs two guitars.

I have a long arduous and personal love hate relationship with that song.
I've thought about trying to learn it, but haven't . . . sometimes the mystery of a song brings more joy than knowing how it works.

SopeJr#1 said the other day that this is one of his favorite songs, along with Jessica. Then he said something interesting . . . he said that this one and Jessica are both 1-4-5 blues structures, but in a major key instead of a minor key.
 
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I've thought about trying to learn it, but haven't . . . sometimes the mystery of a song brings more joy than knowing how it works.
I have this relationship with all Buckethead songs. I don't want to believe its possible learn a Buckethead song. I want to believe they are unattainable and beyond anything a human could possibly play.
 
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He wrote it about his girlfriend...

Actually, for his GF. Whose nickname was "Martha"

The gravestone being the origin of the story was a myth.
Isn't Little Martha in open E. I have not tuned to open E yet. Isn't there like tremendous tension on the D string when you tune to E? Am I crazy thinking this?

As far as spending countless hours on a song, my is Limelight by RUSH. I have labored over this song for about 8 months.
 
Isn't Little Martha in open E. I have not tuned to open E yet. Isn't there like tremendous tension on the D string when you tune to E? Am I crazy thinking this?

As far as spending countless hours on a song, my is Limelight by RUSH. I have labored over this song for about 8 months.

The original Little Martha is in open E. Open E tuning can put a lot of string tension on a guitar neck, depending on the gauge of strings used.
 
Isn't Little Martha in open E. I have not tuned to open E yet. Isn't there like tremendous tension on the D string when you tune to E? Am I crazy thinking this?

As far as spending countless hours on a song, my is Limelight by RUSH. I have labored over this song for about 8 months.
The original Little Martha is in open E. Open E tuning can put a lot of string tension on a guitar neck, depending on the gauge of strings used.

Yes, but guitars that can handle medium and large strings can generally handle it, and those that can't, you can always tune to open D and capo 2nd fret.

D A D F# A D < open D

Another annoyance is in the original they sped up the recording so it's 2 secs sharp.
 
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I've thought about trying to learn it, but haven't . . . sometimes the mystery of a song brings more joy than knowing how it works.

SopeJr#1 said the other day that this is one of his favorite songs, along with Jessica. Then he said something interesting . . . he said that this one and Jessica are both 1-4-5 blues structures, but in a major key instead of a minor key.

That's true of every song. Sometimes people ask me why I listen to so much rap, because it's the only thing I can listen to where I'm not trying to breakdown the song in my head.

Some tunes have been ruined for life for me, because of either practice or I've played them for so long that I just can't listen to them anymore. .

Little Martha is fairly simple in each of its parts, it's just hard to get Dickey's flat picked rhythm and Duane's fingerpicked rhythm to mesh like two guitars can. It just sounds too thin.
 
Yes, but guitars that can handle medium and large strings can generally handle it, and those that can't, you can always tune to open D and capo 2nd fret.

D A D F# A D < open D
Got it. Excellent.

Could I apply this to most songs off Blood on the Tracks?
 
A few too many mornings with the kids, if there is such an overindulgence.



(Ear worm warning)
 
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