Without any further ado, here they are, the top 5 kids songs of all time.
(OK, a little further ado.)
Previous entries
Songs 6 through 10
Songs 11 through 15
Songs 16 through 20
Songs 21 through 25
Songs 26 through 30
Songs 31 through 35
Songs 36 through 40
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50
(Oh, and I'll figure out the
contest winner soon.)
5. "Lullaby" - Johannes Brahms: Yeah, I didn't really want to cover too many lullabies here, but this one is so common that it seemed churlish not to include it. Our daughter calls it the "Doo doo doo" song, but we usually get bored of singing that sound to the familiar melody ("Lullaby / And goodnight / Something something and something.."). Try quacking the melody. Not particularly soothing, but a fun bedtime routine nonetheless. I am not going to link to the samples of Celine Dion's, Aaron Neville's, or Olivia Newton-John's take on the song, because I am going to make the blanket assumption that your child or niece or grandchild or random kid off the streets will prefer your version to what I assume is an incredibly overwrought version by an actual professional singer.
4. "Miss Mary Mack" - traditional: Sure, it's traditional (dates back to the 19th century at least), but I've always associated it with the first lady of American kids music, Ella Jenkins. I was (pleasantly) surprised to hear my daughter singing it one day at home -- they're still teaching it in kindergarten, thousands of miles away from Chicago. Hand-clappin', jump-ropin', rockin' out, whatever, it's still an simple tune with fun lyrics. (You can hear a traditional version
here, sample a Sweet Honey in the Rock tribute
here or a sample of Erin Flynn's half-traditional/half-revisionist take
here.)
3. "Three is a Magic Number" - Bob Dorough: Like this was going to be anywhere else on this list. Here's the thing about this song -- I've yet to hear a bad version of it. Blind Melon?
Check. The Jellydots?
Check. Jack Johnson blended the song with lyrics about recycling to energetic effect on
"The 3 Rs." It teaches math, it teaches history, and it's incredibly catchy. (And if those YouTube and Myspace references aren't enough, here's
the original.)
2. "You Are My Sunshine" - Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell: This is one of those kids' songs that's more popular, I think, because people don't bother singing the verses, which aren't necessarily full of unconditional love ("you have shattered all my dreams"), and instead sing the chorus. It's not that the chorus is all sunshine and light, either, but it's close enough (or with a tweak or two, "and I love you more everyday..," completely innocuous). And that melody -- so totally singable. (You can listen to Davis' 1931 recording
here. You can also listen to Elizabeth Mitchell's version
here -- click on "Sunshine," then "Listen.")
1. "ABCs/Twinkle Twinkle/Baa Baa Black Sheep" - trad. lyrics, music is a French folk tune ("Ah, vous dirai-je, maman") arranged by Louis Le Maire: I really don't know what else to say here. It's a melody that's been adapted to at least three classic songs, songs that are part of the English-language canon, really. (Which isn't to say that other countries with other languages aren't familiar with it, either.) People (including me) think that Mozart wrote the melody (he didn't -- he just adapted it.) That song is so ingrained in your head that you can sing it over and over half-asleep at a 2 AM feeding. There's no need for a sample -- go ahead and sing it to your kid, your friends' kids, whomever. There is no other choice. #1.
With all apologies due to Spinal Tap, there's a fine line between sweet and schmaltzy in children's music. Topics that in one musician's hands produce a moment of "A-ha! That's how life is!" in another's hands produce a moment of "Duh. Of course that's how life is." Frankly, the same track can produce those two moments in two different families.
On his very recently released fourth CD for kids, Everybody Plays Air Guitar, Austin-based Joe McDermott very carefully walks that fine line. How you feel about the CD depends on how sweet you and your family like your music.
Let me start out with the album's strengths, which I found to be the simpler tracks in concept (if not necessarily execution). The leadoff title track (bolstered by its simple but catchy chorus) basically just talks about how great it is to "air guitar" (yes, that's a verb). On the closing track, "Anything Is Possible," McDermott channels a little mid-career James Taylor in a sweet ode to possibility. And the album's strongest cut, the poppy "Dolphins," is a trifle of an idea with far-ranging lyrical flights of fancy (Hemingway, AFLAC insurance). "Ride, Ride, Ride," a live cut, while out of place mixed in with its more polished companions, shows off McDermott's sense of humor.
There are other tracks, however, that a number of listeners will probably tune out, "Sport Comes to the Rescue" and "Our Family Car Is A Helicopter" are a little goofy, but there's something about the humor that doesn't pack much of a punch. (They're not as sharp as McDermott's earlier, classic track, "Baby Kangaroo," which worked so well on so many different levels.) It's not that the songs are bad or arranged poorly -- in fact, McDermott's attention to detail is well-appreciated (check out the string quartet on "Momma's Gonna Have a Baby"). But some listeners -- and you know who you are -- will just find those tracks a hard slog.
The songs on the 36-minute album are most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear samples from the CD at its CD Baby page or previous cuts (including "Baby Kangaroo") here for his last album, with links to other albums, too.)
In the end, if I sound a little conflicted in this review, it's because I am to some extent. There are some great songs here, and there are some that, while, expertly done, just don't have much "pop." So while I'm recommending the CD, it's really a combination of the people who will find this album absolutely wonderful and of the people who will find it, well, just a bit too safe. But, overall, recommended.
After listening to hundreds of kids and family CDs over the past years, I've developed some resistance to the charms of a cutesy album title. A classic album title twisted into a kiddie pun does not a good album make.
So I was well prepared to remain unmoved by Dark Side of the Moon Bounce, the recently-released second album by the Virginia-based band 
