Quote:
Originally Posted by AwwSugar
I always grew up listening to the music my parents listened to. Freestyle on KTU and Puerto Rico's finest artists.
Otherwise, I listened to a lot of children's music at my Babysitter's.
She would always play the "Hokey Pokey" and such.
Those songs always appealed to me more when there was a big group singing or dancing.
They weren't songs I listened to or enjoyed on my own.
|
Hi AwwSugar,
I imagine Freestyle on KTU and Puerto Rico's finest artists must have given you eclectic music tastes at a young age! Do children's songs like the Hokey Pokey seem too intentionally "dumbed down" to you in comparison to Freestyle KTU, I wonder?
When I was a kid (under age 8 or so), one of my favorite songs was
"Puff the Magic Dragon," sung here on YouTube by Peter, Paul, and Mary in a live performance where Peter Yarrow tries to end the myth that the song was written about drugs (Puff the dragon was not intended to be a metaphor for marijuana wrapped up in paper):
YouTube - puff the magic dragon (live)
I like this particular live performance video because not only is Peter Yarrow quite funny, but also the video shows all the adults in the audience still enjoying the song they knew from childhood. Peter Yarrow, who was involved in writing the lyrics and then wrote the music, explains quite clearly (while singing) that the song is just about children growing up and losing their innocence, their imagination, and perhaps their unique delight in the world. Of course, songs' interpretations can grow beyond the original intentions, and there is not way to stop that, although Peter Yarrow wished to do so.
Something else I like about the YouTube video of "Puff the Magic Dragon" is the sweet post that a 13-year-old made about the song:
Quote:
This song (Puff the Magic Dragon) is sad. I'm only 13, but I have noticed that it makes most adults sad when they hear this too.
When I have a child, (when I am married of course) this will be his/her lullaby. I was thinking about that a lot. I memorized it too.
|
"Puff the Magic Dragon," I feel, is a great example of why folk music appeals to me: it does not attempt to be "cool" but instead feels like a very direct expression of the human condition. Folk songs like "Puff" leave for us the memory (kept alive by the song) of what those who lived before us (parents, grandparents, great grandparents) wished to give us in our lives, the ends of which they will never see.