Saturday, September 22, 2007

Songs for three-year-olds

In preparation for an extended babysitting gig, I'm scanning my computer for good music that might entertain both me and little kids (and not infuriate their parents). It's not that easy. The Chemical Brothers' "Salmon Dance" is perfect except for one teenytiny little f-bomb. The Bosshoss randomly threw two f's into their awesome cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya" (which I just couldn't find an mp3 for). Devendra Banhart's "Little Yellow Spider" is adorable, except for the verse that produces "hooves instead of hands". I could go on.

Still, looking for links to these songs, I found tons of other great stuff (and couldn't find links for some great stuff). Maybe I'll add more when it's properly curated. For now, I'm gonna see what the youngsters think of these songs:
Gothic Archies - Scream And Run Away
Jonathan Coulton - Skullcrusher Mountain [ Buy]
Jonathan Coulton - Chiron Beta Prime [YouTube][ Buy]
Cocorosie - Rainbowarriors
Y.A.C.H.T. - See A Penny (Pick It Up)
Andrews Sisters - Tico Tico
Dixie Cups - Iko Iko
Boney M. - Rasputin
Tom Lehrer - The Elements
The Beatles - Drive My Car
The Chordettes - Mr. Sandman
The Chordettes - Lollipop [YouTube]
White Denim - shakeshakeshake
Judy Garland - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Sesame Street - Mah Na Mah Na [YouTube]
The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
Peter Bjorn and John - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Central Services Board of Education - The Lonely Tomato
They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
They Might Be Giants - Why Does the Sun Shine?
They Might Be Giants - Particle Man
Black Moth Super Rainbow - I Think It Is Beautiful That You Are 256 Colors Too
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
The Monkees - Daydream Believer
New York Dolls - Dance Like A Monkey
Paul Simon - Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
The Muppets - Mah Na Mah Na [YouTube]

2 comments:

Thomas J. Brown said...

TMBG have several albums aimed at kids (No!, Here Come the ABCs, and Here Come the 123s). They're actually pretty cool, overall.

There's also an article in Salon about "kindie rock."

For free MP3s, check out Uncle Neptune and Science Songs.

Ma Tiny said...

thanks! i saw the tmbg albums while i was stealing images off amazon.

but the other resources were heretofore unknown to me. i'll check 'em out.