You know, there are really a remarkable number of bands whose names begin with "S"... There may be more "B" or "T" acts in my library, just because I own a bazillion songs by Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, but there sure are a lot of "S" artists.
This set continues to show that sing-along-ability is the most important criterion in picking FutureBaby tunes. On strict moral grounds, the Pogues have no business on such a list, not due to lyrical content, but rather the make-up of the band, but how could I not include a couple of theirs?
- "Murder (Or A Heart Attack)," Old 97's (Despite the title, it's a sweet song about a lost cat.)
- "Big Brown Eyes," Old 97's
- "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay," Otis Redding
- "Yellow Ledbetter," Pearl Jam (I have no idea what the actual words are, but it's a great song to mumble along to)
- "Sussudio," Phil Collins
- "Take Me Home," Phil Collins
- "Out All Night," The Pietasters
- "Without You," The Pietasters
- "The Irish Rover," The Pogues
- "The Broad Majestic Shannon," The Pogues
- "Whiskey In the Jar," The Pogues (It's hard to find Pogues songs without much booze and death...)
- "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," Queen
- "Under Pressure," Queen & David Bowie
- "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville," R.E.M.
- "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," R.E.M.
- "Like Dreamers Do," The Radiators
- "Rockaway Beach," The Ramones
- "Shake A Tail Feather," Ray Charles
- "Four-Eyed Girl," Rhett Miller
- "I Live In Trafalgar Square," Richard Thompson (I considered "When I get to the Border," but the mental image of a toddler singing "Say I drowned in a barrel of wine..." put that to rest...)
- "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," Righteous Brothers
- "Lockjaw," The Rugburns
- "Hardest Way Possible," Rustic Overtones
- "New York, New York," Ryan Adams
- "Don't Pull Your Love," Sam & Dave
- "Hold On I'm Comin'," Sam & Dave
- "Soul Man," Sam & Dave
- "Soothe Me," Sam & Dave
- "You Send Me," Sam Cooke
- "Wonderful World," Sam Cooke
- "Cupid," Sam Cooke
- "Another Saturday Night," Sam Cooke
- "Twistin' The Night Away," Sam Cooke
- "Bring It On Home To Me," Sam Cooke
- "Soothe Me," Sam Cooke (I have a lot of songs by guys named Sam.)
- "Goodbye to You," Scandal (Yes, I'm a child of the 80's)
- "Singing In My Sleep," Semisonic
- "Beautiful Wreck," Shawn Mullins
- "See My Vest," Simpsons
- "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinéad O'Connor
- "The Emperor's New Clothes," Sinéad O'Connor
- "I Second That Emotion," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
- "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow," The Soggy Bottom Boys
- "Got To Get You Off My Mind," Solomon Burke
- "Diamond In Your Mind ," Solomon Burke
- "Somebody To Shove," Soul Asylum
- "Misery," Soul Asylum
- "Two Princes," Spin Doctors
- "The Underdog," Spoon
- "My Coco," Stellastarr*
- "Have A Nice Day," Stereophonics
- "The Joker," Steve Miller Band
- "All Over The World," Strange Fruit
- "Bye, Bye," The Subdudes (Which I will now have stuck in my head for the rest of the day...)
- "All The Time In The World," The Subdudes
- "Hoover Dam," Sugar
- "If I Can't Change Your Mind," Sugar (Relatively mellow songs from Bob Mould.)
- "You Can't Hurry Love," The Supremes
The next batch will be the end of the playlist, at least for this draft.
Comments
# 1 | Kate Nepveu | March 14, 2008 12:38 PM
"See My Vest," Simpsons
How did this not get a "Kate may veto this" notation?
# 2 | Eric Lund | March 14, 2008 1:31 PM
One of the artists my parents exposed us to at a young age was Simon and Garfunkel. They have a number of songs which may be suitable: "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)", "Scarborough Fair", "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)", "The Boxer", etc. Some of Paul Simon's solo work would fit well also, particularly "Loves Me Like A Rock".
Since you're a child of the 1980s, I'm surprised you didn't list anything by the Police or Sting. "Synchronicity I" is a candidate (though it has a lot of big words). "Love Is The Seventh Wave" would work even better.
# 3 | chezjake | March 14, 2008 3:03 PM
You also ought to have some Pete Seeger in there. There's a lot of his stuff on iTunes, including a bunch of traditional children's songs from the "Stories and Songs" album.
Not exactly sing-along, but a great way of introducing kids to classical music is the wonderful, up-tempo a capella stuff from the Swingle Singers.
# 4 | Tom Renbarger | March 14, 2008 5:08 PM
If you want the lyrics for Yellow Ledbetter, I think these are pretty close:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLd22ha_-VU
No Pixies? That makes Petey sad. I think Gigantic would be pretty good for kids. Maybe a little too grown-up with the lyrics, I don't know.
# 5 | Doug Natelson | March 14, 2008 10:36 PM
I heartily recommend anything by Trout Fishing in America. Great stuff. They Might Be Giants also has some good kids albums.