Songs About Second Thoughts – from Erin Lee

Children’s musicians Erin Lee Kelly and Marci Applebaum have been kind enough to do a monthly guest post about children’s music for a few years now. (It all started when I heard them perform their song “Fine By Me” on an R Family cruise: “My family doesn’t look like the families do in picture books/And that’s fine by me.”) The two are no longer recording together—but Erin Lee has a new band (soon to have a new album), and has offered to continue sharing fun songs by herself and others, along with ideas to make the songs an interactive experience for the whole family.

Look for more music suggestions from Erin Lee here on the first Monday of each month, or visit her homepage, www.erinleemusic.com.

I’ve created links to Amazon for the full albums (click the album name), plus links to Amazon MP3 downloads, when available, for those who want only the singles. (Click the song name.) I also have a widget after the jump that will let you preview most of the songs without leaving Mombian.

Sometimes when you’re having a hard day it’s easy to think that things are just terrible and they’ll never get better. So it’s wonderful when we get the chance to give a situation a second thought and change our outlook! Sometimes we change our minds when we learn more information about the problem. Sometimes we try something new and discover that things weren’t so bad the way they were. Sometimes we simply benefit from a blessing in disguise.

Here are three story songs where the narrator starts off believing one thing . . . but by the end of the tune has second thoughts and a brand new point of view.

“Don’t Wake Up the Baby” (Steve Blunt; Hang on Henry!)

The narrator of this story song has a brand new sister. All evidence seems to suggest that everybody loves her, and has forgotten about the big brother. Our narrator is constantly reprimanded “Don’t wake up the baby, no matter what you do!” It seems to him that the only thing that matters is whether or not his sister gets her precious sleep. His point of view changes when one night he hears his mama singing these beautiful words to his crying sister:

“Don’t wake up your brother, your brother needs his rest,
Don’t wake up your brother, you’re lucky—he’s the best.”

“Old Pajamas” (Justin Roberts, Great Big Sun)

The narrator of this piece is dealing with a very serious problem, much more serious than feelings of being ignored or overlooked. His pajamas are “just no good”! So he convinces his mama to get him new pajamas. And then . . . he realizes that they don’t have a pocket like his old pajamas. And they don’t have a super-cool hole in the seat like his old pajamas. He mulls the matter over and starts to miss them. He’s going to have to tell his mama that in fact he actually needs his old pajamas. Because, on second thought, they weren’t so bad after all…

And our song about second thoughts?

“Ticket to Anywhere” (Erin Lee and the Up Past Bedtime Band)

Have you ever tried to run away from home…but didn’t know how to cross the street? Our first single was inspired by our drummer’s memory of an attempt to run away thwarted by an inability to cross the street by himself. And he couldn’t ask for help because he wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers! Being stuck on the corner was a blessing in disguise—it gave him time to reflect that home is a pretty nice place to be after all.

Here’s an activity to help get this song off the iPod and into daily life

The narrator in “Ticket to Anywhere” gets out her crayons and stickers and makes a special ticket that’s “good for all the trains and buses”—it even conveniently features a coupon on the back for a sandwich. Get out your art supplies! Make a ticket that entitles the bearer to a free ride to Grandma’s. Or a scooter ride to the park. Or make a coupon that entitles the bearer to a fabulous homemade sandwich . . . or breakfast in bed . . . or help with the dishes!