The other day as I was prepping Daffy for her bath, I noticed the song I was singing her might have been a little...ummm, inappropriate?
You see, I was waxing lyrical to that great classic Nelly song (remember him? Baseball and Philly?) Hot in Here**. Because, you know what, it WAS getting hot in the bathroom, and Daff WAS getting all of her clothes off. So I kept singing it.
But it got me thinking, what kind of songs am I singing to my kids?! And should I put the kaibosh on it, or just change up the lyrics? I thought about it for, oh, about 10 minutes, and came up with this list:
1. Nelly-Hot in Here
2.Bill Withers-Lovely Day
How can you not sing this song to your kids everyday?!? When I look at you/then the world's alright with me/just one look from you/ and I know its going to be/ a lovely day! It is the soundtrack in my head when I wake up every morning. I find the bass at the start is kind of perfect tossing-off-the-sheets music. Plus, its just an awesome song. Try and argue against that fact.
3. The Beatles-All My Lovin'
Ok, this one is kind of a reach, because the song is fairly tame. But I do sing it all the time, and I'm pretty sure this isn't a Beatles song that was specifically geared towards children (although the verdict is still out on Octopus' Garden, Yellow Submarine and countless others). I also love the version of this in the movie "Across the Universe". Le sigh.
4. Elton John-Bennie & The Jets/Rocketman/Your Song/ Daniel
I pretty much sing the Elton John songbook whenever I get a chance. For instance, this morning when I thought I had tuned the radio to CBC, I had actually only made it to the Eazzzzy Listening station, and they were playing Daniel, so I sang along to Daff as she ate her breaky. Bennie & The Jets is my go-to, tried and true Karaoke classic, and Your Song is just the sweetest. Rocketman is fun too. Dear Elton, thanks for the hits, love, us.
5. Young, Wild and Free-Wiz Khalifa and Snoop D. O double G.
This one is probably the most kid-inappropriate, am I right? I used to crank this while going to my 6:30 AM yoga class, to try and wake myself up, otherwise, you know, it's zombie yoga. Clearly, this is a song about a specific lifestyle. Considering that, I changed the lyrics to suit my lifestyle: "So what we work out? So what we drink tea? We're just having fun, and we don't care who sees! Living as a young mom-my!". I like to imagine that if Snoop dizzle ever heard my lyrics, he would officially retire this song, and never sing it again. A big Wah-wahnnnnn!
So, in conclusion, I guess I'll keep it up with whatever song I feel the need to sing, and can exercise my brain by trying to re-write the lyrics to make them a little more, erm...kid friendly?
*I also sing "Hazel" by Bob Dylan because that is the song that we named Hazel after. And, funnily enough, I change those lyrics too, from "dirty blond hair" to "pretty brown hair".
**(as a side note, way back in the day when my bestie and I both worked at a bakery that became unbearably warm as the day went on, we would sing a poorly translated version of the song in French, which went a little like this: "Sa devient chaud ici, enlever tous tes vetements...sa devient si chaud, j'enleve tous mes vetements!" This is essentially what 13 years of French Immersion education will get you).
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