music for the masses

Music is important to me. Let me make it clear that I have no musical talent. I couldn’t even play a flutophone in grade school and when my wife and I took Ballroom Dancing lessons, I couldn’t find the beat. I guess saying that music appreciation is important to me is a better statement, but it’s not like I enjoy classical music. I just want my kids to be interested in music and I’m praying they like something other than bubble-gum pop or rap.

I realize that my daughter is more likely going to be interested in the Brittanys and Jessicas of her time than she is the Wilcos and the Jack Johnsons. But I’m doing what I can to keep that from happening.

I’m sure most parents go out and buy all sorts of Disney sing-a-longs and Wiggles CDs for their babies, and while we bought a few of these, we play them infrequently. The three discs we play the most for our daughter are compilations of songs by bands we like. Two of them are For the Kids and For the Kids II. Both are packed with artists my wife and I enjoy (Guster, Barenaked Ladies, Matthew Sweet) singing children’s songs. The third disc is actually a mix CD I created and burned myself. This disc includes songs by the Smashing Pumpkins, Phish, the Beatles, and the Sundays (there’s actually a fourth disc she listens to every night at bedtime. The songs are all-instrumental lullaby versions of Beatles songs).

Listening to “our” music does create a problem. Language is the problem. We probably should be censoring what our daughter hears, but it is also important to me that she grow up actually having some taste in music. I love Ben Folds Five, but the other day when “Kate” was playing, I cringed when Ben sang “Everyday she wears the same thing / I think she smokes pot”. And “Battle of Who Could Care Less”....I love the bit about the Franklin Mint in that song, but see yesterday’s post for information on that subject.

I know some people who get so upset if a CD they buy has words like “hell” or “suck” in them. I’m not that extreme. I realize my daughter shouldn’t be learning swear words or lyrics about pot, but I know she’s going to hear about these things sometime. I’m also not a fan of censorship, so clean versions of songs aren't going to replace the ones with explicit lyrics. I’ll just have to try to skip those songs when she’s around. No matter what, there’s no way I’m switching out my Whatever and Ever Amen CD for a copy of ...Baby One More Time.