today's soundtrack

So, today I turn on the news and hear that Steven Page, the front man for the Barenaked Ladies, is calling it quits, and going solo or something like that. And I'm kind of sad about that because I've become a particular fan of theirs in the past 6 months or so. It all started when we went shopping for a CD in August - Serge bought Bob Dylan's greatest hits, and since there was a 2 for something sale, I picked up this one:


I've really enjoyed my kids' music up to this point. They listen to a lot of our music, and I'm careful when picking music that's for them. You won't see me throwing in Barney's greatest hits or anything like that. Heaven forbid they decide they like it. I won't buy them any music unless I'm sure I can put up with it. I used to be embarrassed to say I enjoy it - but the more I hear it, the more it reminds me of my kids, and the more I know I'll look back on the times when we drove all over everywhere with music on blast in the van, and I'll remember those songs fondly. It started out with Baby Mozart when they were little, moved on to Carmen Campagne, the Wiggles, and Fred Penner. Even after hearing some of those songs one bazillion times - I still kind of like them. I can't not love Rockabye your bear. I can't not smile when I hear Quack-quack-quack-cock-a-doodle doo. But, time marches on and the big girls are too big for the Wiggles, for sure. Yet, I'm not ready to commit to High School Musical and Hannah Montana, either. We needed a new something we can all agree on. I've always liked the Barenaked Ladies, and I can see how their style and sound could appeal to kids - so I picked it up.

That was August, and its been a lot of months from then until now, and Snack Time continues to grow on me. Pollywog in a Bog is by far our favorite, and even when I was 8 months pregnant and waking up at 3 and 5 and 6 am to go pee, and in the early morning fog, my head was singing "Ribbit, ribbit, a tadpole exhibit, its a transformation no one can inhibit" - it was still okay. I didn't tire of it. I still didn't cringe when Annique yelled for "lil' pog" for the tenth time in a row.

I'm providing this video so that you, too can have "lil'pog" playing in your head at 3 am.
Don't thank me now.

Its good stuff for kids, lots of big, interesting words, great topics, fun sounds, and they're getting smart, learning about the life cycle of a frog, and all. Who cares that there are songs about deadly and unspeakably violent ninjas? If I cared about that, I'd probably care that the band is called Barenaked ladies (giggle, giggle - I told them that) and the lead singer is up on drug charges for cocaine possession or something (yikes! I didn't tell them that!) - and I don't, because this is good stuff for my kids. We like being the Partridge family with music blaring out of the van while it rolls down the highway.

Anyway, with today's announcement - there goes all hopes that I'll get to take the kids to see them live - we've seen the Wiggles, Fred Penner and Carmen Campagne. And also, any hopes for a follow up to their brilliant Snack-time album. I am sure 20 years ago they never thought they'd be writing children's music, and doing such a damned brilliant job of it. Because if they did, they probably wouldn't have called themselves the Barenaked Ladies. I wonder what my kids will think of "If I had $1,000,000?" - I guess there are still a lot of BNL songs out there that are old to me but will be new to them. We'll cope.