In 1991, when I still had Mechanical Resonance and Long Cold Winter on heavy rotation in my CD player, a friend handed me a copy of Flood by They Might Be Giants. I had heard of them, but to me they resided in some fringe world of music that only college radio hosts existed in, a world of pixies, sugarcubes, and dead milkmen. I'm never one to turn down free music (obviously) but I figured it would soon end up as a trade-in so I could get credit towards the next Skid Row album.
Much to my surprise, I found it weirdly catchy. I thought all music was about babes and partying all night long, but their music was about birdhouses, Constantinople, minimum wage and some poor dude named Particle Man who keeps getting his ass kicked by Triangle Man. I grew to like them, but I never quite shook the feeling that I was listening to music from a kegger at Lambda Lambda Lambda.
Fast forward 17 years. I'm desperate to shoe-horn some quality music into my daughter's life...anything to counteract the mental decay that too much Dora & Diego brings about. The traditional children's fare hasn't taken hold, and my attempts to educate Cheeky on the merits of Fugazi's 13 Songs or Supergrass' In It For the Money are constantly thwarted by Oodgie, who claims some ear-bleeding problem whenever I put them on.
So I threw a life-line out to TMBG, and faster than you can say 1-2-3 they catch it.
At first I was delighted. There were songs starring ichthyosaurs, nonagons, and a triops. I found myself singing about the number two and one dozen monkeys, and the still unemployed Oodgie took quite a liking to the seven days of the week. This was stuff we could all dance to.
Until it became the only thing we were allowed to dance to.
Want Cheeky to finish her dinner? Put on the 1-2-3's. Want to get her to stop crying? Put on the 1-2-3's. Want her to exhale after she inhales? Put on the 1-2-3's. It's like crack, but without the pleasant side-effects.
So, much like live-action remakes of Dr. Seuss books, what was once fun and innocent is now a source of great pain.
I believe it was Neil Pollack who noted that TMBG is the only band whose audience gets younger as they get older. That may be true, but I still wince a bit with every repeated chorus, as I realize that both my tolerance and my own happy memories are being whittled away.
Would I feel this way if we were listening to Led Zeppelin's children's album, or watching "The Nirvana Children's Special?" Probably. Let's hope Cheeky's old enough to appreciate the nuanced performance of Gang of Four or New Order--hell, even Vampire Weekend--before I get so desperate as to seek those out.
April 20. Town Hall. They Might Be Giants concert. There's a 1:00 and a 4:00 concert. I think we got tix to the 1:00 show. I'll check with BossLady and let you know. Would be fun to rock out with all the kids.
Posted by: MetroDad | April 08, 2008 at 09:21 AM
We love the album NO! here at Dirt & Noise. That one word sums up my life. The other stuff that we listen to nonstop are super hero theme songs. I'm waiting for a caped guy with amazing pecs to save me. Where are you Penn Badgely?!
Posted by: Dirt & Noise | April 08, 2008 at 01:00 PM
I don't have children, but if I do I already have a soundtrack planned out. Jonathan Richman (maybe not "Pablo Picasso"), Robyn Hitchcock, Paul Westerberg's version of "Mr. Rabbit" -- all sound especially kid-friendly to my ears.
Posted by: Kathy | April 08, 2008 at 06:41 PM
Ha! I still have Mechanical Resonance and Long Cold Winter on constant replay...Plus a few others...Mr. Big. Ahem.
Our crack is Hi-5. She loves all those Hair Bands just as much as I do, but want to get her to do anything...Hi-5.
Posted by: ~JJ! | April 09, 2008 at 07:28 AM
Cheeky's probably a little old for these, but I've found these lullaby renditions of Led Zeppelin to be entertaining... (sorry, no Lemon Song included)
http://urlpie.com/r
Posted by: Alt | April 09, 2008 at 08:51 AM
Vampire Weekend is our new "in the car candy"
because if I had to listen to the High School Musical Soundtrack again I was going to have to break something. Kiddo likes to listen to them name the towns on the Cape.
Wanna know what I like to do? Practice trumpet everydaaaay.
Oh, yes yes.
Posted by: Kara | April 09, 2008 at 10:10 AM
I'm impressed.
Awesome live band, but yes, the young, female-majority audience will make you feel like a dirty old man.
Posted by: roger | April 09, 2008 at 01:50 PM
I only let my kids listen to gospel and zydeco on Sundays.
Posted by: Whit | April 09, 2008 at 11:41 PM
I love this album AND the A B C one. My kids watch the DVDs too.
Thank you TMBG! It could be Raffi.
Posted by: Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah | April 10, 2008 at 01:27 PM
When my kids were younger, I got them to listen to Jane's Addiction because at the start of "Been Caught Stealing" there's a dog barking. I'd say "do you want to hear the doggie bark song?" Yeah!!! Just took my daughter to her first concert - Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore - so I think my alt.rock programming throughout their youth might have worked.
Posted by: dadshouse | April 11, 2008 at 12:39 PM
You've been tagged by Dirt & Noise. Check out http://www.dirtandnoise.com/ to play along!
Posted by: Dirt & Noise | April 11, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Ooooh, my kids love them some Vampire Weekend. They are in 2nd and 4th grade. They also are big fans of The Weepies and Wilco, of course.
Check this out for free downloads of cool stuff (including several V.W. songs)whenever you like:
http://www.daytrotter.com/.
Posted by: mrs t | April 16, 2008 at 06:45 PM