# Free To Be You And Me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316 "2007-01-24T21:43:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/1 "2007-01-24T21:43:06Z")
[Does anybody remember?](http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/10800000/10802352.jpg) It was my favorite record album when I was a kid. When I found out I could get it on CD, I bought it just so I could hear it again. Those were the days! In a land where the river runs free, In a land through the green country… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/2 "2007-01-24T21:46:52Z")
[QUOTE=xanthous] [Does anybody remember?](http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/10800000/10802352.jpg) It was my favorite record album when I was a kid. When I found out I could get it on CD, I bought it just so I could hear it again. Those were the days! In a land where the river runs free, In a land through the green country… 😃 [/QUOTE] I still think about Mel Brooks as the baby who wants to grow up to be a cocktail waitress. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/3 "2007-01-24T21:58:34Z")
Aw hell yeah! That was my (mom’s) favorite album when I was a kid. I used to spend hours with the record and the book both. But “Girl Land” still freaks the hell outta me. As a kid, of course, I had no idea who the people on the album were. Now I can really appreciate names like Mel Brooks, Diana Ross, Harry Belefonte, Carol Channing, Tom Smothers, Dick Cavett and Rosie Greir (!), not to mention, of course, Mr. Alan Alda. I put it on my baby shower registry, and WhyBaby seems to like it as well. WhyKid (14), OTOH, thinks it’s really weird. “Why are they singing about mommies driving trucks like it’s a big deal?” he asked. I guess that says good things about how our gender attitudes have changed. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/4 "2007-01-24T22:10:48Z")
My dog is a plumber . . . I even picked up the book with the sheet music. Good times! “. . . And if it’s all the same to you, tiger tweetie, I wish you’d stop licking me! And untie me! This instant! My dress is getting mussed.” ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/5 "2007-01-24T22:22:14Z")
“Ladies first. Ladies first.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/6 "2007-01-24T22:24:04Z")
Everything WhyNot said, and more! I played this album a million times from age 4 to 7 (the mid-'70’s). I was surprised to see, just weeks ago, that a video version had also been made at the time. Now I really believe that Rosie Grier played professional football. “Tender sweet young thing” is still a catch phrase in my family. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/7 "2007-01-24T22:26:30Z")
As with everyone else my age (born in '70), I loved the hell out of that album as a kid. I saw the video version, too, a few weeks back on TV Land or some similar stations. I could still sing along to most of the songs. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/8 "2007-01-24T22:28:22Z")
A doll! A doll! William wants a doll! I had the record. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/9 "2007-01-24T22:59:16Z")
I bought the DVD as a Christmas present for **auntie em**. And I must say, I never knew Marlo Thomas was so incredibly attractive. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/10 "2007-01-24T23:03:29Z")
I missed [this event](http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu:16080/pfa_programs/togetheragain/index.html) on the 17th, but it sounded like fun… ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/11 "2007-01-24T23:09:26Z")
Oh, I LOVED this record! I, too, got the CD as soon as I found out it was available as one. “Ladies First” is my favorite piece on it. As a kid I never picked up on all the gender stuff. Seriously. I listened to it again in my 20s and was amazed at how much didn’t register with me. And ditto about all the cool people on it that I didn’t recognize. I was kinda dense, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/12 "2007-01-24T23:10:56Z")
Hey **SkipMagic** , there’s a DVD? Really? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/13 "2007-01-24T23:14:11Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] I was surprised to see, just weeks ago, that a video version had also been made at the time. Now I really believe that Rosie Grier played professional football. [/QUOTE] THANK YOU! I had this very very clear mental image of the baby sketch being performed with puppets, and I couldn’t figure out where it came from - there no pictures of hand puppets in the books, or on the album. I finally decided that I myself must have acted it out along with the record. Guess not. Guess my mom actually let me watch TV once as a kidlet and I forgot about it! Gotta get the DVD and see if it matches what’s lurking around the back corners of my brain… [Here it is, made the year I was born.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005OKQT/bookstorenow50-20) Either they reran it in subsequent years, or I’m remembering something from my first two months! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/14 "2007-01-24T23:19:38Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] Hey **SkipMagic** , there’s a DVD? Really? [/QUOTE] Yeppers. [Free shipping](http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=HEN004079). ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/15 "2007-01-25T00:27:01Z")
Hee! My very first-ever dance routine was done to the song Free To Be You And Me! I think I was maybe in fifth or sixth grade… There’s a “sequel” too, just came out a few years ago - [Thanks & Giving All Year Long](http://www.amazon.com/Thanks-Giving-Year-Long-Companion/dp/B000641Z54/sr=8-9/qid=1169684754/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9/002-3661440-9684818?ie=UTF8&s=music). ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/16 "2007-01-25T00:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=LifeOnWry] Hee! My very first-ever dance routine was done to the song Free To Be You And Me! I think I was maybe in fifth or sixth grade… There’s a “sequel” too, just came out a few years ago - [Thanks & Giving All Year Long](http://www.amazon.com/Thanks-Giving-Year-Long-Companion/dp/B000641Z54/sr=8-9/qid=1169684754/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9/002-3661440-9684818?ie=UTF8&s=music). [/QUOTE] And an even older “sequel” – “Free to Be . . . a Family.” I can’t be arsed to go look for my copy. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/17 "2007-01-25T00:47:32Z")
I’ve been really close to buying Free to be You and Me from iTunes…because it holds such good memories to me. And I kind of want to hear the one with the babies. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/18 "2007-01-25T01:09:45Z")
I’ve never seen it. I only know _of_ it, as being some kind of landmark television special that I associate with the name Marlo Thomas (who I _did_ know was exceptionally attractive). There were other stars in that, too? I did read an excerpt from the lyrics of the title song, just a couple of weeks ago, when Michaela brought _The Bridge to Terebithia_ home from school. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/19 "2007-01-25T01:16:00Z")
Yippee! I’ve added the DVD to my Netflix queue and moved it right to the top. Can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316/20 "2007-01-25T01:17:23Z")
Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the TV version. Or maybe I did eons ago and that’s how we ended up with the album. I’d better get me to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)… or Netflix, of course!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-to-be-you-and-me/389316.md?page=2)