# Songs for Children **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089 "2006-09-01T17:13:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/1 "2006-09-01T17:13:14Z")
Not Barney, and especially not the Wiggles. I mean songs that real songwriters wrote for their kids. Forever Young by Bob Dylan\* would be the premier example. The kids have every verse of Forever Young memorized, and I need something else to put them to bed with. \*But not him singing it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/2 "2006-09-01T17:55:55Z")
Billy Joel has “Good Night My Angel” Of course “Hey Jude” for Julian Lennon I don’t know who it was written to, but Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Dreamland” is nice. Loudon Wainwright III’s “Lullaby” references his son Rufus but it may not be what you’re looking for!: \*The excuse that you’re crazy is useless You’re not biting you’re barking you’re toothless But you’re ruthless (you’re Rufus) Shut up and count some sheep And do me a favour don’t bitch in your sleep No more agony please no more sorrow Shut up and catch some Z’s\* ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/3 "2006-09-01T18:11:19Z")
Was \*\*Yellow Submarine \*\* originally written as a children’s song? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/4 "2006-09-01T18:26:01Z")
Ben Folds has different-sex twins, and wrote “Still Fighting It” for his son and “Gracie” for his daughter. Both beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/5 "2006-09-01T18:34:28Z")
Loudon also has “Rufus Is A Tit Man” and “5 Years Old” for Rufus and Martha respectively. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/6 "2006-09-01T18:35:36Z")
[QUOTE=Trillionaire] Was \*\*Yellow Submarine \*\* originally written as a children’s song? [/QUOTE] And Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds about a Beatle kid’s artwork. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/7 "2006-09-01T18:58:21Z")
**Back to Pooh Corner** by Kenny Loggins. **The Rainbow Connection** by Kermit. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/8 "2006-09-01T19:17:38Z")
[Tom Chapin](http://tinyurl.com/gf3ru), Harry’s more talented brother, has a series of great children’s songs that are just as much fun for adults. His stuff is clever, humorous, sophisiticated and often quite sweet without ever becoming cloying. “Family Tree” is a good place to start. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/9 "2006-09-01T19:20:26Z")
And you might be interested in [Rockabye Baby Records](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-2122188-5496059?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=rockabye+baby&Go.x=8&Go.y=12), with lullaby renditions of songs by Metallica, Radiohead and more! ---
**Author:** ![Middlea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@Middlea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Middlea)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/10 "2006-09-01T19:20:47Z")
Bill Staines “The Happy Wanderer” CD. I listen to it when I travel. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/11 "2006-09-01T19:53:47Z")
_St. Judy’s Comet_ by **Paul Simon** is a lovely lullaby written for his son. In addition, _Loves Me Like A Rock_ and _Mother and Child Reunion_ are also evocative of the bond between a mother and child. **Billy Joel** also has a lullaby (presumably to his daughter) called _Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)_. _Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)_ by **John Lennon** was written to and about his son, Sean, who was then 4 years old. (It ends with him whispering “Good night, Sean… I’ll see you in the morning”, and he recorded it just a few months before his murder :() **Will Smith** recorded a song called _Just The Two Of Us_ about and to his son that heavily sampled the song of the same name by Grover Washington and Bill Withers. **Neil Young** has a song _Sugar Mountain_ which is about growing up and leaving youth behind. (_Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain, / With the barkers and the colored balloons… / You can’t be twenty on Sugar Mountain / Though you’re thinking that you’re leaving there too soon…_) **Eminem** had a recent hit called _Mockingbird_ written to his daughter, Hailie (though it is rather dark). On an even more depressing note, **Eric Clapton** ’s song _Tears In Heaven_ is a song addressed to (in the second person) his four-year-old son who fell to his death out of a window of a high-rise apartment building in a freak accident. On the other hand, _Sweet Child O’ Mine_ by **Guns ‘n’ Roses** is _not_ a song to a child, but could be 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/12 "2006-09-01T20:35:56Z")
_The Cape_ by **Guy Clark** and _Katie Belle_ by **Townes van Zandt** can both be found on the album [Together at the Bluebird Cafe](http://www.amazon.com/Together-Bluebird-Caf%e9-Steve-Earle/dp/B00005QXGQ/sr=8-2/qid=1157142906/ref=sr_1_2/002-6367313-1867207?ie=UTF8&s=music). ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/13 "2006-09-01T23:47:35Z")
**Dar Williams** ’ “So Close to my Heart” is dedicated to her son. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/14 "2006-09-02T01:21:01Z")
I would recommend just about anything by Trout Fishing In America. It’s kids’ music that doesn’t irritate most adults. Ditto for Peter, Paul & Mary. Someone mentioned both Paul Simon’s song St. Judy’s Comet and Kenny Loggins’s Pooh Corner – Loggins has an album (Return to Pooh Corner) that includes both these songs, and a bunch of other kid-friendly songs like The Rainbow Connection, All The Pretty Little Ponies and Too-Ra-Loo-Ra. Checking on Amazon, I see there’s also “More Songs From Pooh Corner” and there’s a bunch of other recommendations in their “people who bought this also bought” thingie. You might also look for Songs For Our Children - pop artists recorded children’s songs to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/15 "2006-09-02T03:49:40Z")
My favorite is **Taj Mahal** ’s cd _Shake Sugaree_. It’s got _Fishin’ Blues_, _Brown Girl in the Ring_, _Funky-Bluesy ABC’s_, _A Soulful Tune_, and lots of others. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/16 "2006-09-02T03:52:22Z")
(Sorry, pressed enter too soon.) From the time they were babies, I’d hold them while dancing to _Brown Girl in the Ring_, then stop moving suddenly when the music stopped in the middle, then start again. It got gleeful giggles from them everytime. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/17 "2006-09-02T04:18:53Z")
There’s also an album that Jerry Garcia and David Grisman recorded called “Not For Kids Only.” ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/18 "2006-09-02T04:48:29Z")
Dan Zanes. I can listen to his band all day. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/19 "2006-09-02T05:03:42Z")
One word: [No!](http://www.amazon.com/No-They-Might-Be-Giants/dp/B000068C97/sr=1-1/qid=1157173182/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4977424-6220818?ie=UTF8&s=music) ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089/20 "2006-09-02T06:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] There’s also an album that Jerry Garcia and David Grisman recorded called “_ **Not For Kids Only.** _” [/QUOTE] Perfect! …my kids have played “Jerry or Bobby”…and sometime have played “Jerry or Dave”, for years…they are now 18 and almost 16… It is a great album, or should I say CD. Peace, love and jerry… tsfr [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-for-children/371089.md?page=2)