Indoctrination: Music
Eric listens to sports talk radio in the car and likes Weird Al Yankovic, so really his musical tastes don't matter. Krystal, on the other hand, no longer listens to NPR because the kids constantly are making musical requests like these:
Trio (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris) -- All the time, folks, my girls want to listen to good, ol' fashioned hillbilly-folk-country music ALL THE TIME. Listening to Raina and Lola sing "The Wi-fower Song" (as known by Lola) is such a gift. You can listen to the original song here and imagine tiny piping voices chiming in: Wildflowers.
Indigo Girls -- Raina listens to Rites of Passage each night before bed and she, completely independently of me, selected her favorite song which just happens to be my favorite song too! We'll sing "Joking" together and then laugh and laugh and laugh (and she'll beam proudly, as well she should).
The Decemberists -- Really, The King is Dead is a perfect album through and through so it got a lot of airtime in the car a year ago, but I only subjected the girls to it *so much.* But they love it and, again, hearing small voices join the melody on "June Hymn" is just beautiful.
Ben Folds -- For about two years, Raina's favorite song was "You Don't Know Me" by Ben Folds and Regina Spektor. There's a fair amount of track skipping when listening to Ben Folds in the car with kids -- Parental Advisory and all that -- but it's filled with great sing-along opportunities!
Radiohead -- Okay, admittedly, the girls don't request Radiohead, well, ever, but Raina really enjoys picking out the instrumentation and tempo for each song. It's hard work trying to piece it all together! Try matching the drums here: Myxomatosis. It took her weeks to figure it out.
And what musical indoctrination would be complete without some Stevie Wonder and Maceo Parker, I ask you? Here are songs that bring joy each time: Sir Duke and What I Say. The girls literally bounce around in the backseat and have dance moves and everything. In a word: awesome.
I wish that I had video recordings of the girls as they sing each of these songs, but I'm always driving so .... you'll just have to trust me when I say it is absolutely precious.
Trio (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris) -- All the time, folks, my girls want to listen to good, ol' fashioned hillbilly-folk-country music ALL THE TIME. Listening to Raina and Lola sing "The Wi-fower Song" (as known by Lola) is such a gift. You can listen to the original song here and imagine tiny piping voices chiming in: Wildflowers.
Indigo Girls -- Raina listens to Rites of Passage each night before bed and she, completely independently of me, selected her favorite song which just happens to be my favorite song too! We'll sing "Joking" together and then laugh and laugh and laugh (and she'll beam proudly, as well she should).
The Decemberists -- Really, The King is Dead is a perfect album through and through so it got a lot of airtime in the car a year ago, but I only subjected the girls to it *so much.* But they love it and, again, hearing small voices join the melody on "June Hymn" is just beautiful.
Ben Folds -- For about two years, Raina's favorite song was "You Don't Know Me" by Ben Folds and Regina Spektor. There's a fair amount of track skipping when listening to Ben Folds in the car with kids -- Parental Advisory and all that -- but it's filled with great sing-along opportunities!
Radiohead -- Okay, admittedly, the girls don't request Radiohead, well, ever, but Raina really enjoys picking out the instrumentation and tempo for each song. It's hard work trying to piece it all together! Try matching the drums here: Myxomatosis. It took her weeks to figure it out.
And what musical indoctrination would be complete without some Stevie Wonder and Maceo Parker, I ask you? Here are songs that bring joy each time: Sir Duke and What I Say. The girls literally bounce around in the backseat and have dance moves and everything. In a word: awesome.
I wish that I had video recordings of the girls as they sing each of these songs, but I'm always driving so .... you'll just have to trust me when I say it is absolutely precious.
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