My five year old loves music. She loves to listen to it, sing at full volume, create her own and hold CD cases. She likes to look at the pictures inside and have me read the artists’ thank you’s and lyrics to her. It’s always been her one particular oddity. Up until recently her favorite musicians have been of the children’s music genre. By the time she was 2 1/2 my daughter knew all the words to every Raffi song ever written as well as the words to about 200 other songs. Sharon, Lois and Bram, Rick Scott, Bobs and Lolo and The Kerplunks have all been some of her favorites. I have never really minded having kid’s songs play in my house all day. Or maybe I just got used to it like I’ve gotten used to a lot of things since my kids were born.
I even got used to her ruling the roost as far as what kind of music was allowed in the house. It used to be that I’d put on one of my CDs at home and she’d practically turn herself inside out in protest. Call me a royal push-over if you will. But I decided early on that I preferred having Old Mac Donald play five times in a row over her screaming. Since my newest CD was about six years old anyway I accepted my fate in mostly listening to the radio. In the car. My domain.
Then one day, not too long ago, I went to a concert. I bought the band’s CD. I loved it. I played it on the CD player in the car. “You’ll like it,” I told her. I was right. She did like it. She loved it. I was thrilled. I finally had played an “adult” CD we could both enjoy.
Then she asked me to put it on every time we were in the car. And then to play it over again. I started to get sick of it in the car so I brought it inside thinking that there was no way she’d want it played there. What? Replace Baby Beluga? Never! But I was wrong. As soon as she realized it was banned from the car she begged to listen to it right after breakfast. At first I set some limits. Only one time through. Mommy doesn’t like to listen to CDs over and over again. Only if you change out of your pajamas. Only if….
But even with limits and bargaining I began to tire of my new favorite band.
Déjà vu 1996: I was 22 and on an overland adventure tour in Southern Africa. The drivers had but one cassette tape. UB-40. After 28 days of listening to nothing but Red, Red Wine, a once much-loved song became a much-despised song. To this day when I hear Red, Red Wine I start feeling car sick.
Here I was again. So I gave up. She can listen to it as much as she wants. I’ve learned to both enjoy her rendition of the lyrics, which can be very funny, and drown it out like I learned long ago to drown out Barney. I figure she’ll tire of them eventually. I may never get back my original enthusiasm for my old new favorite band, but at least I can figure that my daughter is developing some taste in music that I can agree with. And hey, this is going down in history as her first favorite grown up band. And one never forgets their first favorite band do they?
Mine was Air Supply.
Have your kids ever taken over your music? What was your first favorite band?
Oh right, you probably want to know what we’ve been listening to over here. Mother Mother is a band out of Vancouver, but the members are from Vancouver Island where I live. In fact two of the band members and I have friends in common.
Yes, it’s a small, small world!
And this is our favorite song. “Oh My Heart.”
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Ray Charles was first. Somehow Kieran got obsessed over “Hit the Road Jack” and that was that – NOTHING else could be played in the car.
Currently we have the Sound of Music soundtrack in the car CD player. (bang bang bang bang bang – that’s the sound of me hitting my head against the steering wheel)
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For my son its the the Kings of Leon song “closer” or very occasionally I can convince him to listen to “revelry” or “taper jean girl”. I’ve banned all Raffi in our home and I’m not especially fond of any other “kids” music so I guess this obsession is something I can be gratful for!
My son hasn’t yet taken over any of my music, but we’ve been listening to The Wiggles here ad nauseam. Much better than Barney, I figure! When I was young, it was all Annie soundtrack, all the time. I wore that poor tape out!
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I was a HUGE Burton Cummings fan as a kid. Huge. My own daughter likes Cyndi Lauper. I am quickly tiring of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”.
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My daughter loves The Pogues. I sympathize, but now she’s 4 and is catching the lyrics to adult songs, I have had to “lose” the CD.
I can usually get her to listen to our local New Country station. Not my first choice, but at least we avoid too much repetition. It’s either that or endless repetition of one of her Little People CDs, and that can make me want to drive into a tree at times to stop the pain…
[...] – our favorite new song) and Ryan Guldemond from Mother Mother (my former favorite band - see here to find out why). Click the links for some great music and very cool [...]