Yes I’m hopping mad. And I’m not gonna take it anymore. Music for children. Children’s music. OMG! I absolutely hate it. It’s moronic.
Let me tell you why.
Me and my three-year-old daughter just LOVE Play School. Well, I tell a lie. She loves Play School and I love that she loves it. Partly because it gives me a moment’s break every now and then while she is thoroughly absorbed by Little Ted and Jemima and which-window-we-will go-through-today. Yes, I will stand up and confess: I am an occasional to regular-to-pretty-much everyday user of the “TV Nanny”. I worry about it sometimes. And justify it to myself often.
But I also love Play School because it’s something that my daughter and I do together. You see, I’m a victim of my own enthusiasm. When Odette first began showing interest in Play School I encouraged her by jumping up and down like an idiot and shouting “Play School is on! Play School is on!” Little did I know I was making a rod for my own back. Now Odette assumes I am some kind of crazed Play School junkie. When it comes on the television she squeals with delight: “Daddy it’s play School, Daddy it’s Play School!” And I have to run to the room and settle down with her to watch. It’s “our thing” now. And there’s not a thing I can do about it – even if I wanted to.
So much for the “back-story.” (God how I loathe that suddenly fashionable phrase which I now hear a 1000 times a day.)
Anyway, I’m a regular Play School watcher. And I happen to think it’s one of the best kids shows around. It certainly fascinates my little girl. (And I’m learning how to do more innovative things with bits of paper and string than I ever did at school.)
But what has been increasingly getting my goat is Georgie Parker. Oh I know, I KNOW. Don’t get all upset. Yes she’s Australia’s golden girl. Yes she’s won a Logie Award seven million times. But hear me out!
For those of you who don’t follow Play School she’s a semi-regular presenter on the show. And she’s pretty good I suppose. Not as good as Jay, Rhys or Karen. But that’s a personal thing I guess. She does a good job anyway. Right up until she starts pitching her new CD for children, Here Comes The Sun. Now I’m not blaming her for jumping on the children’s music gravy train. Like a lot of people these days, she’s decided she loves kids and wants to make money out of them. OK, fine.
So what’s my beef? I guess in the case of Ms Parker’s Here Comes The Sun, I’m asking myself why? Besides the obvious money making, I mean. WHY? Why not, at least, play the far superior Beatles version to your kids? What’s the point of this cut down, simplified mind numbingly AVERAGE cover version?? Don’t believe me? Click here and listen/see for yourselves.
This stuff we are peddling to our kids is NOT GOOD. It’s very, very bad music. We wouldn’t listen to it. Why should we expect our children to? Why are we so sure they won’t “get” more sophisticated stuff? Or that they won’t enjoy the music we appreciate? Why should we force our kids to listen to music performed by bored TV stars who can hardly sing?
I’m not just singling out poor Georgie. She’s just trying to make a buck. But the same can be said for just about everything that’s around these days. The Wiggles. Hi Five. You name it. It’s all so boring and badly done. Silly little rhymes and simple-minded little tunes with stupefyingly repetitive phrases. Its just all so unbearably TWEE. It’s like we’ve all decided that kids aren’t capable of real music. But WHO has decided? It’s not really us. We’re just going with the flow. It’s the record companies who have struck gold on the Children’s Entertainment bonanza.
So I got to thinking. There is great music for children out there. Try Sergei Prokofiev for example. Prokofiev wrote the world famous music specifically for children called Peter and the Wolf. It’s music written by a great composer for kids. It doesn’t talk down to them. Now that’s kids music. It’s music for kids. Not music for morons. It’s absolutely fantastic. And done with intelligence and great flair. I bought a copy for Odette and she loves it. Knows it all off by heart already.
Or why not try Mozart? If he could compose at three, surely your child can manage to listen to him at four? Or Beethoven? But it doesn’t have to be the classical stuff. How about modern jazz or rock? Anything but Wake Up Jeff or third rate blanded out cover versions of golden oldies. Help me Jesus.
Face facts people – kids “entertainment” is a global racket. I think it’s completely cynical. It’s time to give real music to our children.
It’s time to treat our kids with some musical respect.
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Oh god I’ve been ranting about this for days. What kind of person would ruin a beautiful song like Here Comes the Sun??? My son has both the Beatles and the Nina Simone versions and hopefully he’ll never have to hear that other tasteless cover.
We are thinking as one Kate!! The Nina Simone is beautiful. I love that your son has listened to her version. AND the Beatles.
What a well educated young boy you must have.
Leaving aside the topic of Georgie Parker’s singing (let’s face it, the less said, the better!), I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with the concept of kid’s music. There is something in its simplicity and repetitiveness that appeals to young children with developing language.
I don’t think that ‘kids music’ (as it exists) and ‘good music’ are mutually exclusive. A child can enjoy singing along to the simple and personally relevant lyrics of Rock-a-bye-your-bear, and can also be thrilled by the horns and violins in the 1812 overture.
My four year old loves The Wiggles. And Bjork, Prokofiev, Dire Straits, Tchaikovsky and so on. I give him the exposure and allow him the choice. Sometimes he chooses The Wiggles. There’s no accounting for taste, but the fact that he genuinely likes it means it’s more than just a rort.
Thanks for your really interesting comment Sarah. Basically we agree
)
that Georgie destroys “Here Comes the Sun”. LOLZ. And I think we both
agree that children’s music can be good music. That was my point also.
Prokofiev is high quality music for kids. But I disagree with the idea
that the Wiggles is “good” music. I think its a narcotic for kids -
the child’s equivalent of Propofol (recently made infamous by Michael
Jackson
You say that a child can enjoy the repetition and simplicity of “hands
in the air rock a bye your bear”. I agree with that too. Me and both
my kids have got a real kick out of singing that particular phrase
together. “Everybody clap! Clap clap clap” ha ha I DID enjoy watching
my daughter do the moves etc. BUT I’m not sure its the right thing for
her? I guess I’ve been questioning that. The Wiggles is SO bound up
with the marketing for kids and the endless toys and money making that
I wonder about it more and more… I guess I want to disconnect them,
just a little, from this endless marketing and manipulation? Also just
because my kids enjoy the Wiggles doesn’t mean its good for them. Same
goes for Macdonalds!! Not that I’m going to ban it or anything. GOD I
don’t want to be some stern Victorian father BUT I’m just hoping for
something better for my kids.
Does the simplicity and repetition of the Wiggles help with my kids
early development? I don’t know. I know that kids learn language in a
very complex environment and not in bits and pieces. They learn it
“whole” so to speak – in phrases and gestures. I’m not against
simplicity and repetition per se. Prokofiev has a lot of repetition.
But the question is where does this repetition lead? Is it about a
greater and greater understanding – increasing development? Or is it
about “hooking” the kids to a simple phrase so they will pester me to
buy more DVD’s?
But are you making a more serious point? Do you know that repetition
and simplicity is good for early language education? Looks like you
have a better understanding of this than me! And I would love to hear
more!
Thanks again Sarah. Loved your comment.
Sarah! This is such an interesting comment. I really thank you for it.
You know what? You’re starting to change my mind. (I don’t do that often. Or, maybe I do?) I see that babies learn from repetition and simplicity. That makes sense. I guess I was trying to say that the best music for kids possibly has simplicity AND more when they’re ready for the next “stage”. Is this a kind of Piaget thing? I COULD get into an argument with you about the “stages of cognitive development” thing BUT this is probably not the right place. Needless to say I LOL when you mentioned the marketing possibilities of Prokofiev!
Just want to thank you because you’ve made me and maybe every other reader think more deeply about this issue. I still dislike “kids music”. But I’m not SO anti it as I was.
I really hope you keep reading and commenting. I’ll look forward to what you have to say.
I grew up on Queen’s Night at the Opera and Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds – hardly kid’s music. I’m going to make sure my kids have access to more than just the Wiggles!
Totally agree Bron. Night at the Opera has it ALL over a half-arsed cover of the Beatles! LOVE IT.
Here here! From when my son was newborn, we played King Crimson to lull him to sleep. Now, aged 3, his most requested album is Queen’s greatest hits (which although I quite like, am now getting thoroughly sick of). At his birthday party he selected ACDC as the accompanying music for pass the parcel. Whilst he does enjoy Playschool and other kids songs at times, he seems to actively dislike Wiggles and other similar music produced ‘for kids’. The ‘kids music’ he loves best at the moment is stuff from 1970s Sesame St – in particular the Pinball Song. I’m happy, he’s happy. Sorry, Georgie, Justine and co… we won’t be buying your CDs.
King Crimson? ACDC? Rock ON Jane. Brilliant stuff. You should play your son some Enter Shikari too. Very King Crimson inspired. Madness.
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for your reply Angry Dad. It was a serious comment. I’m a speech pathologist, so language development is definitely an area of interest for me. It goes against what a lot of modern parents (including me) instinctively feel, but it is a fact that there is a developmental stage where kids benefit from simplicity and repetition. Just as babies benefit from baby talk (they attend longer and are more responsive to baby talk than to regular adult talk), emerging speakers benefit from repetition and predictability. It’s not all they need though. They also need stimulation that’s beyond their current level as something to work towards. A mix is important.
You asked ‘what it leads to?’. Generally, it makes itself redundant – it leads to children who are ready for the next step which is less predictability, and less repetitiveness. A non musical example would be children’s stories. You wouldn’t sit down with a child and War and Peace. Despite how tedious some kids books can be, you sit down with them instead because they engage the kids at their developmental level.
Of course the analogy can be taken further – there are some kids books that are charming and whimsical in their simplicity and there are others that are simply banal. Some of them are just crap, and sometimes it’s a matter of taste. Much like kids music (I personaly don’t mind The Wiggles but loathe Hi Five).
Of course I’m not saying that kids need The Wiggles, just that The Wiggles fill a niche (the same one that has been filled for centuries by nursery rhymes) rather than having created it.
I agree with you on the marketing thing. It seems to have gotten so much worse over the last 10 years or so, and it’s a shame when even the ABC is not free of it. Although, I daresay if Prokofiev was around these days we’d be able to buy the stuffed toy version of him. And the marketing potential of all those animals….
My personal hate is Hi 5. The over animated adults, the obnoxious behaviour. I don’t care if kids like this rubbish. I don’t want my kids to mimic this.
Hey Certified Dad I agree about obnoxious behaviour of Hi Five!! For a little while, Nathan was my sworn enemy. I hated his over-acting super “up” attitude. But I’ve mellowed. Now I just dislike it. Thanks for commenting.
Angry Dad, Just watch The Fairies and then you will think The Wiggles are art by comparison! I agree with you and I agree with Sarah. In that, I think there is a place for kid’s music and that’s why they enjoy it, BUT I also think that sometimes producers insult kids with the cheap, shoddy crap they put together, with almost no thought for creating a quality product. Have you seen Justine Clarke’s Songs to Make You Smile? The animation and artwork are gorgeous and the songs have an emotional range that kids respond to. I think The Wiggles are fun and educational, but they do lack emotional depth, and the productions are very predictable (all blue screen studio shots, seriously guys!) I also think that they could be more considerate of parents by toning down all the promotional products.
My two-year-old daughter loves Hi-5. Unfortunately. But I take solace from the fact that my four-year-old son adores the Mighty Buzzniks above all else. Now that is kids’ music! Of course, he’s also partial to the Scissor Sisters and Jet…
I agree with you all. Although as much as I like Georgie as an actress, I don’t like watching her on Playschool. My kids never really liked Hi-five or any of the other silly shows although i did try to get them to watch it sometimes, even at 5 and 7 they still love Playschool. Usually instead of the tv I just put on some music from my extensive list and they are starting to learn the words to songs from bands such as Mika, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Bee Gees, Robbie Williams and Dr Hook. I have about 5 or 6 kids music cds but they are mainly nursery rhyms. I got put off playing some of them because the story behind them is actually quite terrible. Anyway I do think there is alot of crappy kids music out there. On the other hand though maybe it is so popular now because there is alot of music that has swearing or sexual references in the lyrics. We don’t want to explain things to our children before we should need to.
I am really inspired by this dialouge. I created The Mighty bUZZniks because I believed that kids can appreciate sophisticated music, silly music, real music with interesting lyrics BUT that were not twee or dumbed down. This is not an Add but I’m inspired that parents do want to find music that goes beyond the stuff that is out there that treats kids like mindless jelly heads. It is out there. The Mighty Buzzniks, the mudcakes, Dan Zanes etc but sadly, without T.V coverage one is battling with the corporate branding monster that is The Wiggles, Hi-5, Playschool presenters etc. It is a battle to get this music parents and kids desire out there. The Mighty bUZZniks are signed to ABC but go into a shop and see if you can find a CD to buy.
I have a dream where there is a music scene for early primary kids or (4-10 y.o) There needs to be a bridge between baby music and the teen/pop ‘music’ that has no appropriate lyrical content for kids. Often it is soft porn or pap about teen love.
The point is that you can play kids The Beatles and Mozart and Tom Waits and Nina Simone and a child with a rich musical education will love this music. But music of that style and quality with lyrics that have content that relates directly to their own worlds… That is what we need!
My son will only listen to Voodoo Cile by Hendrix or The Beatles and I can sometimes get away with Mongolian throat singing. If he hears The Wiggles he gets very angry. Anyway lets all hope the vision may one day prevail over ways to sell as much junk to kids as possible. Be Mighty!
Jamie Saxe