Raffi – Singable songs for the very young

Price: $17.14

Raffi is a kind of godfather of children’s music – not that he invented it, but he’s very much associated with its rise as a distinct genre in the 1970s, and he’s still putting out records (most recently in 2006). He’s better-known on the far side of the Atlantic where this record, released in 1976, remains a best-seller, but even so you’ll most likely recognise some of the songs. “Mr. Sun”, for instance, was used regularly in “Bosco” (a 70s/80s Irish kids tv show) in the part where they used to go through The Magic Door. “Brush your teeth” is, according to Isabelle, now used in Barney, and then there’s a few singalongs that everyone knows, like “Baa baa black sheep” and “Going to the zoo”.

It’s not hard to see the reasons for this guy’s enduring success. There’s none of the grating in-your-face cheerfuless you get in some kids music and TV, he just sings the songs straight up like some kind of friendly uncle. His voice is warm and rich, his band (in which Daniel Lanois plays mandolin) is capable without getting in the way and he totally doesn’t talk down to his audience. Even “Brush your teeth”, in which you might reasonably expect children to be hectored about not eating sweets, turns about to be a funny little rhyme based on the sound that the toothbrush makes in your mouth. I don’t know about your kids, but this approach is far more effective at encouraging mine to brush than my best technical explanation of cavity formation by acid-forming bacteria in the presence of sugars.

As well as being a really enjoyable listen, with some emotional depth amongst the fun like the poignant little “I wonder if I’m growing”, there’s some great jumping off points here for family singalongs. I spent this evening amusing everyone with my extra nonsense couplets for “Down by the bay” (like “Did you ever see some trees/Doing a sneeze?”), and “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” makes Isabelle completely crack up with laughter when you add teachers from her school to the song like this:

Willoughby Wallaby Woo, an elephant sat on you

Willoughby Wallaby Wee, an elephant sat on me

Willoughby Wallaby Wister Hoey, an elephant sat on Mister Hoey

Willoughby Wallaby Wiss Ryan, an elephant sat on Miss Ryan