Andy Partridge, the frontman for the Britpop group XTC, once said: “Today’s pop tunes are the nursery rhymes of the future.”
I agree and have been trying to make it true. At least in my car with my kids. I want today’s pop tunes (actually the pop tunes of my youth) to be the nursery rhymes of today.
In that spirit, I’ve been playing lots of oldies in the cars for the kids. Paul Simon and Paul Westerberg. Van Morrison and Billy Joel, a little of Bob Dylan’s last album, and, lately, Bob Marley. Some more contemporary stuff, too. They love Vampire Weekend and the Arctic Monkeys.
I draw them in with novelty tunes. Like “Me and Julio”:
Then I get them singing along to “I Know What I Know”:
They like Billy Joel“
“but they know that Billy Joel is not in the same league as Van Morrison. (This clip of “Caravan” from The Last Waltz is truly amazing, esp Van’s leg kicks (beginning at 4:20):
I can’t explain why they hit on “Jeannie Needs a Shooter”, by Warren Zevon:
But I get why they like Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up”“