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Episode 16: Children's Music

One of the great treasures stored within the Folkways collection is the body of children's music recorded by such artists as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Ella Jenkins. The Program takes us on a voyage of joyful rediscovery, aided by the perspectives of Seeger, Jenkins and others.

The video clips this week are of songs performed by Pete Seeger in various concerts and on record for children, but as performed by Bruce Springsteen on the Seeger Sessions.

First up is Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal

then we have Shenandoah

These recordings and the concert tour were a much bigger success for Springsteen in Europe than the US, despite critical acclaim.

"Next to come in was a BIG BLACK SNAKE!"

I want to pause for a moment here - and say two things. First, our kids are pretty naive. I wish I could tell you it's because we knew what we were doing. Truth is, it was because of inertia. When Isabel went to pre-school, we had never moved beyond Sesame Street - why would we when it worked so well? (OK, I do need to admit that it took me awhile to get over Baby Bear's speech impediment.) I'll never forget 'Daddy Pizza and Movie Night' when we went to the pre-school with all the other kids and dads. The movie was "Finding Nemo," and Isabel didn't make it past the first scene (by the way, what's Disney's issues with Mom's?) All the other kids wondered why my daughter was crying and saying "I want to go home..." At the time, I felt like saying, 'It's because the kid's/fish's mother was just killed - the biggest crisis she's ever had to deal with on TV is Big Bird having trouble finding Ernie!!!' I didn't say that to all the jeering four and five year olds, though, I just picked up my crying little girl and left. The second thing I need to tell you is that Abe is a lyrics-hound. He listens intently and repeats lyrics to himself. He likes the sound of words. Sometimes, days after we see a movie, we'll hear Abe repeating the lines...a little like the guy I hung out with in college who used to repeat Caddyshack lines...scary.

So, back to "Froggie Went a Courtin.' As we made our way through the wedding, we eventually came to the line that Abe would repeat again and again. He'd listen to it with the same sort of glee that someone might go into a haunted house at an amusement park . The line is of course, "Next to come in was a Big Black Snake - chased them all into the lake..." Here it is, that line is, from Bruce, in all it's glory - Springsteen Froggie Clip - For a coupe of weeks, that snake was the villain in our games, he woke up Abe (and, consequently Tonya and me) more than once in the middle of the night...to have the imagination of a child. Strangely, though, this song has intrigued a lot of people over the years...

Here's one loyal Springsteen fan's attept to list all the other recordings of the song - Versions of Froggie Went a Courtin' . Another devotee of the song has listed the over 170 verses of the song that have been written or sung since it's first printed incarnation in 1611 here - Froggie Verses . The song's one drawback...it's repetitive. Man, is this song repetitive - but that, of course, cuts both ways. It drives us adults crazy, but sucks our kids in - it's probably the reason why this song has lasted so long, and probably why, 400 years after it was first written, it can still give a little boy the chills.

El Bruce saludant-nos abans d'entrar a l'Estadi del Llevant, per fer el concert amb la Seeger Sessions Band

Two older black guys sang a very impassioned version of "Mary Don't You Weep," with a completely different tempo than Springsteen's version on the Seeger Sessions album.

The teen boys, based on their clothing, seemed to be fans of black American culture.

As the singers finished, they bantered with fellow passengers, who seemed to find them more entertaining than annoying, and passed along a few coins.

Then they approached the tourists. The father looked wary, as fathers often do. The singers let go some rapid-fire street talk, which the tourists clearly did not understand. Nonetheless, the teen boys smiled. The singers asked where they were from. "Italy," came back the answer.

The train pulled into Times Square and the father stood up. (One wondered if the plan was to get out at 42nd, or if he was assessing the situation and calling an audible).

The singers shook hands with the teen boys, who smiled broadly and laughed as they stepped off the train. It seemed like it would be the highlight of their trip, better than the Empire State Building and Madam Tussaud's.

[CORRECTION: It was the N train, not the 6. So...Zen on the N?]