R. O. pre-K.

Well this is a little bit embarrassing…I’ve been working on this post so long that it’s almost out of date. It was meant to be put up at the end of the school year as a way to kick off the summer, yet here we are in August and the summer is almost over! I even had to remove two “school is over” songs, since it seems kind of cruel to post them now, with the start of school only a few weeks away. The rest of them are related to summertime, so let’s all enjoy it while it lasts.

“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” by BJ Thomas, 1969
From the soundtrack Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” lyrics

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but around here it has been raining non-stop since about April, which has unfortunately made the summer go zipping by. Seriously, we’ve gotten so much rain that people are wondering if they should start building an ark.

“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” by Allan Sherman, 1963
From the album My Son, the Nut
“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” lyrics

Those of you who go to camp will definitely appreciate this one. The music is from “Dance of the Hours”, from the opera La Gioconda by Ponchielli, which you may have heard before in the Walt Disney movie Fantasia. The lyrics are about a kid at camp who isn’t having any fun (mostly due to the constant rain) and writes a letter asking his parents to take him home. However, by the end of the song it has stopped raining and he changes his mind and wants to stay. This is a fairly old song, so it’s one that your parents might remember singing as a kid.

“Let’s Go Everywhere” by Medeski, Martin & Wood, 2008
From the album Let’s Go Everywhere
“Let’s Go Everywhere” lyrics

Did anyone go on a road trip this summer? Where did you go? We’re gonna get in the car and go see some family this weekend, but we are also going to try and drive to Washington DC to see the sights before the summer is over. This song is full of a ton of places you could possibly visit (unfortunately I couldn’t positively identify them all in the lyrics), so if you need inspiration for a road trip, give it a listen. If your parents think this song sounds familiar, that’s probably because it’s a spoof of a country song by Hank Snow called “I’ve Been Everywhere”, which has been used in a few television commercials.

“The Andy Griffith Show Theme: The Fishing Hole” by Henry Kaiser, 1989
From the album Those Who Know History Are Doomed to Repeat It
“The Andy Griffith Show Theme: The Fishing Hole” lyrics

This is the theme song to an old television show from the 1960’s, The Andy Griffith Show (ask your parents or grandparents if they remember it). However, on the TV show, the song was an instrumental, with someone whistling in place of the lyrics. If you ask most people who know it from television, they probably don’t even realize there are words to this song! That’s a bit of a shame, because it’s a great song about being a kid and going fishing. While my daughter doesn’t care for fishing, she loves to go crabbing. The first time we caught enough for a crab feast, and another time she caught a turtle (who was not happy about it!). Luckily the trap doesn’t hurt anything, so we were able to set him free with no problem.

“By the Beautiful Sea” by Spike Jones and his City Slickers, 1947
From the compilation The Spike Jones Anthology
“By the Beautiful Sea” lyrics

Those of you lucky enough to live near the ocean will appreciate this one. The funny interlude at the boardwalk sideshow makes me think of WC Fields in a Looney Tunes cartoon taking place at Coney Island, New York.

“Wonder Wheel” by Dan Zanes and Friends, 2001
From the album Family Dance
“Wonder Wheel” lyrics

Speaking of Coney Island, the Wonder Wheel is the name of the Ferris wheel at the Coney Island boardwalk. However, it’s no ordinary Ferris wheel, since the cars slide around! The wheel is made up of two circles (one inside the other), with the cars mounted to the outer circle. As the wheel brings you up, when you get near the top, the cars then slide down onto the inner circle. As the wheel comes back down, the car slides back to the outer circle. When you ride it for the first time you don’t know this, so you can hear the surprised screams of the rookies all the way down the boardwalk!

“Rockaway Beach” by The Ramones, 1977
From the album Rocket To Russia
“Rockaway Beach” lyrics

Ah, a trip to the beach with the family, what could be more fun? Rockaway Beach is located in the borough of Queens in New York City. Along with Coney Island, it is one of the best-known beaches in the city.

“Swimming Song” by Kate and Anna McGarrigle, 1975
From the album Kate and Anna McGarrigle
“Swimming Song” lyrics

Did you learn to swim this summer, or did you already know how? Either way, this one is a great description of what it’s like when you finally figure out how to impersonate a fish.

“Surfin’ Safari” by The Beach Boys, 1962
From the compilation Made in the U.S.A.
“Surfin’ Safari” lyrics

Once you learn to swim, if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend that you learn to surf. As for the Beach Boys, though they had a bunch of songs about surfing (“Surfin’”, “Surfin’ USA”, “Surfer Girl”, “Noble Surfer”, “Surf Jam”, “The Rocking Surfer”, “Surfers Rule”, “South Bay Surfer”, “The Surfer Moon”…and those were just the ones with “surf” in the title!) only their drummer actually knew how to surf.

“Ice Cream” by George Lewis’ Ragtime Band, 1953
From the compilation Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans
“Ice Cream” lyrics

Mmmmmmm, ice cream…so tasty, cool, and refreshing, it should be named the official food of summertime! Around our house we’ve had just about every type of frozen treat possible this summer; ice cream, gelato, sherbert, frozen custard, sno-cones, popsicles, and Italian ice. Which one is your favorite?

Ok kids, this next one is for your parents. It’s quite catchy, but probably not anything you want to be singing on the camp bus.

“Lawn Dart” by Ed’s Redeeming Qualitities, 1990
From the album More Bad Times
“Lawn Dart” lyrics

This is a cautionary tale about an old game called “lawn darts”, anyone remember those? They were these big (about a foot long and a few pounds each) darts that you toss up in the air, aiming them towards a circle on the ground about a hundred feet away. Honestly, they did seem a bit dangerous; once the darts were tossed into the air, they would come down with enough force to injure anyone who got in their way. As a result, they have been banned for sale in the U.S. and Canada.