Good music for Daddy & toddler?

April 28, 2009 5:55 AM

I'd like my daughter to grow up on good music. I'm looking for stuff that both of us can enjoy together. Me: early 30s, Her: 2. She loves "All I Want Is You" and "Anyone Else But You" from the Juno soundtrack. Good start! Any more recommendations?

I found a similar question, but not quite what I was looking for.

I'm thinking along the lines of the Beatles "Yellow Submarine", They Might Be Giants "Particle Man", The Temptations "My Girl".

Classic, current, popular, obscure. Whatever. I'm just looking for some good music. (I am aware of the TMBG kids discs.)

posted by speeb to media & arts (50 answers total)

My two-year-old son loves Vampire Weekend's A-Punk for some reason.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 6:06 AM on April 28, 2009

I don't have any particular recommendations other than listen to what you like. My kids have grown up listening to "my" music and I couldn't be happier. As they got older they'd hear songs in movies or on tv or in a store and they'd ask to find out what it was; we'd find out together and add a new song to our library. Nowadays we're finding stuff on youtube and from friends on Facebook.

So what I'm saying is get recommendations, sure, but don't stop listening to the stuff you like, and listen to it with your daughter.
posted by cooker girl at 6:07 AM on April 28, 2009

This thread has a lot of nice stuff (after reading it, I came across this Smithsonian collection on Amazon).

I doubt I'll find anything more apprealing to both myself and my two year old. But if'you are looking for more adult music, my girl loves I'm From Barcelona (Note: only marginally more adult).
posted by etc. at 6:16 AM on April 28, 2009

Cemetry Gates, Girlfriend in a Coma, etc. by The Smiths. A bonus would be she might learn who Oscar Wilde is before she's 5.
posted by milarepa at 6:24 AM on April 28, 2009

Um, I like Justin Roberts.

Should I be embarrassed?
posted by kestrel251 at 6:25 AM on April 28, 2009

P.S. "Way Out" is the album I have. I don't even have kids. I probably SHOULD be embarrassed....
posted by kestrel251 at 6:27 AM on April 28, 2009

Yeah, anything you like and get enthusiastic about is good. My daughter is 16 and we raised her on a diet of whatever we were listening to at the time... which always included a lot of Beatles and a lot of jazz and a lot of world music. She has very eclectic tastes now because we did, too. Plus, me being a musician meant that she was exposed to live music from the time she was still in the womb.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 6:28 AM on April 28, 2009

My daughter is 3 and my son is 1 and they both enjoy most of what my wife and I listen to. Music is turned on as soon as we're up, so they're exposed to everything from Bach to My Chemical Romance throughout the day.

Over time, my daughter has become fanatical about different things at different times, such as Regina Spektor's On The Radio, Battles' Atlas, choral music in general and The Infadel's Love Like Semtex. Go figure.

My son just digs anything with a steady beat he can dance to, like Queens Of The Stone Age.

Both of them abhor hard rock and heavy metal before breakfast.
posted by Cobalt at 6:32 AM on April 28, 2009

My son's two and has never listened to anything but our own music collection. What's interesting is that recently, he heard a "kid's song" from a Sesame Street album and after one listening had it totally memorized, but when given the opportunity to listen to the album again, chose a Tom Waits song instead. I don't know what this means, but it was interesting. My dude loves:

the aforementioed Tom Waits (his voice seems to be really appealing to kids)
Jens Lekman
The Magnetic Fields
The Ting Tings (my kid loves that crazy 'That's not my name!" song SO much)
Paul Simon (mainly the Graceland album)
The Beatles
Sufyan Stevens
The New Pornographers (bouncy! But the name might prove to be hard to explain, later)
Bright Eyes
The Be Good Tanyas
Chopin Waltzes
Miles Davis, but really any kind of jazz, and Ella Fitzgerald for vocal jazz--she has some fun recordings
The Carolina Chocolate Drops

The above are all either dance-y, good for naps, or (recently) he's gotten into just listening (ever since he got a chance to try out his grandpa's fancy headphones and had the 'wall of sound' experience). We also have the stereo at his level, and after carefully showing him how it works, he can manage the nano in its dock and choose his own tunes by looking at the coverart. He only sometimes cranks the volume to post 20 :)
posted by rumposinc at 6:33 AM on April 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

I think songs that are playful with a fairly clear melody might be appreciated.
Perhaps things like:
Eels- I Like Birds
Feist- 1234
Islands- Rough Gem
Sigur Ros- Hoppipolla
Sufjan Stevens-Chicago
Moxy Fruvous- King of Spain
Joanna Newsom- Spout and the Bean
posted by Kirjava at 6:40 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

She might like the Zombies. This Will be Our Year and Time of the Season are two of the songs from the awesome album Odessey and
Oracle.
posted by schyler523 at 6:55 AM on April 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

The Weary Boys, Jumpin Jolie is awesome for grownups and kids!

When I was little we used to dance around and sing to "back in babies arms" and some others by Patsy Cline.
posted by dpx.mfx at 6:55 AM on April 28, 2009

If your family happens to celebrate Christmas, use the Sufjan Stevens 'Songs for Christmas' set. It has new songs and classics (Silent Night, First Noel.) Sufjan is excellent in all situations, but particularly better than most bland holiday compliations.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 6:56 AM on April 28, 2009

Feist- 1234

I would have linked to this version.
posted by craichead at 6:57 AM on April 28, 2009

My son (age 3) also loves the Ting Tings "That's Not my Name," so there must be something to that.

I think our favorite music that we listen to together is Polka music. He loves holding hands and dancing around in circles to Polka. Can't get enough of that.

He also likes the Ramone's Blitzkrieg Bop.
posted by Otis at 6:58 AM on April 28, 2009

Dan Zanes. And if you get a chance to see DZ & Friends in concert, all the better.
posted by pardonyou? at 6:58 AM on April 28, 2009

Kids just plain like music. Kids will happily listen to anything. Case in point - my mother used to teach preschool, and has said that sometimes the kids in her class just busted out by singing TV jingles now and then. They didn't really get what they were singing about, all they cared about was "hey, it's music, it's catchy! I'll sing it!" They were just as prone to singing TV jingles as they were the Barney theme song or whatever. And so every so often you'd hear this little voice just bust out with "It's the salad shoooooterrrrr!"

So whatever you like and are excited about, as long as it's reasonably catchy, will probably work. My father played a lot of Taj Mahal records when I was a kid, and I have especially fond childhood memories about Taj's De Old Folks At Home in particular. It's folksy -- just Taj Mahal and a banjo for the most part -- and there's a sort of fun hand-clappy rap sort of song called "A Little Soulful Tune" which I espcially liked.

For really young kids, you can also gloss over some of the more questionable lyrics by telling them "no, they're singing something else" that sounds like it. Here is a video of a toddler dancing to a thrash metal song (I think?), and the parents report they've dealt with the lyrics issue by telling him the song is called "Secret Banana."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:58 AM on April 28, 2009

my 18 month old daughter loooooooves to dance to the soundtrack to "the harder they come" featuring jimmy cliff

she also likes new order
posted by fancyoats at 6:59 AM on April 28, 2009

My kid isn't here yet, but I have a friend whose 4 year old daughter loves Basic Channel and Jeff Mills, and another friend whose sun loves roots dub like Scientist.
posted by mkb at 7:02 AM on April 28, 2009

Not a parent, but I introduced the 3 year old girl I nannied to a few albums, to counteract her Hannah Montana obsession. Her favorite songs from those were:

Kooks, Always Where I Need to Be
Magnetic Fields, The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing

and for bedtime:

Paul McCarney, Calico Skies
Weepies, Gotta Have You

posted by bluestocking at 7:02 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

I have a mix CD I've made for kids based on my (grownup) collection. MeMail me if you'd like a copy.
posted by knile at 7:12 AM on April 28, 2009

See You On The Moon! is a compilation of kid-geared songs with some really great indie rock folks (Great Lake Swimmers, Sufjan Stevens, Broken Social Scene, Mark Kozelek).
posted by oulipian at 7:22 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Another household here where my son (he's 2 1/2) listens to what we listen to, basically.

However, I have made an effort to seek out music in the following two categories:

-- Silly, fun early rock ('50's/early '60s). (Examples are Johnny B. Goode, Hound Dog, Tutti Frutti, Peggy Sue, Be Bop a Lula, Bo Diddley, Wake Up Little Susie, Sh-Boom, Do You Want to Dance, etc.) The lyrics are simple (so he can easily sing along, which he loves to do), and the music is really "clear" (ie: an uncluttered mix) so we can talk about what instruments are making what sounds. Also, frankly, I want him to have heard Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, etc, and have that music as part of his cultural knowledge and background so hopefully he'll have a good baseline from which to appreciate a wider range of musical styles when he's older. But mostly they're accessible, fun to sing, and I don't have to worry about explaining much about the lyrics.

-- So-called "Bubblegum Pop" (Sugar Sugar, Woolly Bully, Hang On Sloopy, I'm Henry the Eighth I am...., Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Do You Believe In Magic?, Wipeout, Splish Splash, etc) just because its fun to sing.
posted by anastasiav at 7:23 AM on April 28, 2009 [3 favorites]

My 18 month old daughter is currently OBSESSED with "Radio Radio" by Elvis Costello, to the point of asking for it anytime we are near a sound system in the house. Other favorites include:

She Loves You by The Beatles
I wanna be sedated by The Ramones
Blue Orchid by the white stripes

I am definitely going to check out the rest of the answers, though...some good suggestions in the thread.
posted by griffey at 7:27 AM on April 28, 2009

I think the late Beatles are great for little kids. Not just Yellow Submarine but Octopus' Garden and Bungalo Bill and the like.

But also, don't be afraid of Raffi. Raffi is awesome. I could listen to Raffi until the cows come home.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:33 AM on April 28, 2009

my boy likes the Stone Roses
posted by Frasermoo at 7:34 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Flaming Lips - The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
posted by so_necessary at 7:38 AM on April 28, 2009

I Wish That I Could See You Soon, by Herman Dune.
posted by arianell at 7:45 AM on April 28, 2009

Just listen to what you listen to. Musical tastes are part of growing up, and she'll adopt your tastes for awhile (not sure how long) and then you'll adopt HER tastes.

My daughter was into mostly what I was into, other than she hated the Dead from the womb onward, it seems.

At some point, she started listening to HER stuff, and I never would have expected to get into Bikini Kill, but it happened.

So my advice to you would be to just relax and it will all happen organically.
posted by Danf at 7:46 AM on April 28, 2009

We have a sound file of our (then) two year old son singing "Hey ho let's go!"
posted by Lucinda at 8:00 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

No children of my own, but I have had a few magical moments with my friends kids to The Beach Boys.
posted by elendil71 at 8:02 AM on April 28, 2009

My daughter loves "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell. She also likes "MR. Jones" by Counting Crows.
posted by Ostara at 8:04 AM on April 28, 2009

Try going to the Raffi station on Pandora and then "thumbing down" songs you don't like. We've gotten a pretty fun kid-friendly mix.

And, sadly, although I've tried to get my kid to listen to "my music," he does prefer the kid specific simple stuff. DOH.
posted by k8t at 8:14 AM on April 28, 2009

To expand on my answer, my rule of thumb was always "anything without swear words is fair game". I played what I liked, and he told me what he liked and didn't from that.

Now our son's almost eight, and I have a playlist of very eclectic music that is his list. We play Rock Band and Guitar Hero, so a lot of his favorite music is from that (nothing like hearing a little kid sing "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath word-for-word).
posted by Lucinda at 8:28 AM on April 28, 2009

Ah.. exactly the kind of responses I was hoping for. I even have a lot of these suggestions in my collection, but when I sit down and think about it I'm just at a loss.

Like k8t said, it's not that I haven't tried, but she does seem to lean toward the more simple stuff. Sadly, I don't think she's a fan of loud guitars. :(
posted by speeb at 8:48 AM on April 28, 2009

My kids like pretty much any "goofy" song when they were that age with a good beat and fun lyrics. One that pops into my head that I don't see named yet is Rock Lobster by the B-52's. I think when you have slightly "off" lyrics or something that invokes a fun-kid-image in their head (like a lobster that they can imitate as they dance) you have a winner.

Also, my kids loved, Loved, LOVED the Yellow Submarine movie, not just the song. Great visual entertainment along with the great music.

I'm not a big fan of the kidz-bop or other "kids-sung" pop songs. First, I'd rather my kid learn/hear the song from the original artist. Second, some of the songs that appear on those are a bit sketch as far as the content I would want my kids listening to. For example, my daughters (5 and 3 at the time) loved the song "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne when they first heard it. It's fun, poppy, sung by a girl so it scored extra points with them, etc - but I didn't really like the content of the song of someone stealing another's boyfriend and the nihilism presented in the song. Okay, maybe I'm analyzing it way too much and such things will go way over the youngster's heads...
posted by JibberJabber at 9:02 AM on April 28, 2009

We have a sound file of our (then) two year old son singing "Hey ho let's go!"

Two illustrative tangents: I swear I heard somewhere a recording that John Lennon made of his then-four-year-old son Sean singing "Be-Bop-A-Lula". Then there's my best friend's daughter who is three; my best friend is an enormous Bruce Springsteen buff and -- well, to be honest, my friend tried to imprint Bruce's music on her. But it took a little too well -- her daughter's absolute favorite song is now "Thunder Road," and she loves it to the point that she no longer lets Mommy sing it because "it's Bruce's song, I wanna hear him sing it".

the moral: kids are open to anything, and they will DEFINITELY let you know whether they like something or not.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:07 AM on April 28, 2009

After the Juno soundtrack, Kimya Dawson released a kids' album called Alphabutt. (I believe her daughter, Panda, is also two years old.)
posted by adiabat at 9:12 AM on April 28, 2009

And, missed on preview:

My kids like pretty much any "goofy" song when they were that age with a good beat and fun lyrics. One that pops into my head that I don't see named yet is Rock Lobster by the B-52's. I think when you have slightly "off" lyrics or something that invokes a fun-kid-image in their head (like a lobster that they can imitate as they dance) you have a winner.

Ooh, the B-52's in general! Their stuff is generally fast, peppy, upbeat, and sometimes downright silly (a sampling from their Quiche Lorraine song: "has anybody seen/a dog dyed dark green/about two inches tall/with a strawberry blond fall?"). They even have songs about UFO's ("Is That You, Mo-Dean?") and wigs, for God's sake.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:13 AM on April 28, 2009

My nieces and nephew cannot get enough of The Decemberists (specifically Sixteen Military Wives and The Mariner's Revenge - which is HILARIOUS to watch three little kids running around acting out a whale swallowing an entire ship of people) and really love the 1234 song by Fiest, but what they love the absolute most is Tally Hall. They cannot get enough of the song The Whole World and You. I think I've actually listened to this song fifty times and I'm still not sick of it.
posted by banannafish at 9:35 AM on April 28, 2009

One artist I haven't yet seen mntioned, and who my nephew loved as wee tot, is Melanie Safka - Brand New Key, Alexander Beetle and Lay Down were his absolute favourites.
posted by goo at 10:56 AM on April 28, 2009

Donovan, especially Jennifer, Juniper and There Is A Mountain
posted by twoporedomain at 11:00 AM on April 28, 2009

My nephew absolutely loves singing, dancing and marching to Happy Days are Here Again.

More good silly fun from the 20s and 30s:

Yes Sir, That's My Baby
Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue
Yes, We Have No Bananas
Doin' the Raccoon

The Harry Reser/Tom Stacks And His Six Jumping Jacks album (on Amazon) and free mp3s at Red Hot Jazz is great too!
posted by aquafortis at 11:06 AM on April 28, 2009

You might consider some later-era [2000's] Stereolab: Groovy, upbeat melodies and lush female vocals that are maternal and sweet without being cloying.

(Plus, the kid might pick up some French....about situationist philosophy.)
posted by applemeat at 11:13 AM on April 28, 2009

My five year old and I listen to the Beatles Red Album constantly, especially the upbeat songs like "She Loves You" "I want to hold your Hand" and "Can't Buy me Love."

The Beatles Blue Album? Not so much, though he does like "Octopus' Garden." And though I've tried to get him to listen to The Who, all he has ever requested is "Happy Jack."
posted by cjets at 12:00 PM on April 28, 2009

Expose them to lots of things. Generally, kids will like what they like (and all tautologies are tautologies). My kids (6 and 2) go through phases - right now, they adore the music from Mary Poppins and other kids media. With repetition, they've come to not hate Trout Fishing in America - which is a big step up in my opinion.

For an interesting little diversion into oddly package world music, you might try The Backyardigans music. Evan Lurie draws from a wide variety of musical traditions and it's nice to listen to it and think, "ah, that's a tarantella." The Tale of the Mighty Knights is billed as rock opera, but it's an homage to Queen.
posted by plinth at 12:33 PM on April 28, 2009

A friend of mine teaches pre-K art classes and recently asked us to produce mix cds so she's not stuck listening to Hannah Montana all day.

One girl came up with this mix. It's fabulous and all the songs can be downloaded at the linked blog.

My mix included everything from Of Montreal to Jack Johnson to Buddy Holly to Herman's Hermits. If you're interested, MeMail me and I'll send you a bunch of MP3s.
posted by JannaK at 5:52 PM on April 28, 2009

Dear Edwina

Disclosure: the lyricist is a friend of mine.
posted by dfriedman at 7:15 AM on April 29, 2009

You might like the radio show Greasy Kid Stuff, which was designed to help with just your situation.
posted by dizziest at 7:38 PM on April 29, 2009

I second Dan Zanes, and it is one of the best concerts for kids I have seen. See him every chance I get.

I find that by signing up for an artist mailing list like Zanes I eventually find out about other artists that I now love, in this case Elizabeth Mitchell and then through her email list I recently purchased a family Ziggy Marly album that I imagine will be quite good.

Dan Zanes
Elizabeth Mitchell
Ziggy
posted by silsurf at 7:22 AM on May 1, 2009