Non-Children’s Songs with Child Vocals
January 10, 2021 4:12 PM Subscribe
I am trying to make a playlist of modern (post 1955) non-children’s songs that feature vocals by children, such as “Aeroplane” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Afraid” by Nelly Furtado. The children’s vocal would need to be more than just a word or two!
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall, part 2
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2021 [11 favorites]
High Hopes by Frank Sinatra
...or do you mean just one kid, not a chorus?
posted by Rash at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2021
...or do you mean just one kid, not a chorus?
posted by Rash at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2021
I think the children's chorus is rather common on "Christmas singles" in the UK. The (in)famous "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard is a good example.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 4:20 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 4:20 PM on January 10, 2021
Leonard Cohen - The Partisan
(note: the children are singing in French)
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 4:21 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
(note: the children are singing in French)
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 4:21 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Rolling Stones: You can't always get what you want.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 4:23 PM on January 10, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 4:23 PM on January 10, 2021 [7 favorites]
Phish - Contact (towards the end. Caution, earworm!)
posted by bondcliff at 4:27 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by bondcliff at 4:27 PM on January 10, 2021
Dead Man's Bones - My Body's A Zombie for You
posted by knile at 4:34 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by knile at 4:34 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Abba, “I have a dream.”
posted by Melismata at 4:36 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 4:36 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Brown skin girl - Beyoncé
Paper planes - M.I.A
posted by umwhat at 4:46 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Paper planes - M.I.A
posted by umwhat at 4:46 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:47 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:47 PM on January 10, 2021
We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner
posted by BrashTech at 4:51 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by BrashTech at 4:51 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Martika, Toy Soldiers.
posted by Melismata at 4:56 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 4:56 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
It's choristers rather than a regular kids chorus but Little Star by Stina Nordenstam has children singing towards the end.
posted by freya_lamb at 5:03 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by freya_lamb at 5:03 PM on January 10, 2021
We Belong - Pat Benatar
Possibly: Heaven is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle? There are kids in the video, but not sure about the actual song and not in the mood to go listen to it (sorry).
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:18 PM on January 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Possibly: Heaven is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle? There are kids in the video, but not sure about the actual song and not in the mood to go listen to it (sorry).
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:18 PM on January 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
There's also a rich seam of suggestions in this thread on I Love Music.
posted by freya_lamb at 5:26 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by freya_lamb at 5:26 PM on January 10, 2021
Playground in my Mind includes a duet with a seven-year-old boy.
posted by FencingGal at 5:44 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 5:44 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Decemberists, The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge)
Phish, Contact
posted by D.Billy at 5:56 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Phish, Contact
posted by D.Billy at 5:56 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem) by Jay Z
posted by barnoley at 5:57 PM on January 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by barnoley at 5:57 PM on January 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Mike and the Mechanics - the living years
posted by skewed at 6:15 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by skewed at 6:15 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Are you that somebody - Aaliyah
posted by Pretty Good Talker at 6:22 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Pretty Good Talker at 6:22 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
You made me think of Grandad We Love You and it will take time for me to recover. This... thing spent three weeks at the number 1 spot in the UK in 1971.
Laibach's Rossiya has a chorus of children singing the Russian national anthem.
posted by Vortisaur at 6:25 PM on January 10, 2021
Laibach's Rossiya has a chorus of children singing the Russian national anthem.
posted by Vortisaur at 6:25 PM on January 10, 2021
Sault—Stop Dem
posted by exceptinsects at 6:50 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by exceptinsects at 6:50 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
It might not be a long enough section to meet your requirements, but part of the middle verse of Cheyenne Anthem?
posted by C. K. Dexter Haven at 6:54 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by C. K. Dexter Haven at 6:54 PM on January 10, 2021
George Strait's Heartland, the version off the Pure Country soundtrack
posted by stormyteal at 7:52 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by stormyteal at 7:52 PM on January 10, 2021
Talk Talk - Happiness is Easy
Yo La Tengo - Nuclear War (Version 2)
De La Soul - Trying People
Caetano Veloso - Um canto de afoxé para o Bloco do Ilê (I guess the vocal by Moreno, Caetano's son, is just a refrain of two words, but he did get writing credit.)
posted by hydrophonic at 8:16 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yo La Tengo - Nuclear War (Version 2)
De La Soul - Trying People
Caetano Veloso - Um canto de afoxé para o Bloco do Ilê (I guess the vocal by Moreno, Caetano's son, is just a refrain of two words, but he did get writing credit.)
posted by hydrophonic at 8:16 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
(sigh) Do I have to be the one to post this?
Jordy - Dur Dur D'être Bébé!
posted by hydrophonic at 8:21 PM on January 10, 2021
Jordy - Dur Dur D'être Bébé!
posted by hydrophonic at 8:21 PM on January 10, 2021
Tori Amos' daughter joins her on Holly, Ivy, & Rose and sings a couple full verses.
John Darnielle-of-the-Mountain-Goats' older son's voice is heard in the chorus The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All The Other Jedi And Eats Their Bones.
hydrophonic, I think it had to be you, because the rest of us had repressed it.
posted by rhiannonstone at 8:41 PM on January 10, 2021
John Darnielle-of-the-Mountain-Goats' older son's voice is heard in the chorus The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All The Other Jedi And Eats Their Bones.
hydrophonic, I think it had to be you, because the rest of us had repressed it.
posted by rhiannonstone at 8:41 PM on January 10, 2021
Garrett Shider, the five year old son of P-Funk guitarist Gary Shider, sings backing vocals in RHCP's Brother's Cup.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:52 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:52 PM on January 10, 2021
I just stumbled across this one I had forgotten: Dr. John - The Patriotic Flag-Waver
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:23 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:23 PM on January 10, 2021
Justice - D.A.N.C.E
Vocals provided by the Foundation for Young Musicians choir.
posted by arha at 9:57 PM on January 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Vocals provided by the Foundation for Young Musicians choir.
posted by arha at 9:57 PM on January 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Might this version of They Might Be Giants’s Particle Man sung by schoolchildren count? No? Okay.
posted by ejs at 11:13 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by ejs at 11:13 PM on January 10, 2021
M83's Raconte-Moi Histoire? (The song is not in French, despite its title.)
posted by Athanassiel at 11:48 PM on January 10, 2021
posted by Athanassiel at 11:48 PM on January 10, 2021
Swans: Michael Gira's daughter chimes in on You Fucking People Make Me Sick off of My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky.
I feel utterly certain that there are more Current 93 tracks featuring vocals by children, but for some reason I'm only coming up with the very beginning of Invocation of Almost off of Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain at the moment. Well, that and there are definitely some background vocals in The Frolic on All the Pretty Little Horses, but they mostly remain in the background.
posted by ASF Tod und Schwerkraft at 2:56 AM on January 11, 2021
I feel utterly certain that there are more Current 93 tracks featuring vocals by children, but for some reason I'm only coming up with the very beginning of Invocation of Almost off of Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain at the moment. Well, that and there are definitely some background vocals in The Frolic on All the Pretty Little Horses, but they mostly remain in the background.
posted by ASF Tod und Schwerkraft at 2:56 AM on January 11, 2021
Pa-Pa-Power by Dead Man's Bones (yes, that Ryan Gosling), as well as the rest of the album that track is from, features the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir.
posted by terretu at 4:37 AM on January 11, 2021
posted by terretu at 4:37 AM on January 11, 2021
Nightwish often uses children's voices in their songs, some I can think of quickly are
Storytime
Dead Boy's Poem
The Poet and the Pendulum
I am biased but I prefer the live recordings I have linked with their current singer Floor Jansen (these would be found on "Showtime, Storytime" and "Vehicle of Spirit" live albums)
posted by ceithern at 5:19 AM on January 11, 2021
Storytime
Dead Boy's Poem
The Poet and the Pendulum
I am biased but I prefer the live recordings I have linked with their current singer Floor Jansen (these would be found on "Showtime, Storytime" and "Vehicle of Spirit" live albums)
posted by ceithern at 5:19 AM on January 11, 2021
Does a tiny school choir covering contemporary 70's pop count?
The Langley Schools Music Project - Space Oddity
posted by Uncle at 8:44 AM on January 11, 2021
The Langley Schools Music Project - Space Oddity
posted by Uncle at 8:44 AM on January 11, 2021
Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will
The kids singing include John McVie’s daughter, and Stevie Nicks’s niece and her niece’s best friend.
posted by keep it under cover at 2:04 AM on January 12, 2021
The kids singing include John McVie’s daughter, and Stevie Nicks’s niece and her niece’s best friend.
posted by keep it under cover at 2:04 AM on January 12, 2021
The Yamasuki Singers - Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki - a 1971 French psych-rock opera sung by a Japanese children's chorus.
posted by Gortuk at 6:40 AM on January 12, 2021
posted by Gortuk at 6:40 AM on January 12, 2021
Smog - Hit the Ground Running
Pastor T L Barrett - Like a Ship ... Without a Sail
I'm making the case that this is more than a children's song: Akim & Teddy Vann - Santa Claus Is A Black Man
posted by hydrophonic at 11:09 AM on January 27, 2021
Pastor T L Barrett - Like a Ship ... Without a Sail
I'm making the case that this is more than a children's song: Akim & Teddy Vann - Santa Claus Is A Black Man
posted by hydrophonic at 11:09 AM on January 27, 2021
Johnny Cash Sings with the BC Goodpasture Christian School 1 2 3
posted by hydrophonic at 10:49 AM on January 28, 2021
posted by hydrophonic at 10:49 AM on January 28, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
The Clash - Career Opportunities (Sandanista! version).
posted by pompomtom at 4:15 PM on January 10, 2021 [4 favorites]