Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

I played this song opening for Kenny Loggins at a huge ‘date-night’ concert in the gym at UC–SanDiego in 1977. Fortunately they appreciated satire! WHEN YOU ASK ME FIRST Cho: Well I love to do it Baby A But you only make it worse Bm I just don’t get excited Bm When you go and ask me first! A So don’t touch me where I’m ticklish A And don’t sit on my lap, Bm And don’t ask me politely Baby E It make...

Two days ago I posted my song ‘New Ground’ about loss, … so, just to keep us in balance, … here’s a song about how us humans always start looking for someone to blame when the world goes crazy! We’re going through huge changes socially and globally these days, … people are dying and it sure feels like we don’t have much control over our own little lives. Y’know, … it makes it a little bit easier i...

Our lives shift when a big loss happens. Things go along smoothly, then ‘BANG!’, something occurs, and our lives change drastically, and our perceptions shift. Hurt feelings can help us see things with new eyes. When we ‘lose’ someone or something important to us, we feel an emptiness and sadness inside. Sometimes we act brave for the people around us, and we need to give ourselves permission to c...

Crows have developed a reputation as ‘thieves’ who steal a farmer’s seeds and crops after they’ve been planted. Maybe so, … but I don’t think crows could ever be as devastating to farmers as Monsanto/Bayer. I first heard about the Monsanto company creating problems for farmers when I traveled to play music for folks in the Mid-west. LOW FLYING CROWS Low flying crows Em Sail in on a wind Cmaj7 As c...

I do a lot of children’s songs, … and Pete Seeger did too. I had two daughters though, … I feel ‘rich in daughters’, … and that can be a little bit confusing as a parent. I told the kids “to not write in books!”, and then I got all these little kids’ books with a woodchuck! … And it was always a ‘little boy’ hero. I didn’t understand it! … so I went in, and changed all the he’s to she’s, and the h...

One of the many wonderful things about being a folk and family music performer is singing ‘sing-alongs’ with our audiences. It’s definitely a requirement for playing songs with kids, ... less so for a folk-singer, ... but still, there’s nothing quite as fun and dear as a room full of humans lifting our voices together. This video is from 1977 when I opened a show for Kenny Loggins at UC San Diego....

In 1971 I saw an action film called ‘Billy Jack’ where writer-director Tom Laughlin plays a half-Navajo, ex-Green Beret veteran, who saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food, while he helps protect a desert “freedom school” for runaways. During the film Billy Jack goes through a Navajo ‘snake dance’ initiation rite of manhood, where he enters a ceremonial dance ring with a large rattl...

While presenting a keynote address in Atlanta, GA in 2008 at the National Foster Parents Association Annual Meeting, I had the opportunity to visit a foster home nearby, where five severely developmentally disabled kids were being ‘fostered’ by some very special people. Children with disabilities are always hard to place, and these foster parents had decided to legally adopt 4 of these 5 kids, eac...

EBENEZER’S MAKE OVER A Feature-length Musical Video by Peter Alsop Suitable for: Gender & Women’s Studies • Social Work • Psychology • Counseling • Literature • Human Services • Ethics • Theatre • Political Science My audiences told me, “This will help save the world!” They said, “You have to get this video to as many people as possible!” “Okay,” I said, “Here we go!” In 2003 there were bunches of...

It’s St. Patrick’s day again! How wonderful that stories we learn growing up can change and inform us as we grow older. The Irish myth about St. Patrick, ‘ridding Ireland of all the snakes’ is a wonderful place to start this discussion. We humans have taken over most of the world by eliminating any other creatures who threaten us or our expansion. It’s ‘fear’ that drives us to completely wipe out...

This true story was made into a song by an old friend, The Reverend Fred Small . He’s a wonderful singer-songwriter, performer; an activist and pastor dedicated to healing the earth, seeking justice, and tending our wounded spirits. His song’s about a therapist named Dan Murrow, who was fired for hugging his patients. He was convinced that hugging between consenting adults was therapeutically help...

I BELIEVE YOU When you tell me you are scared A-F#m I will listen ‘cause I care F#m-A I remember bein’ scared too Bm-F#m So when you tell me, I believe you E-A When you’re angry or you’re sad Even if you’re feeling bad I remember feelin’ bad too So when you tell me, I believe you Maybe I can help you with an idea D-C#m Maybe I know something that’ll make things clear Bm-A Maybe I won’t know what t...

LIFELINE You carried me, home in your arms G-C-D,G-C-D You loved me so much, and you kept me from harm You washed me and fed me, the years how they flew And now you need my help, and I’ll care for you! There’s a lifeline that ties me to you, Am-C-G Life rolls like a wheel through whatever we do Through all of the hard times and anger we feel G-D9-C-G The love that we have, well it helps us to heal...

While we think we’re just watching, we’re also being shaped by the stories and images we see. We watch how others live their lives and we see the values they hold. Our brains notice everything, even if we’re not paying much attention, and we compare what we do, with what ‘they’ do. Here’s a live concert video from 1990 when Pete Seeger invited me to join him on stage at the Theatricum Botanicum in...

It’s the end of October again, and I’ve noticed scatterings of children test-driving their Halloween costumes in the super-market aisles, making sure they work! Hidden inside their new identity, they are no longer just a ‘child-in-a-supermarket’! They’ve been transformed by their costume and they want to be sure that they’re all set for the big night. It’s delicious fun to become someone or someth...

I wrote “Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do” in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980’s, which was spreading like wildfire through the Gay community. My daughters Megan and Willow joined me when I went to perform at a California Men’s Gathering back then, ... and the men kept coming up to ‘thank me’ for coming to sing and bringing my daughters along. There was so much fear back then about contracting...

THE LETTER TO MR. BROWN Dear Mr. Brown, from the kids in Room Two G-C-G We’re writing you a letter, like you taught us to do C-G-C-D We all got together at lunch this noon G-Em-C And we decided we’d better do something soon. G-C-D9-G ‘Cause lately you’ve been diff’rent, and we don’t know why G-A-Am-G Did we do something wrong? Am7-G We’re sorry and we’ll try C-D9 To act a little better, if we’ve b...

As a psychologist and songwriter, I’ve made my living lecturing, consulting, writing songs and doing concerts for kids, parents and human service professionals. I’ve presented at conferences and concerts all over the world for more than 50 years. I wrote ‘Baby Needs A Parent’ in 1980, when most single parent families were headed by Moms. These days there are more Dads heading single-parent familie...

Have you ever laughed, cried or sung-along with one of my songs? If so, I’m guessing you’ll like this full length feature video of my new play-concert “Ebenezer’s Make Over”! It’s about a modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by three spirits in the night. They shake him awake with passionate and humorous songs written by Holly Near, Geof Morgan, Charlie Murphy, myself and other cultural work...

Here’s an anthem I wrote from one of the Twelve-Step sayings. We sang this on the main stage with the audience at the 1986 Philadelphia Folk Festival, along with my friends Kim and Reggie Harris. Join us! WHEN ONE IS TOO MANY One drink, one smoke, one snort of coke A-D A sugar slip, hey, a mainline trip A-E-E7 Are you sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? A-D My friend, I know you know what’s...

WHEN JESUS WAS A KID It’s Christmas time again D And the mall is really weird. Everyone gets stressed out Christmas shopping every year. D-A7 I have to stop and wonder, Looking at my Christmas list When Jesus was a kid, Would He be doing this? A7-D I know He was a baby, But did He ever cry? Did Jesus wet His diapers, Or were they always dry? Did He use a bottle Before He used a cup? Did Jesus thro...

When my buddy Utah Phillips recorded my song, ‘It’s Only A Wee-Wee, So What’s The Big Deal?’, he introduced it by saying, “Now here’s my idea of a kids’ song folks! Full bore, overhead cam, spoke wire-wheels, no holds barred damn kids’ song! None of that ‘knicky-knacky-nu’ stuff we were stuck with when we were kids. When’s the last time you actually said ‘wee-wee’ in public? ‘It’s only a wee-wee,...

    Today's 'Song To Chew' is YECCH! from my “Wha'D'Ya Wanna Do?" album.  I play this song at almost every family concert because almost veryone loves screaming "Yecch!" at the top of their lungs!  It's a 'scream-along' so you can join in with us!  It's full of make-believe and playfulness, and it's an example of how story and oral tradition grab our attention and engage us. There is an air of dan...

    Today's 'Song To Chew' is LET'S FACE IT! from my “In The Hospital" album.  It addresses facial disfigurement, and all the unsettling emotions that we go through when we feel that we're different than others around us.  It's difficult emotionally, whether we're an adult or a child, to figure out how we're going to behave when others stare at us and feel uncomfortable. We have to cope with our o...

    Today's 'Song To Chew' is INSPECTION.  I wrote it with Penny Pefley, one of the pediatric nurses who helped us make our “In The Hospital"album.  My buddy Bill Harley and I 'rap' this one.  Our personal privacy is challenged regularly in a hospital by doctors, nurses and assistants who want to make sure we're okay.  They even wake us up at night to make sure we're sleeping soundly!  Today's kid...