Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

Our SONG TO CHEW this week, is a 'batch of songs'.  We'll listen to the IRISH SEATBELT JIG, APPLE JUICE, ME-ME-ME, and SPIN AROUND.  We'll 'chew on' how impactful these repetitive little children's songs can be!  This kind of song gets into our heads, like some of the commercial jingles and 'ear worms' we find ourselves humming or singing to ourselves, word-for-word, years later!  Unnoticed by us,...

    This week's 'Song To Chew' is I CRIED by Ruth Pelham from my 'Stayin' Over' album.  I first heard Holly Near sing this wonderful song, then I met the wonderful Ruth Pelham in person.  She's an educator, songwriter and performer and she's dedicated her life to helping children learn by using music.  Her school programs and songs blend her years of experience with her innovative approach to educ...

    Our 'Song To Chew' this week, PAT YOUR DADDY ON THE KNEE comes from my “Uh-Oh!" album.  When we scratch the surface of these 'family music' songs, we find important life-lessons for adults too.  Adults who don't have any kids tell me, they learn from 'chewin' on' these songs!  Life-lessons for little kids can help big grown-ups too! Everybody in the world has rough times when things happen tha...

   Our 'Song To Chew' this week, from my “Family Roles" album is THE NEWBORN, written by Rosita Perez.  Technically, it's a 'Poem To Chew' from her book, "THE MUSIC IS YOU: A Guide to Thinking Less and Feeling More".  I love this poem because it points out how the words 'belief' and 'faith' are different.  When someone chooses to hold a 'belief' in something, no matter what evidence or verifiable...

    This week's SONG TO CHEW is the title cut from my "Uh-Oh!" album, so of course it’s called 'UH-OH!'  Making messes is something all humans do from time to time.  Actually, when we make a mistake, it’s a great opportunity for us to practice forgiving ourselves!  When we can do that, it makes it easier for us to accept and forgive others around us who make mistakes.  When we practice loving and...

    This week our 'Song To Chew' comes from my “Pluggin' Away" album.  It’s called NO ONE'S NORMAL.  I wrote it because if you tell someone they're 'normal', they can get insulted by that!  But if you say they're 'abnormal', they don't like that either.  Maybe we should get rid of these 'label' words and stick to action words!  Tell me what someone does, not what category they fall into!  Everyone...

    Our 'Song To Chew' this week is the title cut from my TAKE ME WITH YOU album.  This song exemplifies the 'naughty child' themes that I find so appealing, and use so often in my family songs.  Kids are really smart.  They figure out what works best for them to get what they want from their parents.  When we're little, we have to depend on big folks around us to supply us with what we need!  Foo...

    This week our 'Song To Chew' is MY GUMS GROW TEETH from my ““Uh-Oh!" album.  One of the 'rites of passage' for all kids, is 'losing a tooth'!  I thought I'd write a song about that for my 'pre-schoolers' album, but then I realized, pre-schoolers aren't losing their teeth, they're growing them!  That's probably pretty scary, like, "How do my gums know what to do?  How come they don't get all mi...

    Today, for your audio pleasure, we'll LISTEN TO THE BEET, as our 'Song To Chew' from my 'Grow It At Home' album.  I entered this song in a contest put on by the L.A. Unified School District where the winning songs would be included in a CD compilation, to be distributed to all the elementary school kids in Los Angeles, to get them to eat and enjoy more vegetables!  My motivation to write usual...

    Our Song To Chew this week, 'IF IT DOESN'T HAVE ME' was written by my buddy Bill Harley.  It's from our “In The Hospital" album that helps kids understand more about hospitals and doctors and nurses, and builds compassion for other kids and people who have medical difficulties.  The original inspiration for this project came from two wonderful pediatric nurses, Diane Grimm Gates and Penny Pefl...

    Today our Song To Chew' is SOMETIMES SI, SOMETIMES NO!  from my 'Grow It At Home' album.  It's originally from a DVD I made for the Loma Linda University Medical Center in San Bernardino, California.  We made a video with my songs and stories to entertain andeducate the families of their patients.  Most of their patients are families from local neighborhoods in San Bernardino, that were loaded...

    Our SONG TO CHEW this week is POOP GOES THE WEASEL.  I wrote it to help parents engage their little kids in the process of getting toilet trained.  When I perform this song live, I use a weasel or otter hand puppet to demonstrate as we sing together.  Laughing at poop and fart jokes and anything to do with the toilet seems to appeal much more to guys than to girls.  We probably think they're f...

From my “Chris Moose Holidays” album, our SONG TO CHEW this week is THE TOOTH FAIRY, EASTER BUNNY, SANTA & GOD.  They're all stories that most of us have heard since we were little.  Each of them a bit mysterious and none of them willing to simply show themselves, to prove to us that they're real.  They require some level of belief.  We've seen hints of their existence; a dollar under our pillow,...

   Our 'Song To Chew' this week, is NO EXCUSE T'USE BOOZE from my “Stayin' Over” album.  There are an estimated 5.3 million kids under the age of 17 in this country who have a serious drinking problem.  When I wrote this song, 'Honky Boy Pete' popped into my mind, told he was a 'recovering alcoholic' and he wanted to talk to the kids, if I didn't mind.  He explains some of the down-side things tha...

    Our SONG TO CHEW this week, HIGH STANDARDS, was written by my dear friend Bob Blue.  This song was part of my conference presentations and part of my personal story.  Our parents who love us, want us to do the best we can, but sometimes they forget that kids need time to play and relax and explore our relationships.  Getting straight 'A's' in school, doesn't mean we know how to have a happy an...

    This week's 'Song To Chew' is LET 'EM LAUGH from my "Take Me With You!“ album.  One of the toughest things we face as humans is being laughed at and 'shunned' or ridiculed by others.  Usually, the 'butt of the joke' is someone who appears or acts differently than most people.  There's never a good excuse to single someone out for ridicule, especially for differences over which they have no con...

    Our 'Song To Chew' this week is IT'S NO FUN WHEN YA GOTTA EAT AN ONION.  Our individual taste differences are tailored by what we learned to eat with our families when we were little.  If we associate certain foods with comfort and good times, we look forward to having those experiences of chewing and savoring the taste of foods that reminds us of those pleasant times.  It's the stories about...

    Our Song To Chew this week is FAMILY OF FRIENDS, from my “Uh-Oh!" album. I wrote this song because we each hold a story about our family of origin.  Some of us grew up in a family that was warm and safe.  Some of us had a family that did not 'feel so safe'.  Many of us had a family that was a mix of those two styles.  And some of our families were scattered and hard to define, or we had a numb...

    Our Song To Chew this week is LET THE WOMAN IN YOU COME THROUGH from my “Asleep At The Helm” album.  We're trained to perform as others of our birth gender have in the past.  Boys and girls are told stories about how we should behave, and those stories guide us as we mature and grow.  In fact, there are many other stories that might be 'our story', that are much different than the ones we've b...

WAS ST. PAT SCARED?  Let's listen to our "Song To Chew" for today and find out!  This song's from my “Grow It At Home” album, to help us understand how we humans have taken over most of the world by eliminating any other creatures that threaten us or our expansion.  The Irish myth about St. Patrick, 'ridding Ireland of all the snakes' is a wonderful place to start this discussion.  It's 'fear' tha...

This week our SONG TO CHEW is "WHAT IF?"  When we don't understand what's going on around us, we create stories to explain what might be going on!  And that's when our over-active imaginations take off and amplify our worst fears.  This process can stop us in our tracks and make things worse!  So, this song takes a look at how we can change our stories, and our reactions, and learn how to 'respond...

    Our SONG TO CHEW today is called NEW GAMES, from my “Pluggin' Away” album. Almost all games we play in this world of ours are competitive, and it would be great to change that, so we have more choices about ways we can collectively play together.  Most games are designed with very clear rules, structured so players can build skills in outsmarting or outmaneuvering each other in order to win. ...

    Our SONG TO CHEW this week, LETTER TO MR. BROWN, is from my “Take Me With You” album. When I wrote this in 1986, there was a backlash going on because so many child sexual abuse cases were coming out in the news.  Everyone who worked with children; teachers, boy scout leaders, choir directors, even parents became very careful about not touching children at all, unless it was absolutely necessa...

    Today our SONG TO CHEW is called A FRIEND LIKE ME, from my 'In The Hospital' album.  The idea came from two nurses at Seattle Children's Hospital, Diane Grimm Gates and Penny Pefley.  I asked my buddy Bill Harley to join us, and we won a Parent's Choice BEST CHILDREN'S ALBUM award that year.  We included a booklet full of helpful notes about how the songs and stories help school-age kids and f...

    This week’s SONG TO CHEW is called HYPERACTIVE, from my “Pluggin’ Away” album.  This song is a satire.  The chorus says "Sugar's good for me and you!", but the verses point out that refined sugar is not healthy for our bodies.  Kids understand satire, and know that sugar is not healthy for them.  They have heard their parents say it a million times, "No!  You've had enough sugar!"  This song i...