I don't know if kids ever feel this way, but the parents watching this video can relate...TOO MANY PRESENTS! Yeah, I love the lines, "They're all made out of plastic, they come from way across the ocean. Yeah, they're all made out of plastic and tomorrow they'll be broken". This song is from the CD "Here We Go!"..way to go Uncle Rock.
I think it's finally time for us to disagree. As you know I often focus on lyrics above all else, and I was puzzled by this video when I first saw it a few months back. You alluded to the issue when you said "I don't know if kids ever feel this way..." The answer, I'm pretty sure, is "NO!"
It's true, as the song implies, that kids can get overwrought when opening presents. However, kids in such a situation are not going to be aware that "TOO MANY presents" is the problem! This is one of those songs foisted upon kids that was really written for parents. To a kid, the phrase "too many presents" is an oxymoron. Kids just won't be able to process it as making much sense.
The concept does have potential. It would be great to help kids think about this issue and realize that there is such a thing as too many presents. But to be effective a song on this topic would need to be handled from a more kid-sympathetic point of view.
So the lyrics disappoint - what about the music and the video? It is energetic and colorful. The kids running around with presents are cute, though I'd like to see an even bigger mess, including all the plastic toys from overseas. I guess to me there's just nothing here compelling enough to make up for the off-target lyric. Evalyn watched with me and we'll just say that (without any prompting) she agrees.
So - prove me wrong, dear readers! Is your kid digging this one? Please leave a comment!!
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1 comments:
Well Mr. Billy,
I think it's finally time for us to disagree. As you know I often focus on lyrics above all else, and I was puzzled by this video when I first saw it a few months back. You alluded to the issue when you said "I don't know if kids ever feel this way..." The answer, I'm pretty sure, is "NO!"
It's true, as the song implies, that kids can get overwrought when opening presents. However, kids in such a situation are not going to be aware that "TOO MANY presents" is the problem! This is one of those songs foisted upon kids that was really written for parents. To a kid, the phrase "too many presents" is an oxymoron. Kids just won't be able to process it as making much sense.
The concept does have potential. It would be great to help kids think about this issue and realize that there is such a thing as too many presents. But to be effective a song on this topic would need to be handled from a more kid-sympathetic point of view.
So the lyrics disappoint - what about the music and the video? It is energetic and colorful. The kids running around with presents are cute, though I'd like to see an even bigger mess, including all the plastic toys from overseas. I guess to me there's just nothing here compelling enough to make up for the off-target lyric. Evalyn watched with me and we'll just say that (without any prompting) she agrees.
So - prove me wrong, dear readers! Is your kid digging this one? Please leave a comment!!
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