Album Notes

Mother’s Little Helpers first CD, “The Kid Is Alright!” was written and recorded from 2002-2004 when my son Zachary was 2-4 years old. (The second one was finished when he was almost 6. It's called "Stairway to the Sandbox," also available here.)

The individual tracks are also available on iTunes.

On track 1, that's Zachary yelling, “Go rock and roll!” I was asking him to sing something else and he was having none of it. Many of the songs were inspired by his having-none-of-it attitude.

Track 2 is about Garbage Trucks. Many people have told me that their children will not let them get past this song. The song ends and then it’s: “Again! Again!” The litany of garbage on the verse is alphabetical: “Apple cores, Bicycles, Cabbages, Dirty Diapers/Egg sandwich, Fish Filets, a Gurdle and some Handy wipers….” Et Cetera. It kind of flies by too fast to be much of an alphabet teaching tool, but it made it easier for me to learn the lyrics. And in case you were wondering, I discovered the book “I Stink” after I wrote the song. The idea of alphabetical garbage is just one of those archetypal things, I guess.

Everything Tastes Good With Ketchup. Is your greatest pleasure in life the moment when he actually finishes a meal consisting of something healthier than whole grain pop tarts? Ketchup, we have discovered, is the magic elixir. The part about “rattlesnake tartar served at sundown is the best” is made up. We didn’t actually serve that.

May I Have A Quarter Please, Dad? Is for some reason my father’s favorite song on this CD. You actually can buy a “Seven Speed ATV and a life-size Leggo replica of Dirk Nowitsky” from some catalog I was looking at. Thousands of dollars. For the child who has everything, there’s always something.

Digging a Hole is a rocking good song about digging. This is also a good gateway song to get your child interested in listening to early Who with the crazy Keith Moon drumming.

Blah Blah Blah. Remember what the voices of the parents in the Peanuts cartoons? Now that you're a parent, do you find yourself saying all the things you thought were completely idiotic when you heard them as a child? This is a song about what we say, and what children hear. With a bit of musical homage to "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and "I'm an Adult Now."

Cry Like A Baby is pop song. The wah-wah-wah part is a little silly, but if you can get past that....

Havoc Wreaking Rabbit--wreaking havoc is my habbit. I'm a human tornado, when I'm busy wreaking havoc/I'm a one-boy wrecking ball, just watch me now/ Cause castles may crumble, walls may fall/I'm the dervish in the living room, devil in the hall/ This mess is the gift I give to you all!

Back It Up Dumptruck. Bring your backhoe, your bulldozer, your mobile crane, your front-wheel loader/ And get your mixer, your grader, your roller-- and come on over!

Marching Off To Bed--a song more about Marching than about bed. You should try to imagine the wild rumpus party in Where The Wild Things Are during the silly wild rumpus section. In fact, if you look at the pictures it will all come together....

The Saddest Dinosaur is the companion piece to Song of the Lonesome Coyote on the other Mother's Little Helpers CD. "It's all right, Tyrannosaurus/even though you have to leave the forrest/you can come back again to play another day/ For though you face the dubious distinction/of being on the verge of oblivion/I know you'll come back again, when your nap comes to an end/and you'll rule the world once more/ my little dinosaur...."

It's Wonderful 2 B Naked is about refusing to put on a diaper and then running the living room like a little wild animal.

And Hush Little Parents is a lullaby for the ones who are ACTUALLY ready to go to bed.

Keep it rocking, people!