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Full-Time Dads;
The Magazine for Caregiver Fathers
Issue 23
Why is it that when men attempt to make public displays of their fatherhood it often seems to come out sounding silly? The recording Love Songs and Lullabies, created by J. Aaron Brown, is one such expression. It is a very nice and well-produced collection of original songs for children, presented as a father's expression of love, although most of the songs are written or co-written by women. There are a lot of strings, and a harp, and very heartfelt vocals by Tom Wurth. The lyrics are standard lovey-dovey stuff, ("Love songs and lullabies, a sweet melody to see us through the night, drift off to dream in pure delight, with love songs and lullabies..."), and don't have much to do with fatherhood, except for a couple of mentions of Daddy here and there. It's all very precious, and, with all due respect to the talented and well-intentioned people involved, doesn't seem to relate to fatherhood.
When adults make music for children, all too often they wind up singing down to their audience, assuming that kids will not appreciate music made the same way it is made for adults. Adults feel it has to be sweetened, simplified and can only deal with simple concepts and phrasing.
Daddies Sing Goodnight, from Sugar Hill Records, neither sings down to the audience nor sugar coats its emotion. This is a collection of lullabies performed by men who are fathers and musicians, who's passion for both music and fatherhood translate very well. The music has a distinct country feel, with musicians like Doc Watson, Jesse Winchester and Leon Redbone. Some of the songs are old standards (Russian Lullaby, by Irving Berlin, sung by Leon Redbone), favorites (Sweet Baby James, by James Taylor, performed by the Seldom Scene), and original compositions. The sentiments expressed are varied, from the playful My Little Buckaroo, from Doc Watson, to the minor-key gentleness and French lyrics of Chanson Pour Ezra from Michael Doucet. These are songs you'll find yourself singing around the house, songs you'll sing to your children. You might even play this CD when it's not bedtime. It's good music, with all the passion and style of regular grown-up music. There is no mistaking the fact that these fathers sing to their children.
Even the artwork that accompanies these two collections tells you a lot about them. The cover of Daddies Sing Goodnight features a hand-colored photograph of a child asleep amid an assortment of old-fashioned toys. The box containing the tape and lyric book of Love Songs and Lullabies is covered with a drawing of a big-eyed child in bed with a teddy. It looks like a tacky greeting card.
A father's love does not have to ignore the masculine qualities of passion and power. It does not have to clothe itself in fluff and sugar. Children respond to what is real, not marketing. Daddies Sing Goodnight is music from real fathers, playing the music they love in their own style. Love Songs and Lullabies is carefully orchestrated music to fit a certain preconception of what children like. Anyway, I guess what it comes down to is personal taste. I cannot fault Love Songs and Lullabies for its lack of professional production, and I'm sure that these people truly care for their children. It just seems lacking in passion and the understanding of what happens when a father sings to his children. Daddies Sing Goodnight, on the other hand, is just that-a collection of daddies singing goodnight to their children. I don't find any of the music from the former running around in my head, but I want to learn every song on the latter, and sing them to my own children.
Copyright 1996 Stephen Harris
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