Comments on: The Garden State

By: Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 00:25:18 +0000

Ahhh…. right you are,Mr. Salmanson, but there is a dark side (for many parents, anyway) to those “innocuous” accordion solos. They are subversive! For example, one of my sons (now almost 23 years old!), reared on TMBG music, is now a circus performer—currently in Europe—and he plays the accordion!

By: David Salmanson

David Salmanson — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 02:59:44 +0000

But that’s why they have the accordian solos, to make up for that.

By: Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 23:56:44 +0000

I never was too concerned about “dark” material for chilidren in most contexts (e.g., music or literature). My kids all loved Roald Dahl [I truly believe that the beginning of James and the Giant Peach is a comedy classic] as well as Hans Christian Anderson, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, mythology, and so forth. Childhood itself is a subversive condition to adult society, so it’s not the thematic content of some of TMBG’s songs that makes me think that they are not ideal for children. Rather, I think that some of the lyrics are so contextual, so remote from most children’s experience, or so obscure, that the songs are not as interesting for younger children as they are for their older siblings.

By: David Salmanson

David Salmanson — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 12:45:03 +0000

If you were raised on union songs and Pete Seeger albums, songs like Alienation’s for the Rich are pretty mild. Compare to Deportees, for example. They indoctrinate us young. And all those folk songs? They are grim indeed. Clementine and You are My Sunshine are dark, dark, tales yet they are staples of children’s music. Incdientally, for more kids music check out the kids korner web pages at http://www.wxpn.org.

By: Mrs. Coulter

Mrs. Coulter — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 02:48:27 +0000

It’s educational too: Don’t cross the street in the middle, in the middle, the middle, in the middle of the block! Use your eyes to look up! Use your ears to hear! Walk up to the corner when the coast is clear, and wait and wait until you see the light turn green! (A deadly earworm that can only be erased by “Violin-lin-lin violin-lin-lin violin-lin-lin violin!”)

By: SloLernr

SloLernr — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 23:56:21 +0000

“Where do they make balloons?’’ is one the best pop songs ever. Just saying. Also, children do like other TMBG songs tho’ you need to take care. But, “Particle Man’’ is a big hit with the junior set around here, who are going to owe their understanding of subatomic physics to “When he’s underwater does he get wet, or does the water get him instead? Nobody knows….’‘

By: Lee Scoresby

Lee Scoresby — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 22:29:35 +0000

My wife and I had the same discussion – are all TMBG albums Children’s albums – after “No” proved to be an enormous hit with Lyra. The answer is also “No!” because there are a lot of mature themes even in those songs with kid appeal. I guess this means they leave the CD player when the kid is old enough to understand the content but not quite old enough to be exposed to it. An increasingly short timeframe, I understand.

By: Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 22:04:03 +0000

TMBG writes a number of songs that are far out of the range of chiildren (see, for example, “Youth Culture Killed My Dog”,or “Alienation’s for the Rich”). My favorites include “Kiss Me, Son of God” (the lyrics begin, “I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage called the blood of the expoited working class”), and “It’s Not My Birthday”. One of their best, most child-accessible songs is a cover of a 1950s science-promotion song, “Why Does the Sun Shine?” (“The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace…”).

By: David Salmanson

David Salmanson — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:38:04 +0000

I got No for Christmas but haven’t had the chance to listen yet (and yes, I have a 2 year old to share it with). But the real question is: are all TMBG discs children’s records? They wrote an ode to a nightlight and another to Triangles and put them on the same album!

By: paul

paul — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 19:14:38 +0000

and while we’re thumbing our nose at the Garden State, don’t forget: “New York has tall buildings New Jersey has its malls” from “Where do they make balloons?” on the same disc.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:39:42 +0000

“No” should also be purchased for the biting social commentary song “I’m Not Your Broom”: Now Broom, you must now sweep for me The dust it fills my room No, John, I will not sweep for you For I am not your broom What nonsense are you speaking, Broom My words you must obey Another life awaits me and I’m leaving you today I am not your broom I am not your broom I’ve had enough, I’m throwing off My chains of servitude I am not your broom I am not your broom No longer must I sweep for you For I am not your broom

By: des von bladet

des von bladet — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:34:09 +0000

DSquared: This works well for books (I just ordered some today) except for the disintanting of the gratification, but badly for many electronic goods: I was looking to buy a radio, but they only ship them within the US. There is of course also a small but non-zero chance of Her Majesty’s Privateers (“Customs and Excise”) seizing your goodies and holding them to ransom.

By: Angry Moderate

Angry Moderate — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:18:42 +0000

Great cd – it sent me and my son scurrying to google black maria, as my only associations with it were as the term for the prison vans that picked up political prisoners under Stalin!

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:16:19 +0000

Further to that—the National Park Service’s page (http://www.nps.gov/edis/) says that the site “Plans to reopen sometime in 2005.” I’m looking forward to visiting!

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:12:58 +0000

The Edison Museum is only temporarily closed, while renovations are being done. (Or so I believe—I moved 2 years ago to a house about 3 miles from the museum and have not been there—I found out about it a year or so ago at which time it was closed; a friend says he was there a few years before that and it was open, and that they had been preparing to close for renovations; I haven’t checked up on it since last spring so maybe it has even reopened since then.)