The Princess Who Saved Herself

By JoCo August 16, 2010

Look everyone, Len made an image for a new Jonathan Coulton song! That hasn’t happened in about 50 years it seems like. For those who don’t know (is there anyone?) Len Peralta is the talented visual artist person who made an image for each Thing a Week song way back when. Above is the image he made to go with my new song.

I was asked to contribute a new song to this CD of kid’s music called Many Hands, the proceeds of which benefit the Haitian People’s Support Project. It’s an amazing list of artists – Dan Zanes, TMBG, frigging Pete Seeger – so I was honored to be invited. I wrote a song called “The Princess Who Saved Herself” because my daughter is obsessed with princesses, so I am forced to think and talk about them a lot. None of them really kick ass as much as I hope my daughter kicks ass when she’s all grown up, so I made up one that does (she ate a whole cake!). All recorded at home old school style, with a little assist from my sister in the comedic harpsichord bridge.

It’s for charity, so I’m not going to give it away here, but you can listen and buy at iTunes and Amazon. The song is exclusive to this CD, and the CD itself is a fantastically large and delicious collection of family music, so you should probably buy the whole thing anyway.

AND, question for the parental section of the hive mind: what are your top five family friendly tracks of mine? What’s a hit with the kids and also guaranteed not to embarrass you in front of other parents? Radio stations are asking and I’m not sure what to tell them. Not First of May, right?

Comments

Mike says

I'm not a parent, but one of your kid hits has to be Mr. Fancy Pants. That song is impossible for whimsy fans of any age to resist.

Karl says

The song is also available on Zune Marketplace. Hey, we're out there.

Michael McDaniel says

Quite so. "First of May" started playing when my son was playing one of the I-Spy games because he accidentally hit the play button on the keyboard. Once we figured out what had happened, we had to race across the room to beat the chorus!

Our kids love Tom Cruise Crazy, Code Monkey, Ikea, My Monkey, Monkey Shines, and Chiron Beta Prime.

Scott says

First of May, Town Crotch, Baby Got Back.

I don't believe in shielding kids from the realities of life :-)

I'm betting Giant Baby would go over well, though.

Disclaimer: I'm not part of the parental hive mind, in case you couldn't tell.

Tony V. says

Every night I sing my baby daughter to sleep with I Crush Everything.

Pamster says

I gotta agree, number one has to be Mr. Fancy Pants. I play it all the time for my two nieces. The only song they love more is "King of Spain" by Moxy Fruvous. Which is awesome, btw. And you should do a cover.

Just sayin'.

Other family friendlies would have to be "Stroller Town", "Rock and Roll Boy", and "My Beige Bear"

A.J. says

My five year old daughter likes IKEA. But that may be because she likes the store itself so much. She also likes singing Still Alive with me.

Eugenio says

My kids dig Chiron Beta Prime, I feel fantastic, Ikea, Sky Mall, That spells DNA

ajay85 says

I'm not particularly concerned about being embarrassed in front of other parents, I'm fairly open about my geeky side.
So in no particular order, 5 fun kidish songs:

My Beige Bear
Stroller Town
I'm Your Moon
I Will
Mr. Fancy Pants

Delynn says

Don't have kids, but the little bro and sis (12 and 10) love Creepy Doll, That Spells DNA (which my mother also loves!), Mr. Fancy Pants (lil sis even made a music video of it!), Re: Your Brains (their very first introduction to the idea of zombies!), The Presidents, and Tom Cruise Crazy. They're crazy for JoCo music though...I've actually had to stop my brother from listening to First of May...and he is always singing Kenesaw Mountain Landis and I get in trouble for that one ;D

Jack says

My Beige Bear is hands down the most friendly, it also has a lesson apparently.

Greg K says

You are quite the celebrity among my 4, 8, 10 yo sons. So...

* Future Soon
* Skullcrusher Mountain
* Blue Sunny Day
* Curl
* Mr. Fancy Pants

Also: Not 100% Family Friendly, but favorite of mine

* re: Your Brains
* Creepy Doll
* Ikea
* Code Monkey
* Big Bad World (pre-teen anthem in the making)

Dave says

Re: Your Brains, Creepy Doll,Skullcrusher Mountain.
I only have Best. Concert. Ever and I don't play the whole CD for the kids.

JonathanL says

Songs for families - tried to go with lyrically-appriopriate, upbeat stuff, mostly. You know, to suck them into a world of sad evil masterminds and oblivious husbands:

As Long As Me
Mr. Fancy Pants
I Crush Everything
SkyMall
Furry Old Lobster

Kerrin says

Well I'm a big kid at heart, does that count, and my favourite family friendly song is Mr Fancy Pants, although this one is really good too.

Virginia Corbett says

I have to keep making new JoCo CDs for the car because I keep giving them away to people. I am required by my children, however, to always replace them immediately, as it's pretty much the only CD they want to listen to.

Here are my kids' favorites:

The Future Soon ("The monorail song" or, "the mama-rail song", depending on which child you ask)

IKEA (although others might not want their kids singing along with "GD Swedish Parade")

Mr. Fancy Pants - All Time Favorite of theirs

Chiron Beta Prime ("The Robot Song"- or sometimes the "Spanish Robot Song" --- The robot council had a Spanish to an asteroid)(My 3yo son does the whole Andy Bates routine from Best. Concert. Ever.)

I Crush Everything

Bonus Round: Mama's choices:

Always the Moon

I'm your Moon

Stroller Town

Len says

My kids have grown up on you. Here are their Fab 5 in no particular order:

Still Alive
SkullCrusher Mountain
Tom Cruise Crazy
I Crush Everything
Re: Your Brains

vampandora says

My 6 yr old loves you.

Mr. Fancy Pants and the PG version of Code Monkey were on his Birthday CD last year.

He also loves Creepy Doll, Ikea and, more questionably, Re: Your Brains. I had to veto that on the bday CD last year. We're OK w/ it but some parents wouldn't be. This year's veto was Jason Webley's Drinking Song.

vampandora says

Oh, and Chiron Beta Prime. He had that on repeat for a while.

Marisa says

I can't help with kid-friendliness,not having children of my own,but I'm writing my Bachelor's thesis on fairy tales with strong female protagonists in preparation to be a children's librarian,so maybe I can help you with your problem of finding more interesting princesses for your daughter to read about.Since the 1980s or so,there's been a feminist reaction to how un-feminist most fairy tales are(or have been percieved,since they were appropriated by their collectors for socialization purposes),so since then,there's been a lot of books made for children that teach more modern values.Alison Lurie gathered a collection of folktales from across European culture that had strong female protagonists,called Clever Gretchen And Other Forgotten Folktales.Jane Yolen collected tales from around the world in Not One Damsel In Distress:World Fairy Tales For Strong Girls,and both of those should have at least some princesses in them.If you're looking for a picturebook,try Cornelia Funke's The Princess Knight.It's about a princess who wants to be a knight like her brothers and trains in secret when her father won't let her.Eventually,the king wants to marry her off to whoever can win a tournament,so she enters it herself,disguised,and wins.Since she's won the right to marry whomever she wants,she marries the stable boy.It's got some nice illustrations,and pretty much anything by Cornelia Funke is gold,from what I've seen.

I've found links for all of them,but I'd suggest trying to find them at your library before buying them,to make sure you like them.Also,with the two folktale books,you might want to give them a read yourself before you read them to your daughter,to see if there's anything you object to in them(not likely,but every parent's got different ideas about what their child should be exposed to,what's age-appropriate,what will hold their interest,ect.).

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Knight-Cornelia-Funke/dp/0439536308/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282001717&sr=1-10

http://www.amazon.com/Clever-Gretchen-Other-Forgotten-Folktales/dp/0595345212/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282002245&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Not-One-Damsel-Distress-Folktales/dp/0152020470/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282002280&sr=1-1

Sorry for taking up so much space,but you don't know how much I live for recommending books to people,lol.

Jim says

My 9 year old likes:

Mr. Fancy Pants (live version)
Future Soon
Code Monkey
Tom Cruise Crazy
I'm Your Moon

Jeff says

My four boys (age 6 & 7... You do the math) sing Skullcrusher Mountain and Code Monkey (AM lyrics) daily. We'll have to work on the lyrics to Fancypants next...

Colleenky says

Well, you know how much my kids enjoyed performing Mr. Fancy Pants. :-)

Chris says

My kids LOVE this song. We've memorized the lyrics and sing it all the time (except the last line... can't quite figure that out.)

Every time they play this on Sirius, the kids laugh out loud at "Hey Phillip, does this sound like a phone hanging up?". Every. Time. Love it!

Larry says

There are more than a few JoCo songs kids could/do enjoy, but no one has commented on how STARVED many of us are for new material. I happily downloaded from iTunes without previewing and couldn't help but notice it was the ONLY popular rated track from the compilation (which has a 5 star rating!!). Are any other artists "working" this worthy endeavor?

ZapDevil says

Kids are 6 and 7 (boys) and 9 and 11 (girls)

The 11 year old has recently decided that she hates everything I like, so she's not a fan.

The 9 year old loves I Feel Fantastic (when she asks me how I feel, she is disappointed if I don't sing the chorus to her), Still Alive, Code Monkey and Skullcrusher Mountain.

The boys love Mr. Fancy Pants, Code Monkey, and Re: Your Brains, Better, Screwed (it may have to do with the inclusion of Boba Fett and Indiana Jones in the lyrics) and When You Go. The last one isn't really a "kid's song" per se, but I'm a sucker for sad songs and they share half my genes.

I played the boys the video of Nemesis and they liked that one a lot, too.

AndyP says

Code Monkey has often been requested as a daddy sings a bedtime song (though I refer to a "'dog gone' login page"). Whenever we listen to Ikea, New Jersey is hosting a "'bork bork' Swedish parade". And, as residents of Minnesota, it's "always so 'dang' cold" when we Curl. Stroller Town is A-OK just as it is (and pretty darn awesome at that). Sadly, there is no childification for Mandelbrot Set, as the best line has to remain as it's written. (Though, I do recall on one of the discussion threads, someone saying their tot proudly sang "Bad-ass Monkey Fractal", which though cute, still contains a questionable mule reference.)

AndyP says

Oh, and to be clear, I love your work, but now that I wear the parental hat, I need to be a bit more stringent about lyrics.

Jesse says

I love the new song. And I'm not (technically) a kid anymore. I can hardly wait for the new album!

Tiffany says

My kids, who were MAD at me when I went to see you in concert without them, are 9 and 11.

They love Still Alive (the Portal song), Re: Your Brains, Chiron Beta Prime, My Beige Bear, I Crush Everything, Future Soon, My Monkey, Mr. Fancy Pants, Curl, and Code Monkey. I think those top the request lists. I have had to tell them I can't play certain songs with curse words (re: Your Brains, Code Monkey, Curl) when other kids are in the car.

Damon says

My kids (7,5,&2) love Code Monkey, My Beige Bear, and I'm Your Moon.

JoCo, have you seen the preview for Tangled? Looks like a kick-ass Rapunzel retcon.

My favorite strong princess stories are the movie Ever After (w/ Drew Barrymore) and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede, in which Princess Cimorene decides to volunteer as a dragon's princess.

Luke M says

My son (7) loves "IKEA." He also likes "Re. Your Brains" and sings along with the chorus. It is adorable.

Sara says

I'm not part of the parental section, but since others have continued the thread of "princesses who kick ass":

Thank you for writing "The Princess Who Saved Herself". I liked the lyrics from the start, but reading your explanation fills me with joy because you are right--the world needs more stories of princesses who kick ass.

This topic means a lot to me because my dad always gave me books with female heroes, and as a result I always thought it was normal for girls to be strong and independent. I was well into adulthood before I understood why people would call me brave or say, "I could never do what you do."

I implore all parents to teach their children--boys and girls alike--to kick ass, because growing up believing you can do anything is awesome.

PS - The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch is a brilliant children's book, and should be read by everyone under 10. I haven't seen it since I was a kid myself, but I have never forgotten the story.

craig says

I think it would mucho cool if you would re-record many of the referenced 'slightly modified' songs with 'family-friendly' lyrics for the faint-hearted. You could title the Album JoCoLite (which sounds suspiciously like ChoCoLate). I'd play Mandlebrot set in a school science class if that one phrase was modified. I know, I know... artistic integrity and all that nonsense...

arghc says

The kids started with us with: still alive, then skullcrusher mountain, better, code monkey and re: your brains. sadly i like laptop like you and mandelbrot set more than they do, but they'll come around. 8-) 8-)

Rob says

I sing my daughter to sleep with "You Ruined Everything" and "Furry Red Lobster"

Dan says

I took an informal poll and the top picks in my household are:
Daughter (7)
RE: Your Brains
The Princess Who Saved Herself
Creepy Doll
Curl

Son (3)
"Pathogical [sic] Monsters" (Mandelbrot Set)
"Dance So Serious Dance" (Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance)
"Somewhere in the Darkness" (Curl)
"Glowing Pterodactyl" (also Mandelbrot Set)

Autumnraina says

The "joco - kids" playlist on the iPod runs frequently in my house/car. (for the record, kids have not heard any of the 6 new songs, or the princess song, yet.) The top five (from the 6 yr old and 2 yr old) are:
My Beige Bear
Mr. Fancy Pants (live)
I Feel Fantastic
You Ruined Everything
My Monkey (which I frequently sing as "My Mommy")

6 year old also really likes:
I'm Your Moon
When You Go

Looking forward to getting the new "Princess" song. 6 yr old is also princess-obsessed and could use a song like yours.

Mary says

- Mr. Fancy Pants
- I'm Your Moon
- My Beige Bear
- I Feel Fantastic
- Re: Your Brains
- Lobster
- Ikea
- Future Soon
- Code Monkey
- Skullcrusher Mountain
- I Crush Everything
- Laptop Like You

Monte Belmonte says

I am glad to have found this image and blog and my kids right now are obsessed with RE: Your Brains and Skullcrusher Mountain.

Michael Natale says

My 3 girls are 6, 8 and 15 and all of them sing along at the top of their lungs whenever we put on Code Monkey, ShopVac, RE: Your Brains or Someone is Crazy.

I know you asked for 5 but for some reason they've all learned the words to these 4 songs...

Midwife Jen says

My 8 yr old daughter Amelia loves Shop Vac, IKEA, and Creepy Doll. Has all three on her iPod playlist. ALthough Creepy Doll did give her a short-lived bout of insomnia at age 5. ;)

Mousers says

- 9 year old likes Skullcrusher Mountain, Mandelbrot Set, Space Doggity and You're my Moon (he's big into science, can ya tell?)
- 7 year old likes I Crush Everything, and Code Monkey
- 4 year old likes Re: Your Brains A LOT (she even wants to be a "pink zombie" for halloween...whatever that is).

They have heard First of May, but not often. Favorites of all of them:

- Chiron Beta Prime
- Code Monkey
- Still Alive
- Future Soon
- Mr Fancy Pants
- Re: Your Brains

gretchen says

It's too tough to limit to just 5. The JoCo playlist for our now 13-month-old son includes:

- SkyMall
- Shop Vac
- Blue Sunny Day
- Tom Cruise Crazy (my kid shares a birthday w/TC, sigh)
- My Beige Bear
- Octopus
- I Feel Fantastic
- Always the Moon
- The Future Soon
- Stroller Town
- That Spells DNA
- Space Doggity
- The Presidents (since Wilson did kick ass, we figure "ass" is ok for our kid to hear)
- You Ruined Everything (I started singing this to my son as a lullaby when he was still in the womb; probably goes without saying that we're saving for his future shrink instead of college)

Good times. We dig your tunes. And your shows. You pretty much rock.

Patrick Crofts says

Bought your track, great work as always.

Matthew Nordhaus says

I thought her guitar was red.

Matthew Nordhaus says

Oh, all right. I'll be constructive. Our kid's favorites:

That Spells DNA
Code Monkey
Better
Chiron Beta Prime
Skullcrusher Mountain

Betty and Me was in heavy rotation for a while, but has dropped off the charts lately.

Christine Nordhaus says

Unfortunately, I can't think of any of your songs that would be totally appropriate for kids whose parents have never listened to you. I have decided, however, that exposing children to a variety of salty language/ideas at an early age is helpful in teaching them what is acceptable in polite company. For instance, when one's six-year-old refers to his brother as a "fuck face", it's a teachable moment, no?

Matthew left off "Octopus". The boys love that one. We're terrible parents.

Craig 8128 says

I'm no fan of "bowdlerized" versions, but -- I think a G-rated version of Mandelbrot Set would be wonderful.

Hey, Radiohead did it with Creep and it sold millions!

Melissa says

My 6yo loves:

Code Monkey (clearly her favorite, but then, my husband writes web code for a living)
I Feel Fantastic
Skullcrusher Mountain
Re: Your Brains (she loves the idea of zombies and the "all going to die screaming" and "when we bash your head open" parts tickle her morbid side)

And she has all of them on her Shuffle. Yeah, she's mommy's like geek, I'm so proud!

xbolt says

Still Alive
I'm Your Moon
The Presidents
I Feel Fantastic
Code Monkey

Mandelbrot Set is my personal favorite of your songs. Though, I don't know what you could replace That One Line with in order to make it kid-friendly...

Mike says

JoCo has already provided a PG version of Mandelbrot Set:

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/faq/#PG

Christine says

I have two kiddos, ages 4 and 7, and here's their list of favorite JoCo songs:

1. Better "Mommy, why does his girlfriend want to turn herself into a robot?"
2. DNA - I often hear one of 'em singing/shouting "Baby, that spells DNA!"
3. Code Monkey, of course
4. I'm your Moon (granted, this is because it's one of my all time faves)
5. Their favorite of all, Lady Aberlin's Mumu!!

Derek says

I cover Re: Your Brains on piano, and my six-year old niece loves it. She'll request "the brains song" every time she comes over. There's something very sweet about a 6 year old girl singing "All we want to do is eat your brains."

Jon Sills says

I actually sing your songs often at my shows (they get a better crowd reaction than my originals, you dick) and oddly enough, the favorites even among entire families is;

"Re: Your Brains" and
"Skullcrusher Mountain".

"Still Alive" also, but i think that's just because they all play video games. Does that count?

AirHammer Music says

Love that song, Len it kind of a genius like you.

AirHammer

Linda says

Not long ago my small child and I were dancing in the kitchen to something random on the iTunes share. This conversation ensued:

Her: Mom, can you make the music better?
Me: Um, do you mean louder?
Her: No, make the music better.
Me: What do you mean, more bass? Less bass? Oh no -- do you mean you want me to stop singing?
Her: (with an eye roll well beyond her age) Mom. The song about the guy whose girlfriend is turning into a robot. You know. Make the music Better.

(So obviously that one's a fave. Also: Pizza Day, I'm Having a Party, and Mr. Fancypants.)

coffinjumper says

My 3 year old nephew absolutely loves I Feel Fantastic, Ikea, and Code Monkey. He rather likes Chiron Beta Prime and The Future Soon too, as well as Still Alive, but those three are the ones he makes me repeat endlessly.

Jace says

Bought the Princess song and TMBG's song (My Name is Kingof Socks) from iTunes. Good stuff.

Best kid-friendly JoCo songs:
Chiron Beta Prime
My Beige Bear
Space Doggity
That Spells DNA
Todd the T1000
I'm Having a Party
Creepy Doll
Mr. Fancy Pants
My Monkey
Furry Old Lobster
Stroller Town
The Future Soon

hugo says

My little girl (3) loves the Princess who saved herself, but she loves the art. Amazing work.

Charlie says

Big at our house w/6 & 9 year old: Creepy Doll, Still Alive, RE: Your Brains, Skullcrusher Mountain, Podsafe Christmas Song, Mr. Fancy Pants (live extended version), Always the Moon, Mandelbrot Set (with strategic loud parental throat-clearing).

Sometimes my daughter busts out with Millionaire Girlfriend, but we don't encourage it.

Gabe says

My 3 fav kid friendly songs?

You ruined everything
The future soon
Tom cruise crazy - skullcrusher mountain cant decide

Gabe says

ohh princess who saved herself too cant forget that, publicity is your friend

Cat Rennolds says

My kids are teens now but back when they weren't:

Skullcrusher Mountain
Mandelbrot
Code Monkey
RE: Your Brains

Still Alive is now the reigning favorite.

Best Fun Ever: Playing this stuff for my mom. Who laughed until she cried.

Kat says

I don't have kids yet so I'll weigh in on the princesses who kick ass - - I highly recommend Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest books http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dealing_with_Dragons (more for older kids than little ones but hey) The trouble she has convincing the knights who come to rescue her from the dragon that she doesn't *want* to be rescued and actually quite likes it there, thank you, is hilarious.

This sentence will contradict itself at the end says

My six-year-old brother loves "Mandelbrot set", but there's obviously that one line in the chorus that wouldn't be considered family-friendly...
Aside from that...
1. I'm Your Moon (All time favorite, tied with Mandelbrot Set.)
2. You Ruined Everything
3. My Beige Bear
4. I Crush Everything
5. Big Bad World One (I know that this isn't something that little kids can relate to directly, but it's clean and really really good.)

Joanthan says

My 8 year old sister loves Mr. Fancy Pants and Still Alive. I haven't had her listen to the Princess Who Saved Herself, but I'm sure she would be all over it.

Grahm says

My 8 year old daughter loves Still Alive and Re: Your Brains. She knew all the words to Still Alive before I did.

Christine says

Gah, am I chiming in too late? My 6yr old boy loves:

Curl

DNA

Mr Fancy Pants

Still Alive (tho I think he prefers the GLADos version)

Mandelbrot Set - MOSTLY because it contains the world's worst swear and I laugh when he belts it out - got to quit doing that . . .

Interestingly, he's been requesting your cover of Famous Blue Raincoat - not sure why it would resonate with a little boy, but there you go.

Danny says

I'd say

Skymall

Pizza Day

Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance

Chiron Beta Prime

and Todd The T1000

J says

I heard this on Kids Place Live. I asked my 6 yr old, "do you know who this is?" "No."
"It's the guy who sings about the zombies, and the brains."
"Oh, I thought his voice was familiar. Cool!"

We heartily approve.

Top 5 with the stated rules (he loves many more but, for example, knows not to sing RE: Your Brains in front of his grandmother):

Mr. Fancy Pants
Creepy Doll (although when he was 5 this song used to scare him)
You Ruined Everything
I'm Your Moon (although he keeps telling me Pluto is a dwarf planet)
That Spells DNA (beats TMBG's Cells)

Dave says

I haven't seen Soft Rocked By Me listed. I have a "Daddy sings" mix for lullaby tunes, and this is my favorite for our 18-month-old. My daughter's in love with a man who's sensitive.

Will need to snag the PG Mandelbrot set. My wife and I sing Shop Vac a lot (I'm in the basement a lot, too...).

Alas, we still like First of May. Will need to guard our playlist when the kid gets old enough to know better...

Nonpython says

As a nonparent person, I do still recommend My Beige Bear. I find myself randomly shouting lines from that song all the time! :P

Anthony says

The Presidents would be an amazing song for kids if not for a few spots (which, unfortunately, goes for a lot of your songs).

But, in no particular order Mr. Fancy Pants, The Future Soon, and My Beige Bear.

Cheryl says

I think Craig's idea about recording "family-friendly" versions of some of your songs that currently have "bad words" in them is a good one. No one's saying you should abolish the originals, and you can sing whichever version you want in concert. But I'm sure many parents would be thrilled to have "clean" alternatives. And the "clean" versions would be radio-friendly too. Although I have to agree with whoever said "bad-ass fucking fractal" was one of your best lines and there's no good way to modify it.

BTW, I'm no parent, but I think "I'm Your Moon" and "You Ruined Everything" are good kid songs.

Spencer says

My little brother (9) loves Tom Cruise Crazy, Mr. Fancy Pants, and Blue Sunny Day the best. Sorry though, dude, He prefers it when GLaDOS sings still alive. (not me though)

Chris says

My kids love most of you collection.

Some of their favorites, I picked 10 (2 Kids x 5 Songs):

1) Anything with Monkey in the title.
2) Furry Old Lobster
3) I'm Your Moon
4) Re: your Brains (The French version is a hit as well)
5) Mr. Fancy Pants (Especially the RickRoll version)
6) I'm Having a Party
7) Skull Crusher Mountain
8) Still Alive
9) Ikea
10) The Future Soon

I would like echo the sentiments of Cheryl. I too would like some clean versions, not just to play for my children but to play in class with my students. You lyrics for the most part are very kid friendly and your songs have a nice tempo to them as well. They would be a big hit with my students and a great alternative to the vapid lyrics of today's pop stars. Heck i would like you to go one step further and make a kids album similar in style to the efforts of TMBG and Barenaked Ladies. Both made albums for children that adults like to listen to as well.

charles says

okay, i have to tell you, i put a collection of 33 JC Tunes on both my 7 and 11 year-old daughters' mp3 players, so trying to cull out five songs isn't easy, but i asked daughter number one last night for her 5 fave tunes of yers, and she gave me these, in no particular order:

*) blue sunny day
*) chiron beta prime
*) make you cry
*) skullcrusher mountain
*) i feel fantastic

but she said if she were recommending for littler kids, she's have to put 'mister fancy pants' on there, too.

btw, my list would be pretty much the same as hers, but i'd replace 'chiron beta prime' with 'always the moon' - and i'd try to fit shop vac in, too, somehow - well, maybe 'octupus,' as well. gaahhh! see, i can't keep it to just five songs, just sayin.

nrfountain says

I love love love princess who saved herself... always seem to spend an extra few minutes in the car when i get home cuz it always comes on when i open my garage door after a day of shopping :) Reminds me of one of my favorite stories when i was younger... the Paper Bag Princess. YOU ROCK!

Leslie says

"W's Duty"...duh! But, I do have boys... Also "Bacteria" is great, it helps with all the hand washing. Plus, all those others everybody else said.

Matt G says

I helped drive around boys ages six to twelve, and they soon requested (and knew all the lyrics, and could sing entirely without the song playing):

The Future Soon
Code Monkey
Still Alive
Re: Your Brains

They also enjoyed Tom Cruise Crazy and I'm Your Moon, but they couldn't sing them. The two who were musicians learned to play Still Alive from some piano music I found online, and were much more dedicated about practicing that than their regular piano assignments.

Chris B says

How do I get a copy of that to frame and put on the wall. It's an awesome image and my two girls absolutely love the song. I went right out and got the album for the one song.

Angi says

My 9yo daughter Cagney as you know is such a "Skullcrusher Mountain" fan that she chose as her audition piece for the school play AND got the part! We think she kicks ass, and she loves princesses, too. Don't worry daughters can both love princesses and kick ass. :)

My 11yo son is certain that you can read his mind and that must be why you wrote "Future Soon". It's his favorite.

"Fancypants", "Chiron Beta Prime", and the PG version of "Code Monkey" round out their faves.

Craig says

I really enjoy The Princess Who Saved Herself, a great tune and theme. It gets played frequently on Sirius/XM Kids Satellite Radio.

Ben says

I have a six-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy.

They love:

* Mr. Fancy Pants
* Blue Sunny Day
* Ikea