parenthood | The Che Underground

Songs for the DIYper set

January 6, 2011May 15, 2010 by Paul Kaufman

(Paul Kaufman kicks out the jammies with new kid-friendly lyrics to old favorites.)

I’ve mentioned before that a little bundle of joy arrived at our house last fall. Our daughter is six months old now, and she’s a wonder to behold. She’ll soon reach the age at which I have to stop singing the real lyrics to “I Wanna Be Your Dog” during our musical play times.

But I’m thinking that instead of discarding such classics altogether, how about substitution of age-appropriate lyrics? I think Dr. Seuss could probably help with a lot of these situations:

“Somebody’s calling on the phone,
A voice says, hey, is Dee Dee at home?
Do you want to wear some socks?
Do you want to box a Gox?
Do you want wear some Gox box socks?”

Seen any good shows lately?

December 18, 2017January 9, 2010 by Paul Kaufman

(Distracted dad Paul Kaufman pops in for what is sure to be an infrequent concert review.)
Regular readers of this blog will understand why I’ve been pretty scarce lately: We have a newborn daughter in the house! She’s brought lots of joy, but naturally this means my extracurricular activities are pretty limited, and our baby-centric bedtime rules out most nighttime excursions.

I’ve made one exception since she’s arrived; a few weeks ago, I went to the first concert I’ve been to in quite some time (first since the Ché reunion, actually) to see Sonic Youth play.

People either love or hate this band, and I’m not writing this to promote my own fandom, but the show did make me think of a couple of things of more general interest. First, I couldn’t but help think about the fact that it was over 20 years ago I first saw them. That alone wouldn’t be so remarkable, except this show displayed no hint of nostalgia — they played mostly new material. (Though they never had chart-topping hits in the first place, “Teenage Riot,” their biggest college-radio tune, was not on the set list.)

Peter, Paul and Mom: Hippies of our lives

December 18, 2017August 13, 2009 by admin

(Stop, children! What’s that sound? Robin Pugh Yi contemplates what’s goin’ down with the older generation.)

I have tickets to go to a Peter, Paul and Mary concert with my parents in a couple of weeks.

It’s a family ritual. My husband gets tickets to performances by old hippies like Tom Paxton and Arlo Guthrie. I sigh and ask if he isn’t yet tired of Baby Boomers’ belief that they are inventors and keepers of the Holy Grail of Perpetual Adolescence. How can he maintain a straight face listening to “Hair” lyrics?

Then I go, because he has tickets. And it means a lot to Mom to go with us, enthusiastically sing along, and elbow me when I roll my eyes.

Then, inevitably, something breaks down my guard. Pete Seeger sings “Abiyoyo,” or Judy Collins sings “In My Life,” and I am once again a little girl in the Summer of Love. My parents, my aunts and uncles, their friends are so young, so sweet and earnest and unaware of everything to come. Sincerely trying to teach their children well.