Here's what we played today. I can't remember if this is the exact order.
I'm Gonna Light Up the World
- a song I wrote in Haiti while on a trip with my friend's nonprofit to distribute solar lights. i made it very simple so kids who don't speak English could sing it. i also recently sang it with a bunch of kids at a benefit for Gabby Giffords' organization.
- appears on S.S. Brooklyn, my solo sing-a-long album that's coming out this September.
Nellie Bly
- Nellie Bly was a reporter who took a trip around the world as a publicity stunt for a newspaper in 1889.
- the arrangement we played today we call the "Unchain my Heart" version because it re-works this longtime Dees fan favorite in a Ray Charles-esque way
- appears on Freedom in a Box
- watch us singing the original version on the streets of NewYork here
Cool Papa Bell
- Cool Papa Bell was a player in the Negro Leagues who was known for his amazing speed
- read more about Cool Papa and other Negro League baseball greats in Kadir Nelson's beautiful book, We Are the Ship
- watch a solo sing-a-long living room version of the tune here
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed
Brooklyn by Bike
- a song about biking around Brooklyn by myself and on trips with my kids
- appears on S.S. Brooklyn, my solo sing-a-long album that's coming out this September.
Standing in the Garden / Visions
- written with a 4th grader for an event at the Met Museum. the song was inspired by Bastien-Lepage's painting of Joan of Arc
- read more about Joan of Arc in Diane Stanley's cool book
- slated to appear on the Deedle Deedle Dees' next album (coming out, we hope, spring 2014)
Seventeen Years (a cicada love song)
- inspired by the seventeen-year cicadas that have come out this spring and summer
- watch a video of the tune here
- read more about cicadas on the fabulous website, Cicada Mania
- appears on S.S. Brooklyn, my solo sing-a-long album that's coming out this September.
Henry (Hudson), How Ya Gonna Find a Way?
- a song about the real explorer Henry Hudson that also references the fictional Henrik Hudson who appears in Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle
- sing along with me on this backyard video
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed. Also an acoustic sing-a-long version will be on S.S. Brooklyn (Sept 2013).
Skating in Old Bryant Park
- a song that ponders: "What if the statue of William Cullen Bryant (for whom NYC's Bryant Park is named) got up and starting ice skating with everyone else one winter?
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed
Marie Curie
- a scientist who did some of the early experiments with radium and other dangerous materials, Marie Curie is someone we admire quite a bit.
- this graphic novel about MC and her husband should be on your coffee table.
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed
Sacagawea
- inspired by the woman who accompanied Lewis & Clark across the country, translating for them and helping them in many other ways. and with a baby on her back.
- i still haven't found a great kid book about her but this one is interesting
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed
Baldy
- Baldy was General George Meade's horse in the Civil War. he got shot 14 times and lived. we thought he deserved a rousing hip hop anthem.
- appears on Freedom in a Box
The Brooklyn Bridge Song
- a song about a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge with my daughter, the history of building the bridge, and my meditations on death and time passing
- appears on American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees
