Favorite Songs for Kids
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Favorite Songs for Kids
July 2003
Can anyone recommend (or remind me of) good, catchy, public
domain songs for children about trains. We want to sing some. I
can look up complete lyrics and maybe even tunes on the web, if
someone can just name them and give a few lines...I may even
remember one or two once they're mentioned, but for the life of
me can't think of ANY every time my 2-year-old wants to sing
about trains.
tired of ''chugga chugga woo woo''
Did you know that John Denver made an album devoted to train
songs? It's called, I believe, ''All Aboard!'' We've checked it
out from the Rockridge Library (and then I almost bought it
from Amazon before my son moved past his train phase). My son
and I both enjoyed it quite a lot. Hope this helps!
Kerri
We recently borrowed a John Denver train songs c.d from the Diamond
library (Oakland). It's very enjoyable- and a little more friendly on the adult ears!
Well:
I've been working on the railroad (all the live long day)
Little Red Caboose (chug chug chug)
Riding that New River Train
and the one that goes...
''down by the station early in the morning,
see the little pufferbellies all in a row
hear the stationmaster blowing on his whistle
puff puff toot toot off we go...''
Sometimes we sing songs about other things (like old macdonald's
farm) and just put trains in them...
Good luck!
Mom of a train fan
Take a look at
http://www.songsforteaching.com/TrainSongs.html
Lots of train songs.
When I was growing up and when my kids were little we always sang
''Little red caboose behind the, little red caboose behind the,
little red caboose behind the train, train, train, train...comin'
down the track, track, track, track, comin' down the track,
track, track, track, Little red caboose behind the train.''
We also sang The Chatanooga Choo Choo.
Have fun!
Sally
Some old favorites of ours are ...
-I've Been Workin' on the Railroad (Lyrics:
http://www.contemplator.com/folk2/railroad.html)
-Freight Train (Jerry Garcia and David Grisman do a great
version on their CD ''Not For Kids Only'' and Elizabeth Mitchell
does another version we love on her CD ''You Are My Flower'' ...
Listen to it here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/idaelizabeth )
-She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain ...
Then there are other train songs not written for kids per se,
but that we loved as children ...
-MTA by the Kingston Trio
-Chatanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller
-Choo Choo Chaboogie by Louis Jordan (I have a great Cab
Calloway version)
-King of the Road by Roger Miller (probably not ideal for a 2
year-old)
Good luck!
Kate
Do you know the one that goes:
Little red caboose/Little red caboose/Little red caboose behind
the train/Smokestack on its back/Whistling down the track/Little
red caboose behind the train.
There are even gestures that go with it.
Also, if you are familiar with the albums by Dan Zanes & friends
(music that is great for adults and kids), there is one that has
a great song about a train. I think it's the ``Night Owl'' album.
Laura
How about ''I've Been Working on the Railroad,'' and ''Little
Red Caboose.'' If you're willing to buy a CD, by all means
get Buckwheat Zydako's ''Choo-choo Boogaloo.'' It's a
whole CD full of train songs, sounds, and a long story about
riding the train to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We gave it to
our son for his second birthday and now, at almost three, he
still listens to it several times every week. He also likes
''Freedom Train,'' on the CD World Playground Two.
Carolyn
Lyrics for these songs are in ''Rise Up Singing''
I've Been Working on the Railroad (starts, ''I've been workin'
on the railroad'')
Freight Train (starts, ''Freight train, freight train, run so fast'')
Morningtown Ride (starts, ''Train whistle blowing, makes a
sleepy noise'')
New River Train (starts, ''I'm riding on that new river train'')
Casey Jones (starts, ''Come all you rounders if you want to
hear'')
City of New Orleans (starts, ''Ridin' on the City of New
Orleans'')
Daddy, What's a Train?'' (starts, '''Daddy, what's a train? Is it
something I can ride?''')
Paddy on the Railway (starts, ''In 18 hundred & 41'')
The Wabash Cannonball (starts, ''I stood on the Atlantic
ocean'')
Wanderin' (starts, ''My daddy is an engineer'')
Casey Jones (starts, ''The workers on the S.P. Line'')
Five Hundred Miles (starts, ''If you miss the train I'm on'')
anonymous singer
I've been working on the railroad, all the live long day...
Here's a shiny choo choo train, shiny dinah is her name....
my son's in the train club too!
Here are a couple popular ones:
''Down by the station, early in the morning, see the little
pufferbellies all in a row. See the station master pull the
little handle. Chug Chug, Woo Woo, off we go.''
and also
''Little red caboose behind the, Little red caboose behind
the, Little red caboose behind the train, train, train. Running
down the track, track, track, track, Smokestack on his back,
back, back, back. Little red caboose behind the train.''
btw, Sweet Honey in the Rock does a great a cappella
medley of these songs on the collection ''A Child's
Celebration of Song.''
And of course there is always:
''I've been working on the railroad, all the livelong day.
I've been working on the railroad, just to pass the time
away....'' etc.
Frances
Well, if you don't mind songs in which people die, ''The Wreck of the Old
97'' is great and so is ''John Henry'' (though that is more about train
tracks than trains, I guess.) Googling the titles of these songs turns up a
lot of fascinating archives and audio files, too.
Elizabeth
For the 2-yr-old: Little Red Caboose ''Smokestack on its back,
comin' down the track, little red caboose behind the
train . . . ''
Since about age 3 my daughter has loved Charlie on the MTA --
''Let me tell you the story of a man named Charlie, on a tragic
and fateful day, he put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife
and family, went to ride on the MTA. And did he ever return? No!
He never returned, and his fate is still unlearned. (Poor
Charlie!) He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston,
he's the man who never returned. [Many more verses with fun
lyrics.]''
mother of 3.5-yr-old train lover
You MUST include ''Freight Train'', performed by David Grisman and
Jerry Garcia on their ''Not For Kids Only'' album, in your
collection -- it's wonderful!!
Christine
There's ''I've Been Working on the Railroad,'' of course, and one
my daughter loves - ''Down by the Station,'' which goes:
Down by the station
Early in the morning
See the little puffer-bellies, all in a row
See the engine driver, pull the little handle
Chug, chug! Toot, toot!
Off we go!
Sarah
Here are two preschool sites with train songs & rhymes (as
well as other forms of transportation). The only song I could
think of that wasn't listed among these is ''I've Been Working
on the Railroad''
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/transportation-rhymes.htm
http://www.preschooleducation.com/sland.shtml
Shoshana
Malvina Reynolds wrote a great song about our own Berkeley
trains! I think it is called ''Morningtown Ride''. Yep, just found
the lyrics at
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/belvedere/226/mride.htm
Enjoy!
Rebecca
Rent or buy the ''Wee Sing Train'' video. One train song after the
other for almost an hour, and the video is really nicely done.
This is the current favorite of my two year old.
(As an added bonus, this contains one of the funniest scenes
I've ever seen in a kid's video - the singing vegetable garden.
Great musical parody.)
Available at www.amazon.com
or - a little more affordable - at
www.alibris.com. (Disclaimer: I work there.)
Berkeley Public Library also has a copy.
Angelika
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