Tom Chapin in Concert

We took the family to see Tom Chapin last night. He is the brother of Harry Chapin, who had many hits, like "Taxi" and "The Cat's in the Cradle". Tom travels and tours with two other musicians who are very talented. They played for about an hour and a half and were very entertaining. They do what they call "Family music". Its not The Wiggles, and that is a very very good thing. His music is complex, well played and the lyrics are intelligent and thoughtful not insipid. My 5 year old loves his music. Here are the lyrics to a song he wrote recently called "Not on the Test":

Not On The Test
by John Forster & Tom Chapin
© 2007 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)
Go on to sleep now, third grader of mine.
The test is tomorrow but you'll do just fine.
It's reading and math. Forget all the rest.
You don't need to know what is not on the test.

Each box that you mark on each test that you take,
Remember your teachers. Their jobs are at stake.
Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed.
They'd never teach anything not on the test.

The School Board is faced with no child left behind
With rules but no funding, they're caught in a bind.
So music and art and the things you love best
Are not in your school 'cause they're not on the test.

Sleep, sleep, and as you progress
You'll learn there's a lot that is not on the test.
Debate is a skill that is useful to know,
Unless you're in Congress or talk radio,
Where shouting and spouting and spewing are blessed
'Cause rational discourse was not on the test.

Thinking's important. It's good to know how.
And someday you'll learn to, but someday's not now.
Go on to sleep, now. You need your rest.
Don't think about thinking. It's not on the test.

See what I mean about the lyrics being clever? He has a lot of songs about taking care of the planet and "educational type stuff". One of my personal favorites is "Two Kinds of Seagulls":

Lyrics for Tom Chapin’s “Two kinds of seagulls”
There’s two kinds of seagulls: he-gulls and she-gulls.
He-gulls like she-gulls and that’s why there’s seagulls.

There’s two kinds of pythons: girl-thons and guy-thons.
Girl-thons like guy-thons and that’s why there’s pythons.

There’s two kinds of wombats: Dad-bats and Mom-bats.
Dad-bats dig Mom-bats and that’s why there’s wombats.

And there’s two kinds of squirrels: himmels and herrels.
Himmels are nuts about herrels and that’s why there’s squirrels.
Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of penguins: lady-guins and men-guins.
Lady-guins flip for men-guins and that’s why there’s penguins.

There’s two kinds of blackbirds: jill-birds and jack-birds.
Jill-birds thrill jack-birds and that’s why there’s blackbirds.

There’s two kinds of lizards: herzards and hizards.
Herzards think hizards are wizards and that’s why there’s lizards.

There’s two kinds of llamas: papas and mamas.
They wear different pajamas and that’s why there’s llamas.
Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of peoples: he-puls and she-puls.
He-puls like she-puls. She-puls like he-puls.
And that’s why there’s me-puls, and you-puls,
And peoples.

I really wanted to use those when I was teaching Sex Ed down in VA, but it wasn't on the test, oh well.