Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

My Dad’s A Jungle Gym

    Our Song To Chew today is MY DAD'S A JUNGLE GYM from my “Uh-Oh!" album.  I used to carry my daughters around on my shoulders, or under my arms when they were little.  Sometimes they'd get tired on a walk, and I'd carry them on my back.  Eventually they'd wiggle free, hop down and run around again.  Dads are generally less 'risk-adverse' than Moms, which means that we let our kids take more risks than Moms do.  I'd let them stand on the roof of my van and hold out my arms and say, "Okay!  Jump!", ... and they'd jump!  I always caught them, and we'd laugh.  Don't think I ever dropped them.  Most Dads are not so worried about kids falling down and scraping a knee or getting a sun-burn.  Doesn't mean we don't care, we're just less likely to think it's a big deal.  We chew on some of these thoughts in this podcast, see what you think!  I’m Peter Alsop.  I hope all you Dads out there have a chance to be a Jungle Gym too!  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

My Body Runs

   Today's 'Song To Chew' is MY BODY RUNS, from my “Did You Walk?" album.  I wrote this song at the request of two women who were marketing their Digi-Walker Pedometer, a small device for one's belt or pocket that counts the steps we take to be sure we get enough exercise every day.  Kids have lots of questions about their own bodies and how they seem to work sort of automatically.  "My body runs, my body goes!  I don’t know how, but my body knows!"  We really don't have much control over making our heart beat or digesting our food.  So this song examines all that mystery in a gentle way.  Us adults are just amazed as kids when we consider how incredible our bodies really are!  I’m Peter Alsop. See you next time with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads
 

Wha’d’ya Wanna Do?

   Today's 'Song To Chew', WHA'D'YA WANNA DO?, is about 'wanting to have fun with a buddy'.  As I listen to the lyrics more than 40 years after I wrote them, they're about being joyous.  That's mostly what kids wanna do, 'find support as we go through our lives joyously'.  Support makes it less scary to take risks, so when we take a risk, even if it doesn't work out, we learn that we can overcome obstacles and eventually become stronger and more confident.  This song isn't as philosophically 'deep' as some of my other songs, but with this heavy old world bouncing around dangerously these days, the simple message this song carries is 'profound'.  We all want to 'hang out' with people who know that sharing fun and laughter in dark time is comforting and healing and that 'joy' is an uplifting birthright of every human being on the planet.
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

That’s My Thang

    This week's 'Song To Chew' is THAT'S MY THANG! We get a "fire in our belly" about something that involves all our attention, often to the exclusion of everything else around us.  Our 'thang' is something we want to achieve, or simply a task we want to complete.  Our 'thang' isn't really 'work' because we enjoy doing it.  Many of us love the work we do.  Artists often work for little or no money because it's an expression of ourselves.  It feels good to do our "thang" and if we can get paid for it, that's great! Living in a capitalistic system teaches us that everything has a specific monetary value.  We learn to put a price on everything, so we know 'exactly' how much it's worth. A story like that leads us astray, and the gorgeous range of passion in human endeavors gets quantized into flat numbers, and actually cheapens the way we think about our life.  I sure hope your life has some passionate 'Thang' you love to do!  I’ll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now! 
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

Covers On Our Hearts

    Today we'll "chew on" the song, COVERS ON OUR HEARTS from our musical play "Pie In The Sky".  It takes place in a small town with a big nuclear reactor.  The kids in town want to get rid of it because there are so many health problems, but the grown-ups are slow to respond.  It's based on the Pied Piper fable, about a magical piper who's hired to rid the town of rats.  He leads them all out of town by playing his magical flute, (in my case, a drum!).  But when the townspeople refuse to pay him, he leads all their children away, never to be heard from again.  The story is a painful lesson that 'trinkets and baubles' from our capitalistic system, can never replace our much-needed love relationships.  We each have childhood injuries and bruises, but the emotional 'covers' we develop to protect ourselves, make it more difficult to care for each other and lift each other up.  Yet that is is exactly what we need to do to sustain life on our planet and survive here together.  So our work is to 'shake off our covers'!  I’m Peter Alsop.  I’ll see you again soon with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

While I’m Sleeping

    Our 'Song To Chew' today is WHILE I'M SLEEPING, written with Diane Gates.  She and Penny Pefley are pediatric nurses from Seattle Children's Hospital who encouraged me to write and record our 'In The Hospital' album.  I got my buddy Bill Harley to join us, and we won Parent's Choice 'Best Album'!  This song addresses difficulties we face with going to sleep, particularly when we're in a hospital. We have fears about not being conscious or in control when we're asleep, and our strange surroundings and fears about our health compound these problems.  What if we don't wake up?  If a child has an operation that requires anesthesia the word "sleep" is the best way to explain this to them.  Unfortunately, it's also used when we talk about death.  It's confusing and scary to be told we'll get some "special medicine" that will put us to sleep, so it's important to be very clear about this 'kind of sleep'.  We can help kids who have trouble sleeping in the hospital by continuing their home bedtime routines, giving them a small flashlight in bed and making sure they meet the primary doctors and nurses.  Your child's physician may also have some suggestions.  Best of all is to be there, and ask them what they think would help them feel safe.
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

Under The Rainbow

    Our 'Song To Chew' today is UNDER THE RAINBOW.  Some might call it a 'woke' song, because it's full of hope.  There are some very mystifying things in this world.  I haven't got a clue about how they happen, so I don't rule out prayer, magic, supernatural religions, being "woke" or anything else that might help us all survive together!  I know that 'when someone holds a belief, we can't get them to change that belief by offering facts.'  Science and logic don't have much influence in the 'Land of Beliefs'.  Unfortunately, in the 'Land of Science and Logic', there's not much support for the idea that a belief or story can have a huge influence on a person's ability to accomplish things in their life.  There's a mystical, innocent, non-scientific power in a child's beliefs and stories, and whether they're true or not, by holding them so close to their hearts, they can accomplish amazing feats that seem impossible to the rest of us.  If we're to have a future that's safe and sustainable, we need to it start now!  As I age, I feel a 'nibbling remorse' that I need to do more to leave our children a safer world.  My own dear children, singing the words to my song, ring more true to me now than they did when I wrote them.
            "You cannot give the world to us.  It is not yours to give.
              It is a home for every child, who needs to grow and live
              And for a while, we may borrow the air and trees and sun,
              But we must never, never break the trust, of the children yet to come."
 ~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads
 

Never Speak With Your Mouth Full

Today's 'Song To Chew' is NEVER SPEAK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL!  It seems like a 'fun little song', but it opens doors to deeper topics like, 'Where do our rules come from?' and 'How do they become laws?'  Kids deal with 'grown-up rules' all the time.  We teach children rules, so they'll learn to be socially responsible adults; people who care about other people.  Adults who sing this song with their kids send the message, “We can play and be silly, and still be caring and polite to each other at the same time!"  I think that’s a wiser, healthier, message than, “follow the rules no matter what!”  When I need to speak up about something that's "not okay" with me, I need to do it in a way that will 'get through' to another person. It's not going to resolve anything if that other person feels like they're being attacked!   So we really need to be careful about how we do that.  And practicing that, ... starts with me!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop  = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop  = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads