Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

    Today's SONG TO CHEW is written and sung by Amy Fix. 'YOU ARE MY SPOON' is part of my "Ebenezer's Make Over" album; a feminist version of Charles Dickens' classic, "A Christmas Carol". His story is actually a 'make over' about how crochety Ebenezer Scrooge changed his stingy ways after being visited by three spirits during the night.   I use that story along with songs from the feminist men's and women's movements to awaken Ebenezer to the errors of his sexist and patriarchal ways!  With songs from my friends Holly Near, Amy Fix, Geof Morgan, Charlie Murphy, Fred Small, Romanovsky and Phillips, and others, along with actors and sound effects, we created EBENEZER'S MAKE OVER.  Amy's love song is part of Scrooge's visit to his childhood, where he's reminded that as a young man, he fell in love, but didn't know how to fit with his sweetheart very well, so they broke up. "She wanted me to be a 'spoon', but all I knew how to do was be a fork!"  ('Spooning' is when we cuddle in bed with someone else, both facing the same direction.)  This song generates the question, "how do we learn to be comfortable with people who are different than we are?"  Scrooge learns that if we can share some of our essential 'humanness' with others, we open the door to get to 'know' them better.  And that's just one of the ideas we'll chew on today.  Please click the link, and follow this podcast.  We'll do it together again next week, with another SONG TO CHEW!  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = 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
 

    Our SONG TO CHEW this week is "I NEED A HUG” from my “UH-OH!” album.  When we get older, we're not supposed to need as much 'emotional support' as we did when we were kids, but there are lots of us walking around who 'just need a hug' to help us keep going!  It's a physical message that we're loveable, and that we're doin' okay!  It's called reassurance.  All over the world different cultures and religions have their own different rules and regulations that load up the simple hug with all sorts sexual implications and complications!  It's true that human sexual attraction and insensitive male aggression are powerful forces in our social interactions, and we want to make sure that everyone feels safe when we get a hug, so these rules are made to help people feel safer about hugging and touching each other; about who can and who can't and for how long and how tight and where and when.  I think that's great, but the best rule of all is to ask someone if they'd like a hug, before we give them a hug!  And remember that if we need a hug, it's up to us to go to someone who feels safe, and ask them for a hug!  I’ll be back next week with a 'virtual hug' for you all, along with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = 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
 

  Our SONG TO CHEW this week is 'ROOTS AND WINGS' from my “Grow It At Home” album.  I took the imagery from watching trees and birds in nature.  In order to 'stay in balance' as we move through our lives, we need to be 'realistic and grounded' at times, (roots), and still be creative enough to sail out on the wings of our imagination.  Of course, it's only possible to pass these skills on to our children, if we adults have these skills in 'balancing' things in our own lives.  Some of our 'tools for living' get passed on through our teaching, but I think it mostly happens when we model them with our behaviors!  Many grown-ups have thought, "Oh my!  I've turned into my mother! (or my father!)"  We learn our parent's lessons from living with them!  And sometimes that's wonderful, and sometimes, not so wonderful.  So, as we realize that our parent's lessons may not always work so well for us, it's important to watch and listen and see how our kids manage what we pass on to them.  We want to be available to help them shape what they've learned from us about 'balancing life', but we may not be able to help them make adjustments.  The best we can do is to 'be available', because like us, they will work it out for themselves in their own lives.  That’s plenty to ‘chew on’ for today.  I’m Peter Alsop.  Thanks for stopping by!  I’ll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = 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

    This week our SONG TO CHEW is from my “Pluggin’ Away" album.  It’s called I CAN IF I WANNA.  The chorus is 'call and response' with a little character we call the 'Neggy'.  It's that little 'voice' inside us that undermines our self-confidence and says "you'll never accomplish what you're trying to do!"  It's different than hearing 'an opinion' from someone who thinks we ought to change something so it will work better.  When we hear Neggy comments that are not helpful, like "that will never work!", or "there's no point trying that!", or "you're going to fail for sure!", those kinds of opinions 'squash our hope'.  That's our Neggy talking!  Most of us have heard negative messages before and we've survived.  It's important to realize that when we hear people around us, tell us again and again and again that we're not capable, we begin to internalize those messages and say them to ourselves!  And it takes lots of positive messages to counter-balance the negative ones we've learned to accept, so I hope you sing-along with us really loud, so you know that 'you can if you wanna!!"  I'll be back next week, with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = 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

    Our SONG TO CHEW today, SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL, was written and performed by Geof Morgan, from my “Ebenezer's Make Over” album.  It came out on his Flying Fish recording, "Finally Letting It Go" in 1981.  I named this podcast 'SONGS TO CHEW', because if we listen to a song and just 'swallow it' without 'chewing it' a bit, we don't really get to 'taste it' or savor its nuances.  I heard Geof sing this one at the 5th Annual Conference on Men and Masculinity in Los Angeles back in the early 80's.  The song addresses the fact that the most dangerous occupations in the United States are dominated by men, and the fatality rate at work is 10 times greater for men than women.  Men struggle with how to balance our jobs and our health, along with our understanding of gender, sexual identities and orientations.  A song like this gives us the opportunity to recognize our triumphs AND see our mis-steps as we continue to work on better ways to build a deeper understanding of our male behaviors in the workplace, at home, and globally, hopefully making this world better for all of us!  I’m Peter Alsop.  I’ll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’!
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-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

  Today's 'Song To Chew' is "I LOVE MY FAMILY" from my 'Grow It At Home' album. Many kids say they're "embarrassed by their parents", or "my brothers and sisters are soooo annoying!", and yet after all the complaints, they still love their family!  When a family has a healthy sense of humor, we laugh WITH each other about some of the ridiculous things we do as human beings.  This helps us see a 'bigger picture' of life going on around us.  And it's a healthy 'laughter of recognition' that happens, because we recognize the 'out-of-balance' behaviors we each have!   Laughing is a valuable coping technique once we learn how to use 'victimless' humor.  We can be playful, and release some of the stress that happens to us daily, in our families AND in our society!  As we learn to make 'safe places' within our family, we can begin feel to have those 'courageous conversations' we need to have with each other, that allow us to move on without triggering emotional blow-ups.  Victimless humor and building safe spaces and trust between family members, is like having a pressure valve to let off some of the traumatic pressure that can build up.  Then we don't have to live with the fear that arises when we try to talk about sensitive issues.  I’ll be back next week, … with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now! 
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-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 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

This week’s SONG TO CHEW was written by Geof Morgan.  It's known as THE PENIS SONG or IT'S MY PENIS.  I met Geof many years ago at one of the National Association of Men Against Sexism Conferences.  He's one of the main voices of the feminist men's movement.  We toured together a while through California with Kate Wolfe and Nina Gerber.  His songs are wonderful and insightful.  I do my 'sing-along' version of this song on two of my albums, "Songs On Sex & Sexuality" and "Ebenezer’s Make Over”.  The song really points out how 'loaded' with moral judgements our human sexuality is!  Our penis is as much a part of our body as our finger, but it’s so overloaded with symbolism that it doesn’t have much of a chance to just 'be'.  My version is a bit silly, but this song's concepts are profound.  Many men feel tons of pressure and alienation about our culture's 'laser-like focus' on sex and naked bodies.  We may find someone's body attractive, and we want to stare at it, but then we have to be careful that person doesn't see us staring at them!  It's worth it to bring this stuff up for conversation, because in order for men to help make the world a better place, first we have to heal ourselves!  Check out the podcast below, and I'll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’!
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-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 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    This week’s SONG TO CHEW is the title cut from my “Pluggin’ Away” album.  It's a song about, 'having persistence'; about finding the will to 'keep on trying' when we want to accomplish our goals.  The hard part of persistence is figuring out 'how long should we keep on trying', before we decide that we're beating our head against a wall?!  As the song says, "People who keep pluggin' away, they're the ones who get things done, 'cause they keep pluggin' away!"  There are always tasks to be done that no one wants to do, but our attitude makes the difference between 'awful drudgery', or 'a job that has to be finished, so might as well make it fun!'  If we change our story, we change our attitude, and we break our old negative patterns!  I’m Peter Alsop.  Glad you stopped by!  Please invite your friends, and I’ll see you again with another ‘Song to Chew’.  Bye for now!
~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/peter-alsops-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