Released in 2008, Animal Songs is comprised of fourteen of Raffi’s most loved animal songs including “Baby Beluga,” “We’re Going to the Zoo,” and “Who Built the Ark?” Although none of the songs are new, some were first recorded on Raffi’s 1976 debut children’s album Singable Songs For The Very Young, Animal Songs is fresh and enjoyable and provides an excellent introduction to Raffi and his message for children of the new millennium.
Baby Beluga Generation
Although still very much child-centered, Raffi has recently begun addressing his message of ecology and sustainability to adults. He speaks and writes about Child Honoring, what his website raffinews.com calls “a holistic way of restoring natural and human communities” by “organizing society around the needs of its youngest members.”
In a message on raffinews.com, Raffi adds a verse to his beloved “ Baby Beluga ” song:
“Now you've grown and you're on your way
Making waves in the boundless bay,
With your shining light and your dreams alive
For the young you'll have one day.
Grown-up beluga, grown-up beluga,
Sing a song of peace, sing with all your friends,
We need to hear you!”
These words are addressed to all adults, but especially Beluga Graduates, the young adults who grew up listening to him in the 1970s and ‘80s. He calls on these fans “to live with meaning and purpose, honouring the children in their lives.” Animal Songs helps Beluga Graduates do just that.
Through Animal Music, Beluga Graduates can spend fun and positive times with children and find ways to reconnect with Raffi’s nine guiding principles of Child Honoring: respectful love, diversity, caring communities, conscious parenting, emotional intelligence, nonviolence, safe environments, sustainability and ethical commerce. Furthermore, by re-listening to the songs of their childhood, Beluga Graduates can, like Raffi, rewrite some of the songs to fit their adult lives.
Animal Songs is Sustainable
The cover of Animal Songs is a simple cardboard case made from recycled chlorine-free paper. Rather than print the lyrics and credits, Raffi has made them available on line at raffinews.com. The environmentally aware packaging is an attractive red. An abundance of plush animal puppets are featured as well. Its appearance alone make Animal Songs appealing.
The Animal Songs
Many of the tracks on Animal Songs are traditional songs that most people already know. Raffi provides spirited renditions that will endear themselves to listeners even though his vocal range is limited and his tone a bit off. His enthusiasm and the universality of the repertoire are forgiving of these flaws.
The songs included on the disk come from seven previous albums and can be divided as follows:
- From the album Singable Songs for the Very Young (1976)
Down by the Bay
Goin’ to the Zoo
Baa Baa Black Sheep
- From the album More Singable Songs (1977)
6 Little Ducks
Who Built the Ark?
- From the album Corner Grocery Store (1979)
Here sits a Monkey
Anansi
Goodnight, Irene
- From the album Baby Beluga (1980)
Over in the Meadow
Baby Beluga
- From the album Rise and Shine (1982)
5 Little Ducks
- From the album One Light One Sun (1985)
Tingalayo
Octapus’s Garden
- From the album Let’s Play (2002)
Eensy Weensy Spider
Details
Animal Songs by Raffi
Troubadour Music Inc.
Released in 2008
14 Tracks, 29 minutes
ASIN: B0012TBH5U
Melissa Morelli Lacroix - I have degrees in writing from Lancaster University and the University of Alberta as well as a certificate in Translation Studies from the ...
