I am participating in SoCS hosted by Linda G. Hill (click on the link for the ping back to the original blog post and to see the rules). Today’s prompt is “a song from your childhood.” You can find the rules at the bottom of this post.
When I was a kid, my parents always insisted that we listen to “kid’s music,” which most of the time meant that we were stuck listening to Raffi, on repeat. Even as I write this post, the familiar words of “Baby Beluga” are rolling around in my brain. That is saying something, in my opinion, if I song I probably haven’t heard in 25+ years, is still rattling around the ole’ noggin. Whether that “something” is positive or negative, I will leave that up to you to decide.
If you’ve never heard one of Raffi’s songs, you can listen to “Baby Beluga” on Youtube by clicking on this link.
Imagine listening to this song, and other songs like it, for 2.5 hours while crammed in the back seat with your two younger siblings and the family dog. Since I was the oldest by four years, I was listening to such music far into my teens. Even now, at 40, I shudder to think about it. My daughter, almost two now, has never, and will never, be subjected to Raffi. I’ve had my fill of his music for a lifetime.
The above being said, I’m not trying to be unkind, as for what it is, his music is great. And I recognize that he was very popular when I was a child.
I think that the saying “too much a good thing” fully applies to Raffi.
I remember that he came to the Westport, CT Playhouse, and as a child, I attended this concert. Although to be honest, the only thing I remember about that concert was that another attendee was the actor who played the father on Wonder Years.
In googling him, I found out that he is 74 years old, living in Canada, AND IS STILL GIVING CONCERTS and producing music (his latest album, a collaboration with Lindsay Munroe, was released in 2022).
Congratulations to him on what seems to be a long, successful career.
The Legal Alien 