PODCAST · education
Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW
by Peter Alsop
Humor, wisdom & commentary by Peter Alsop on his award winning songs and stories; some for kids & families, some for teens and adults! peteralsop.substack.com
Episodes
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When You Ask Me First
I played this song opening for Kenny Loggins at a huge ‘date-night’ concert in the gym at UC–SanDiego in 1977. Fortunately they appreciated satire! WHEN YOU ASK ME FIRST Cho: Well I love to do it Baby A But you only make it worse Bm I just don’t get excited Bm When you go and ask me first! A So...
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Gone For Good
Two days ago I posted my song ‘New Ground’ about loss, … so, just to keep us in balance, … here’s a song about how us humans always start looking for someone to blame when the world goes crazy! We’re going through huge changes socially and globally these days, … people are dying and it sure feels...
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New Ground
Our lives shift when a big loss happens. Things go along smoothly, then ‘BANG!’, something occurs, and our lives change drastically, and our perceptions shift. Hurt feelings can help us see things with new eyes. When we ‘lose’ someone or something important to us, we feel an emptiness and sadness...
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Low Flying Crows
Crows have developed a reputation as ‘thieves’ who steal a farmer’s seeds and crops after they’ve been planted. Maybe so, … but I don’t think crows could ever be as devastating to farmers as Monsanto/Bayer. I first heard about the Monsanto company creating problems for farmers when I traveled to...
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Abiyoyo
I do a lot of children’s songs, … and Pete Seeger did too. I had two daughters though, … I feel ‘rich in daughters’, … and that can be a little bit confusing as a parent. I told the kids “to not write in books!”, and then I got all these little kids’ books with a woodchuck! … And it was always a...
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Garbage!
One of the many wonderful things about being a folk and family music performer is singing ‘sing-alongs’ with our audiences. It’s definitely a requirement for playing songs with kids, ... less so for a folk-singer, ... but still, there’s nothing quite as fun and dear as a room full of humans…
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Snake Dance
In 1971 I saw an action film called ‘Billy Jack’ where writer-director Tom Laughlin plays a half-Navajo, ex-Green Beret veteran, who saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food, while he helps protect a desert “freedom school” for runaways. During the film Billy Jack goes through a…
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Hard Love
While presenting a keynote address in Atlanta, GA in 2008 at the National Foster Parents Association Annual Meeting, I had the opportunity to visit a foster home nearby, where five severely developmentally disabled kids were being ‘fostered’ by some very special people. Children with disabilities...
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Making Ebenezer
EBENEZER’S MAKE OVER A Feature-length Musical Video by Peter Alsop Suitable for: Gender & Women’s Studies • Social Work • Psychology • Counseling • Literature • Human Services • Ethics • Theatre • Political Science My audiences told me, “This will help save the world!” They said, “You have to get...
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Was St. Pat Scared?
It’s St. Patrick’s day again! How wonderful that stories we learn growing up can change and inform us as we grow older. The Irish myth about St. Patrick, ‘ridding Ireland of all the snakes’ is a wonderful place to start this discussion. We humans have taken over most of the world by eliminating…
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The Hug
This true story was made into a song by an old friend, The Reverend Fred Small. He’s a wonderful singer-songwriter, performer; an activist and pastor dedicated to healing the earth, seeking justice, and tending our wounded spirits. His song’s about a therapist named Dan Murrow, who was fired for...
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I Believe You
I BELIEVE YOU When you tell me you are scared A-F#m I will listen ‘cause I care F#m-A I remember bein’ scared too Bm-F#m So when you tell me, I believe you E-A When you’re angry or you’re sad Even if you’re feeling bad I remember feelin’ bad too So when you tell me, I believe you Maybe I can help...
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Lifeline
LIFELINE You carried me, home in your arms G-C-D,G-C-D You loved me so much, and you kept me from harm You washed me and fed me, the years how they flew And now you need my help, and I’ll care for you! There’s a lifeline that ties me to you, Am-C-G Life rolls like a wheel through whatever we do...
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You Get A Little Extra When You Watch TV
While we think we’re just watching, we’re also being shaped by the stories and images we see. We watch how others live their lives and we see the values they hold. Our brains notice everything, even if we’re not paying much attention, and we compare what we do, with what ‘they’ do. Here’s a live...
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Costume Party
It’s the end of October again, and I’ve noticed scatterings of children test-driving their Halloween costumes in the super-market aisles, making sure they work! Hidden inside their new identity, they are no longer just a ‘child-in-a-supermarket’! They’ve been transformed by their costume and they...
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Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do
I wrote “Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do” in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980’s, which was spreading like wildfire through the Gay community. My daughters Megan and Willow joined me when I went to perform at a California Men’s Gathering back then, ... and the men kept coming up to ‘thank me’...
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Letter To Mr. Brown
THE LETTER TO MR. BROWN Dear Mr. Brown, from the kids in Room Two G-C-G We’re writing you a letter, like you taught us to do C-G-C-D We all got together at lunch this noon G-Em-C And we decided we’d better do something soon. G-C-D9-G ‘Cause lately you’ve been diff’rent, and we don’t know why...
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Baby Needs A Parent
As a psychologist and songwriter, I’ve made my living lecturing, consulting, writing songs and doing concerts for kids, parents and human service professionals. I’ve presented at conferences and concerts all over the world for more than 50 years. I wrote ‘Baby Needs A Parent’ in 1980, when most...
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Peter Alsop's "Ebenezer's Make Over"
Have you ever laughed, cried or sung-along with one of my songs? If so, I’m guessing you’ll like this full length feature video of my new play-concert “Ebenezer’s Make Over”! It’s about a modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by three spirits in the night. They shake him awake with…
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When One Is Too Many
Here’s an anthem I wrote from one of the Twelve-Step sayings. We sang this on the main stage with the audience at the 1986 Philadelphia Folk Festival, along with my friends Kim and Reggie Harris. Join us! WHEN ONE IS TOO MANY One drink, one smoke, one snort of coke A-D A sugar slip, hey, a…
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When Jesus Was A Kid
WHEN JESUS WAS A KID It’s Christmas time again D And the mall is really weird. Everyone gets stressed out Christmas shopping every year. D-A7 I have to stop and wonder, Looking at my Christmas list When Jesus was a kid, Would He be doing this? A7-D I know He was a baby, But did He ever cry? Did...
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It's Only A Wee-Wee, So What's The Big Deal?
When my buddy Utah Phillips recorded my song, ‘It’s Only A Wee-Wee, So What’s The Big Deal?’, he introduced it by saying, “Now here’s my idea of a kids’ song folks! Full bore, overhead cam, spoke wire-wheels, no holds barred damn kids’ song! None of that ‘knicky-knacky-nu’ stuff we were stuck…
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Yecch!
Today's 'Song To Chew' is YECCH! from my “Wha'D'Ya Wanna Do?" album. I play this song at almost every family concert because almost veryone loves screaming "Yecch!" at the top of their lungs! It's a 'scream-along' so you can join in with us! It's full of make-believe and playfulness, and it's an...
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Let’s Face It!
Today's 'Song To Chew' is LET'S FACE IT! from my “In The Hospital" album. It addresses facial disfigurement, and all the unsettling emotions that we go through when we feel that we're different than others around us. It's difficult emotionally, whether we're an adult or a child, to figure out how...
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Inspection
Today's 'Song To Chew' is INSPECTION. I wrote it with Penny Pefley, one of the pediatric nurses who helped us make our “In The Hospital"album. My buddy Bill Harley and I 'rap' this one. Our personal privacy is challenged regularly in a hospital by doctors, nurses and assistants who want to make...
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Juice
Today's 'Song To Chew' is JUICE, from my “Stayin Over" album. It's an uncomplicated song, about the complicated concepts of 'love' and 'energy'. When we feel we’re not loved, we feel empty, and we search for any kind of 'juice' to fill us up, like booze, sex, drugs, money, food or approval from...
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Stayin’ Over
Today we'll 'Chew' on the title song from my STAYIN' OVER album. Do you remember the first night you went to 'stay over' at a friend's house? Maybe it was a camping trip with other families. These adventures are loaded with memories and lessons we learned from our social interactions with others....
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Wiggle
Today's 'Song To Chew' is WIGGLE. It's a song about freedom! We all “wiggle” when someone won’t let us do what we want to do. 'Being alive!" means that in one form or another, we just need to "wiggle"! Some of us wiggle emotionally because we don't want to be 'pinned down'. Some wiggle physically...
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The Prize
Today's 'Song To Chew' is THE PRIZE from my “Did You Walk?" album. It's song lyrics without any music, so actually, it's a poem. We're constantly being taught that it's important to 'come in first', to 'win the game', to 'win the race!' Some of us do it to get approval from others. Some think we...
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Sandwiches
Today's 'Song To Chew', SANDWICHES, was written by Bob King. One of the subjects that kids love to sing about is food!! We'll 'chew on' ideas about kids and food and the interconnectedness of all the human things we do in our lives. There's 'enjoyment' and 'sharing'. There's 'mooching', which is...
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Needle-ee, Noodle-ee
Today's 'Song To Chew' is NEEDLE-EE NOODLE-EE. I wrote it with Penny Pefley, one of the two pediatric nurses who initiated our "In The Hospital" album! "Pokes" or "shots" are probably the number one fear children have about being in the hospital. Few children escape this experience, whether as an...
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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....
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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...
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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…
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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'...
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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...
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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'!...
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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…
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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...
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I’m A Little Cookie
Our 'Song To Chew' today is I'M A LITTLE COOKIE, written by Larry Penn. It reframes the concept of 'having a disability' for kids and grown-ups. When a traumatic event happens, and something in us changes or 'breaks', we can feel like we're 'un-whole'! It's true that as we change and grow and...
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Peaceful Feet
Our SONG TO CHEW this week is PEACEFUL FEET, from my 'Grow It At Home' album. I wrote it as part of a challenge sent out from Rounder Kids Records asking some of the best artists in children's and family music to create a one-minute song for an album called "HEAR AND GONE IN 60 SECONDS" It…
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Gnarly Dude
This week's 'Song To Chew' is GNARLY DUDE. 'Gnarly' means 'twisted and knobby', but it's also slang for 'something unpleasant or unattractive', or for the opposite, 'something excellent or very good'. To be a 'gnarly dude', we have to figure out how to be tough and cool at the same time! Sounds...
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Home Where The Heart Is
This week's Song To Chew, 'HOME WHERE THE HEART IS', opens the musical stage play I wrote with Ellen Geer, “Pie In The Sky", which ran as part of our 1987 theater season at the Theatricum Botanicum. It takes place in a small American town that has its own nuclear reactor. The kids of the town…
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Samit And The Dragon
My SAMIT AND THE DRAGON song comes from our “In The Hospital" album, recorded with my buddy Bill Harley and the two pediatric nurses from Seattle Children's Hospital who instigated the whole project, Diane Gates and Penny Pefley. We won the Best Children's Album of the Year Award from the…
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Strangers
Our SONG TO CHEW this week, is STRANGERS, from my 1992 child abuse prevention concert with KidPower and actor John Ritter. Before people turn 18, one out of four of us will have been sexually abused. Our feelings are like an early warning system. If we feel uncomfortable about a situation, we…
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No, No, No!
Our 'Song To Chew' this week is 'NO, NO, NO!' Little kids like to say 'No!'. We learn that from the adults around us! "Can I have a puppy?" No! "Can my friend come here to play?" No! It's impossible to be a perfect parent. I was spanked as a kid, but I never hit my kids, and they turned our…
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If You Love A Hippopotamus
Today's 'Song To Chew', "IF YOU LOVE A HIPPOPOTAMUS" was written by Connie Kaldor, a wonderful Canadian singer-songwriter. It brings up the delicate subject of our size and our behavior and our appearance. If we don't look or behave the way other people think we should, we can get excluded, and...
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Where Will I Go When I’m Dead And Gone?
WHERE WILL I GO WHEN I'M DEAD AND GONE? is one of my more controversial songs. Why write a song for kids about death and dying? Because it's a subject no one wants to talk about! Curiosity about death is completely human and understandable. Kids need safe people to talk with about it; to ask...
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Ask Away
This week's SONG TO CHEW is ASK AWAY from my “Grow It At Home" album! The concept is simple! 'Ask others for help', but that can be difficult for some of us. We don't want to impose or look weak or confused. Some think it's gender-linked to men, as many men would rather drive around lost for…
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Us Kids Brush Our Teeth
Our SONG TO CHEW this week is US KIDS BRUSH OUR TEETH from my 'Stayin' Over' album. A four-year-old doesn't brush their teeth just to get them clean! That's what adults do! Kids have a completely different agenda! If we get upset with our kids for "not acting like adults", we miss the delight and...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Humor, wisdom & commentary by Peter Alsop on his award winning songs and stories; some for kids & families, some for teens and adults!
peteralsop.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Peter Alsop
CATEGORIES
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How many episodes does Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW have?
Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW currently has 274 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW about?
Humor, wisdom & commentary by Peter Alsop on his award winning songs and stories; some for kids & families, some for teens and adults! peteralsop.substack.com
How often does Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW release new episodes?
Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW publishes regularly with 274 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW?
Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW is created and hosted by Peter Alsop.
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