Bunchland

Beth Blenz-Clucas blogs about music for kids that grownups will love too

This is the time of year to measure, count and reflect. As December rolls through, we’re fairly inundated with reviews of the year’s milestones and tabulations of the “best of” everything. It’s fun and occasionally instructive to go back through the past 12 months to see how we’ve all marked the time.

One of the most poignant songs ever written about measurement and time is Frank Loesser’s kid-friendly song “Inchworm.” Danny Kaye sang the definitive version in the 1952′s Hans Christian Andersen. It’s a deceptively simple song that can be sung as a round, which has made it a staple of children’s recordings and choir recitals ever since.

A few months ago, a kindie lullaby album called Sing Me To Sleep featured The Leisure Society’s lovely performance “Inchworm.” Here they are performing it live.

The appeal of the “Inchworm” song goes beyond “two and two are four, four and four are eight.” As the singer scolds the inchworm, arithmetic only takes you so far. It’s the beauty of the marigolds that matters.

So, as one year ends and another begins, I’m trying to slow down and appreciate just how far we’ve come.

A couple of months ago, I discovered the “rustic beauty” of the wondrously harmonic band Dawes. Their acoustic performance of their song “How Far We’ve Come” is measured and meaningful.

Beth Blenz-Clucas is a Portland-based mom and musical bystander. When she’s not trying to convince a journalist to listen to the latest indie kids’ music CD, she’s enjoying the fact that she no longer needs to find a babysitter to enjoy the vibrant Northwest music scene. Check out more of her writing at Sugar Mountain PR.

Image courtesy Big Hassle Publicity.