I’m going to lay the nostalgia on thick with this post. In the interest of giving you fair warning, the odds that you’ll get a song or two stuck in your head are very high. And if that happens, know that I’m right there with you, as these songs have basically been repeating in my brain non-stop for the last seven months.
If You’re Happy & You Know It. Wheels On The Bus. Apples And Bananas. Shake My Sillies Out. And of course, the unforgettable, incomparable … Baby Beluga.
You know what I’m talking about. “Baby beluga, oh, baby beluga. Is the water warm? Is your mama home with you, so happy?” Yes indeed, friends – my life has come full circle and Raffi is once again a daily part of my life.
It turns out that my boy absolutely loves songs. If he’s fussy, a song will calm him. If we want to sneak a smile from him, a lyric or two will usually do the trick. It’s practically magic, and endlessly entertaining for Chantel and me. Fortunately, Raffi offers a wealth of songs to keep it all fresh.
Ordinarily, we like his songs for their silliness and levity. I mean, he has a song called Bananaphone for goodness sake. That song isn’t particularly insightful.
And so my wife paused and took note after listening to another Raffi song this morning. Released in 1980, it is called All I Really Need, and it has a message that resonates deeply with us. Here are some of the lyrics:
All I really need is a song in my heart
Food in my belly and love in my family…
Food in my belly and love in my family…
And I need the rain to fall
And I need the sun to shine
To give life to the seeds we sow
To give the food we need to grow…
And I need the sun to shine
To give life to the seeds we sow
To give the food we need to grow…
All I really need is a song in my heart
Food in my belly and love in my family…
Food in my belly and love in my family…
And I need some clean water for drinking
And I need some clean air for breathing
So that I can grow up strong
And take my place where I belong…
And I need some clean air for breathing
So that I can grow up strong
And take my place where I belong…
Perhaps the words are overly simplistic (it is a children’s song after all), but the song directly acknowledges our dependence on nature for a range of ecosystem services. Which isn’t exactly a simple concept when you reflect on it.
Unfortunately, it’s also a concept that is relevant to a current humanitarian crisis. My wife flagged this article recently, which covers recent World Health Organization reports on the extent to which environmental hazards contribute to child mortality. The verdict? Roughly 1.7 million children under the age of five die each year as a result of degraded environmental conditions. Significant contributing factors include water and air pollution.
Props to Raffi for speaking to this issue 37 years ago. Further props for his continuing to advocate for environmental sustainability (it’s a cause he publicly supports, and he even paid tribute to my grandfather by playing an original song, Ray of Hope, at his memorial service in 2011). And given how each and every one of us depend on a healthy environment, I would say that we owe it to our kids to listen to Raffi on this one.
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