Chords for Tom Chapin on Performing for Kids
Tempo:
77.35 bpm
Chords used:
G
F
C
Em
Gm
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Perhaps I should explain myself.
[C] Great big words
In [G] 1988, Abigail was 8 and Lily was 6,
[F] and they'd outgrown Raffi and the little toddler music
and not yet [F] mercifully gotten into the radio.
[Gm] And [Em] so I suddenly realized there's not a lot of music for [G] this age.
It's the [F#] last age that parents and kids [Cm] listen to the same stuff.
[C] We're in cars together, you ask, what do you [G] play?
And I thought it'd be fun to try to write a record
that was kid-friendly and adult-safe.
So I got together with some friends [D#] of mine,
John Forster and Michael Mark and John Cobert,
and we [G] began to write a record, [C] won all these awards,
and people [G] started asking me to do kids' concerts.
And here I am, 18 years later,
and we have 11 albums [F#m] and 3 Grammys,
and [F] half of my concerts, 2 [Em] thirds of my concerts are now family concerts.
I now do a lot of family music.
I have 11 albums for grammar school kids and you, and parents and us.
And the same thing holds true when you want to talk about something,
not an easy way, but a great way to do it is to tell a story.
You want to talk about recycling, instead of saying,
you should recycle, write a story about a stegosaurus in the forest
munching on some hay, lay down to snooze in a bed of ooze and sadly passed away.
Her body changed and rearranged as she sank beneath the soil.
And over time, she turned to slime and then she turned to oil.
And you tell a story about this dinosaur which becomes oil and then we use the oil.
So what you're trying to do with kids especially is to open their eyes.
And storytellers are fabulous.
A good story just gets you through the neck of the bottle.
And all of a sudden you're in this world and what happens next?
The [F] parents say, yours are the tapes we take on long car trips.
And it really was self-defense.
It was, how do [E] you write songs that I want to sing over and over again?
[B] And that kids will connect with.
They have to be really clear, not simple, but very clear.
And so I'm very proud of that side of my world.
As I said, I never expected to
[C] Great big words
In [G] 1988, Abigail was 8 and Lily was 6,
[F] and they'd outgrown Raffi and the little toddler music
and not yet [F] mercifully gotten into the radio.
[Gm] And [Em] so I suddenly realized there's not a lot of music for [G] this age.
It's the [F#] last age that parents and kids [Cm] listen to the same stuff.
[C] We're in cars together, you ask, what do you [G] play?
And I thought it'd be fun to try to write a record
that was kid-friendly and adult-safe.
So I got together with some friends [D#] of mine,
John Forster and Michael Mark and John Cobert,
and we [G] began to write a record, [C] won all these awards,
and people [G] started asking me to do kids' concerts.
And here I am, 18 years later,
and we have 11 albums [F#m] and 3 Grammys,
and [F] half of my concerts, 2 [Em] thirds of my concerts are now family concerts.
I now do a lot of family music.
I have 11 albums for grammar school kids and you, and parents and us.
And the same thing holds true when you want to talk about something,
not an easy way, but a great way to do it is to tell a story.
You want to talk about recycling, instead of saying,
you should recycle, write a story about a stegosaurus in the forest
munching on some hay, lay down to snooze in a bed of ooze and sadly passed away.
Her body changed and rearranged as she sank beneath the soil.
And over time, she turned to slime and then she turned to oil.
And you tell a story about this dinosaur which becomes oil and then we use the oil.
So what you're trying to do with kids especially is to open their eyes.
And storytellers are fabulous.
A good story just gets you through the neck of the bottle.
And all of a sudden you're in this world and what happens next?
The [F] parents say, yours are the tapes we take on long car trips.
And it really was self-defense.
It was, how do [E] you write songs that I want to sing over and over again?
[B] And that kids will connect with.
They have to be really clear, not simple, but very clear.
And so I'm very proud of that side of my world.
As I said, I never expected to
Key:
G
F
C
Em
Gm
G
F
C
Perhaps I should explain myself.
[C] _ _ Great big words_
In [G] 1988, Abigail was 8 and Lily was 6,
[F] and they'd outgrown Raffi and the little toddler music
and not yet [F] mercifully gotten into the radio.
[Gm] And [Em] so I suddenly realized there's not a lot of music for [G] this age.
It's the [F#] last age that parents and kids [Cm] listen to the same stuff.
[C] We're in cars together, you ask, what do you [G] play?
And I thought it'd be fun to try to write a record
that was kid-friendly and adult-safe.
So I got together with some friends [D#] of mine,
John Forster and Michael Mark and John Cobert,
and we [G] began to write a record, _ [C] _ won all these awards,
and people [G] started asking me to do kids' concerts.
And here I am, 18 years later,
and _ we have 11 albums [F#m] and 3 Grammys,
and [F] half of my concerts, 2 [Em] thirds of my concerts are now family concerts.
I now do a lot of family music.
I have 11 albums for grammar school kids and you, and parents and us.
And the same thing holds true when you want to talk about something,
not an easy way, but a great way to do it is to tell a story.
You want to talk about recycling, instead of saying,
you should recycle, write a story about a stegosaurus in the forest
munching on some hay, lay down to snooze in a bed of ooze and sadly passed away.
Her body changed and rearranged as she sank beneath the soil.
And over time, she turned to slime and then she turned to oil.
And you tell a story about this dinosaur which becomes oil and then we use the oil.
So what you're trying to do with kids especially is to open their eyes.
And storytellers are fabulous.
A good story just gets you through the neck of the bottle.
And all of a sudden you're in this world and what happens next?
The [F] parents say, yours are the tapes we take on long car trips.
And it really was self-defense.
It was, how do [E] you write songs that I want to sing over and over again?
[B] And that kids will connect with.
They have to be really clear, not simple, but very clear.
And so I'm very proud of that side of my world.
As I said, I never expected to
[C] _ _ Great big words_
In [G] 1988, Abigail was 8 and Lily was 6,
[F] and they'd outgrown Raffi and the little toddler music
and not yet [F] mercifully gotten into the radio.
[Gm] And [Em] so I suddenly realized there's not a lot of music for [G] this age.
It's the [F#] last age that parents and kids [Cm] listen to the same stuff.
[C] We're in cars together, you ask, what do you [G] play?
And I thought it'd be fun to try to write a record
that was kid-friendly and adult-safe.
So I got together with some friends [D#] of mine,
John Forster and Michael Mark and John Cobert,
and we [G] began to write a record, _ [C] _ won all these awards,
and people [G] started asking me to do kids' concerts.
And here I am, 18 years later,
and _ we have 11 albums [F#m] and 3 Grammys,
and [F] half of my concerts, 2 [Em] thirds of my concerts are now family concerts.
I now do a lot of family music.
I have 11 albums for grammar school kids and you, and parents and us.
And the same thing holds true when you want to talk about something,
not an easy way, but a great way to do it is to tell a story.
You want to talk about recycling, instead of saying,
you should recycle, write a story about a stegosaurus in the forest
munching on some hay, lay down to snooze in a bed of ooze and sadly passed away.
Her body changed and rearranged as she sank beneath the soil.
And over time, she turned to slime and then she turned to oil.
And you tell a story about this dinosaur which becomes oil and then we use the oil.
So what you're trying to do with kids especially is to open their eyes.
And storytellers are fabulous.
A good story just gets you through the neck of the bottle.
And all of a sudden you're in this world and what happens next?
The [F] parents say, yours are the tapes we take on long car trips.
And it really was self-defense.
It was, how do [E] you write songs that I want to sing over and over again?
[B] And that kids will connect with.
They have to be really clear, not simple, but very clear.
And so I'm very proud of that side of my world.
As I said, I never expected to