Did the Song Summertime Ever Have a Version Saying Am Easy and Mammy and Pappy

TEN LITTLE PIGGIES
This snappy little tune started out life as a love song for my newborn son about twenty years ago. I had him on a little blanket in he living room and as I stared at that glorious little kid I sang "sunshine pig making his way through the universe!". The song actually ended up in an ad for the BMW Mini back in the day. Eventually after picking it apart for years to make something else out of it I landed on the rich tradition of those beloved ten little pigs and the new Caspar version was born.

WHERE OH WHERE?
I decided that I wanted to rewrite this classic to include more than just a dog. So I wrote new lyrics about loosing an entire menagerie of animals and all the speculating that goes along with lost pets.

LOVE YOU MORE
This was a straightforward love song for my daughter when she was tiny. I use to wake up with her every morning and walk all over the place with her strapped to me and this was a song that I sang while we walked. I forgot about it and just stumbled onto it while listening to old fragments one day. It was super fun to record and I hope you have fun listening to it.

FREE COUCH
Wow wow wow. For years and years and years I have been noticing abandoned couches by the side of the road and every time I did I would have a little music moment go off in my head that sang "FREE COUCH" instead of "FREAK OUT" but with no idea how to form that little habit into a song I sat on the fragment for years. Then I cracked it open and worked it out so that a young tick that moved to the city is calling his parents and telling them not to freak out because he is safe and sound and living ins a FREE COUCH! Yay. Puzzle solved and the song came out super duper. Put on your dancing shoes and turn it UP.

THIS IS THE WAY THE WOODS WAKE UP
Originally I had this song happening in a zoo but then I realized that zoos could be a bit controversial so I moved it to the woods. I hope this song will help you in the morning with your routine, as you get ready to head out the door. I like to imagine this one being performed in a nightclub in 1960's New York by a dashing flamingo.

PUSHY THE TUG
This is another song where the idea existed for years before I figured out how to make it work as a song. Every time Kate and I would see a tug boat out on the water we would pretend it was named "Pushy" and it had a bit of an attitude of superiority. When it came time to make the song I figured I had to do more than just describe her so I made up a story about another tug named "Huggy" coming along and falling in love with her even though she can be pretty prickly. It's a tugboat love story.

I FEEL BETTER
One day I went into a music store with a wee tape recorder to sample little drum sounds and noises to use for song inspiration (the drum track on FREE COUCH is from one such excursion!) and I ended up improvising a little tune on a keyboard about feeling better. Many many years later after listening to the tape a few times this little jam stuck out as something to build on but it took many many more years before I stumbled on to the right way to sing about this idea of time healing all wounds. Some things are worth the wait.

CUT THAT COCONUT DOWN
One day this song just sprang out of my mind fully formed. I don't know where it cane from but I love it. Just a bunch of thirsty animals that need to get their paws and claws on some thirst quenching coconut juice. None of them can get it together to get the coconuts out of that silly tree. I get thirsty just listening to this one.

MY PANTS ARE ON VACATION
One day my wife Kate was getting ready to go out and could not find the pair of pants that she wanted to wear. Out of frustration she shouted "MY PANTS ARE ON VACATION!". Of course, as is often the case with things Kate says, I immediately heard a song in her silly proclamation and rushed out to the studio to write and record it on the spot.

UNDERGROUND
This ditty started out as a song I wrote for someone as an auction item for a fundraiser. I can't remember what the original lyrics were but I changed it many years ago (another song I have had for a long time!) to be about the secret life of all the underground creatures. I love dirt. My favorite part is the concert hall made of "rocks and roots". I can really see it.

BLACKBERRY PIE
When my son was a wee lad he wrote the weirdest song called "CHIPMUNK FALLING FROM THE SKY". It had a really odd time signature and the "oo wee oo oo oo oo wee" part that I found myself humming to myself for years afterwards. Finally I changed his original lyrics about a chipmunk hitting the ground at terrible velocities to be about a crow that tries to steal a delicious piece of pie and a classic was born!

NO MORE JUMPING
My daughter and I were driving home from town one day when the song "Ghost Town" by The Specials and as I sang along my mind wandered to the old traditional song about jumping on the bed. I decided to expand it (as I do!) and include a bunch of animals instead of just the traditional monkeys in the original. I used a tone for the music from The Specials song as a tribute tot he moment of inspiration.

FROGGIE WENT A COURTIN'
Another old traditional song that I suddenly realized I had not thought about adapting. I changed the lyrics a bit and took the weapons out of Froggies hands in the first verse (!) and replaced them with a ring and a bouquet, which is more appropriate for a proposal! I had fun messing with these lyrics for sure. What a fun party. I wish I had been invited to that wedding.

PUT YOUR BABY IN THE AIR
I slowed this one down so you can really do the movement with your baby and have time to enjoy it and be in the moment. Of course I included some fresh movements so you can shake things up with your kid. It's just a simple moment to have interacting with your baby.

BEDTIME BLUES
Who likes to go to bed? NOBODY! Well, nobody under 6 years old I guess. I wanted to write a sort of classic blues structured song and chose the bedtime these because a lot of kids feel pretty strong emotions around that age old never ending chore of winding down for sleep. I hope that maybe this song helps parents with the bedtime routine.

WHAT DO YOU FIND?
I love to wonder what animals think and the hardest animals to figure out to me are invertebrates. What are those little doo-dads thinking about? In the end I just don't know and that's OK. Sometimes nature is a mystery!

MYSTERIOUS THINGS
The song "The Ants Came Marching" in has always been a favorite of mine. I love spooky grooves but I always wondered why the theme of ants marching was wrapped up in such a spooky tune. So I decided to make the lyrics spooky too so the music and the lyrics would go in the same direction. My good buddy Fysah Sands helped out with some great soul vocals to give it an extra spooky feeling. Put this on when you are getting ready to go out to trick or treat next Halloween!

THE SOFTEST GUITAR ON THE MOON
This came about from an exercise where I put random words together and this title came out of it and I challenged myself to write a song using those words. This is another song that has been looking for a home on an album for a long long time and it has finally found its place. I feel like this song could be in a musical about a guitar that was left on the moon.

WANDERIN' BABY
When my wife and I moved into our new house way back in 2008 we rented a big moving truck. As I pulled out of the parking lot of the rental place I put on the turn signal and it made this little two note rhythm that immediately inspired a melody form me and as we moved all day I sang with the turn signal Eventually after toying with lyrical ideas I saw a stand up comic talking about how toddlers are always excited to run away from their parents but don't have any idea what would happen if they got away and the lyrical idea for the tune was born.

COUNTING SHEEP
When I was a kid I played a composition on the piano called minuet in G by Christian Petzold (it was mistakenly credited to Bach most of the time). I have forgotten most all of the songs I learned as a kid during my 10 years taking piano lessons but this one stuck with me. I added a second part that I wrote myself and a bunch of imagery of relaxing sheep. Usually you count sheep to go to sleep so counting sheep that are relaxing a bunch of different ways should be the MOST relaxing thing to help you sleep. Goodnight!

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Source: https://babypantsmusic.com/song-stories

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