Bamgelina’s Nostalgia Album
While my sister Hannah does blog after blog about her favorite music, movies and shows… picking any top favorites list is much harder for me. But I’ve discovered a way to do it! Sort of.
Several weeks ago I posed the question to my Dad, “If you could make an album of songs you wanted to sing, which songs would you pick?” The question intrigued me, (does that sound cocky?) and I recently decided to use that question as an inspiration for an outlet on my blog. I don’t have a voice nearly as strong as my Dad’s, so if I picked an album I could actually sing the songs to, I would be very limited. So I’m going to create a hypothetical, alter ego BAM; my singer self who can sing anything she wants! Her name is BamGelina, and she’s going to make albums in categories of what she would sing. Now, the reason this is easier for me than to just “make a list of my favorite exercise songs” is because… well, when I’m saying “These are my favorite exercise songs” I’m saying “THESE are my FAVORITE exercise songs!” It’s unnervingly definitive. But, if I just say, “These are songs that I’m picking to go on a hypothetical exercise album…”, I’m not making a definite statement about my opinions, I’m just making choices. Somehow that makes it less ominous, though it may not make sense to anyone else. (Whether it’s healthy or normal, you can talk to me about it later. 😉 ) So whether or not I keep up with this, I’m going to start with the idea in my head that started it all: the Nostalgia Album!
These songs are songs that make me think of my childhood; songs tucked away in shows, movies and other media that are really quite nice and fun. If I were to pick coverable songs from nostalgic media, what would they be? Here were my choices!
“That Crazy Happy Nonsense”
A Nostalgia Tribute Album by BamGelina
1. There It Is (Blues Clues)- The other day a question on Facebook was posted: “If a theme for you played every time you walked into the room, what would it be?” and this was one of my choices. Blues Big Musical is one of my guilty pleasure movies; it’s such charming fun, and this song fits my love to sing and dance. I figured my “Theme Song” would be an appropriate beginning song for my album.
2. Never Say Never (An American Tail)- I watched this a lot as a child, and I’m sure others can relate to this one. This song was actually one of the ones that gave me the idea of the Nostalgia Album. I like “Somewhere Out There” better, but that’s covered more often, so I’ll go with this one, which is also good. (“A Duo” was also in the running, but “Never Say Never” works better out of context.)
3. Good Morning Little One (The Nathan Tape)- This one ONLY my family will get. There was this company that made personalized tapes for your kids, and we got one for Nathan when he was really little. I’ll proudly represent the cassette tape part of my childhood with this opening song about waking up and playing “carefreely” through your house.
4. The Magic School Bus Theme Song- I had to do something from one of my favorite shows as a kid, and this was my first choice! This theme is great to sing along with, and I’m proud to know all the lyrics. Though this doesn’t work as well out of context, if Michael Buble can sing a jazzy version of “Spiderman”, then I can sing this one. 🙂
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5. The Neverending Story Song- As one of my most nostalgic movies, and another one that inspired the album, this song had to be included. It’s got quite a pretty melody, and has a sweet, inspirational sound. It’s just the right feel of the album: nostalgia mixed with adult quality music
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6. Stand Up (McGee and Me: Skate Expectations)- I loved McGee and Me growing up! This was my favorite episode, and I remember always thinking the song from it was really cool. I definitely needed a representative for kids Christian movies, and this fits the bill.
7. Hip Hip Hip Hurray (Hippoptamus) (by Mary Rice Hopkins)- We have an old video tape of MRH, who writes great children’s songs that I enjoy even as an adult. Not to mention that doing motions to songs is my thing, so I highly approve of her videos, and this song is one of the most fun. (The video is of her whole concert, but this song is the first one, about a minute it.)
8. Flying Dreams (credit song during The Secret of Nymh)- Here’s another Don Bluth song! I forgot that this existed, but Nathan mentioned it to me and I listened to it and thought it sounded very pretty, and definitely makes me think of this childhood movie. This also has that old-fashioned, nostalgic yet-still-adult feel to it, so it deserves a spot on my album.
9. The Adjective Song (Jumpstart 2nd Grade)- I loved this computer game as a kid! And even as an… older person. Lots of the songs in it were fun, but this is the one that my family and I enjoy the most. This educational tune will be quite fun for me, BamGelina, to sing on my album.
10. Can You Feel the Sunshine? (Sonic R)- This was a late addition, but this song is so happy-go-lucky that I couldn’t resist. This was one of the few Sonic games I ever cared about, and this hidden gem indeed deserves to be sung on my CD, as this and the one before it both represent songs from video/computer games. (They’re different feels, so it’s ok to have them side by side.)
11. Perfect Day (theme song for Beatrix Potter cartoons)- We have a few episodes on tape of some Beatrix Potter stories that we used to watch, and this song always plays at the end. Though I didn’t like the shows as much, this song has a very sweet and melancholy tune, and easily gets stuck in my head. It matches the feel of the album, so it gets a cover.
12. Sweep Up the Memories (The Cat in the Hat)- And I couldn’t go through an album of nostalgia without using a song from Cat in the Hat, one of the most nostalgic soundtracks for my family. The music for this Dr. Seuss cartoon is so silly and fun; yet this song has a very pretty, bittersweet tone to it. This one is the perfect choice to end my album with, since it’s talking about saying goodbye to the fun nonsense and memories of childhood.
