Songs We Love: Inchworm
I'm not above singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," but I also believe that along with the simple, happy melodies we are all familiar with, children should be offered more. They deserve to hear harmonies and discord. They deserve to hear a song build from the beginning into something complex, like the dreamlike Pachelbel's Canon.
They deserve to know how music can both reflect and change our emotions. They need to know how music can haunt you. If you can give your child this gift, it is a precious, precious thing!
A child who understands music from the soul can then use it to deal with life's pleasures and disappointments. It's fun to jam out while driving around in your car, but when you have an inner musical voice, it enhances your coping skills for life and makes you stronger.
If you are unfamiliar, I'd like to introduce you to one of our favorite favorites, "Inchworm." Here's Danny Kaye singing it in 1952.
Inchworm Earworm
The children love it because it is soothing and ever so pretty. I love it because it gives me chills. It haunts me. I think it's good for the kids because you can sing it over and over - like a chant - and it is incredibly calming.
We like to sing it over and over on long car drives. It's also great for washing dishes! And if you let it, it becomes an earworm easily, so be forewarned!
Counterpoint
If you want to get all technical about it, it is a gorgeous example of counterpoint, two completely different melodies that fit together. Of course when I sing it alone, I don't sing both melodies at once. And my children aren't able to sing it with me, but they do sing each part alone, and I believe that when one part is sung, they are able to "hear" the counterpoint inside their heads.
Part 1:
Two and two are four, four and four are eight, eight and eight are sixteen, sixteen and sixteen are thirty two...
Part 2:
Inchworm, inchworm measuring your marigolds, you and your arithmetic will probably go far.
Inchworm, inchworm measuring your marigolds, seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are!
