Kid Pan Alley Helps Students Write Pro-Occupy Song, Sparking National Controversy (VIDEO)

An elementary school in Charlottesville, Va., has drawn criticism after some of its 3rd grade students apparently wrote and sang a song in favor of the Occupy Wall Street movement, CBS Washington reports.

According to the report, the song, titled "Part of the 99," was written and performed during a visit with Kid Pan Alley group, who, according to their website, "uses the group songwriting process to inspire and empower children to become creators of their own music."

In the sessions, children are asked what topics they want to sing about. In this case, one of the students at Woodbrook Elementary School said they wanted to write about "having it all and losing it all."

Despite nationwide controversy over the lyrics, Albermarle County School Board Chair Steve Koleszar told WCAV that they don't want to discourage students' creativity and that Kid Pan Alley was not steering the songwriting process.

"They don't censor what the kids write. They don't shape what the kids write," Koleszar said. "It all comes out of the kids own mouths and the kids own words."

The station's report included a full transcript of the song:

"Some people have it all But they still don't think they have enough They want more money A faster ride They're not content Never satisfied Yes -- they're the 1 percent

I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn't make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I'm part of the 99

Some people have it all
But they still don't think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They're not content
Never satisfied
Yes -- they're the 1 percent

I used to be sad, now I'm satisfied
'Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn't need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don’t need to be first
'Cause I've got my friends
Here by my side
Don't need it all
I'm so happy to be part of the 99"

Nevertheless, in a statement released today, Kid Pan Alley took responsibility for the lyrics, WCAV stated in a separate report.

Paul Reisler, the group's founder and artistic director, said they should have taken more care in keeping the song stance-neutral and avoiding phrases like "I'm part of the 99."

"This is a song about being satisfied with what you have, a song about how life has its ups and downs, as so many people in our country are experiencing now," Reisler told the station. "It was my personal mistake to introduce these phrases and I take complete responsibility for it. I will not make a mistake like this again."

 

 

Comments

[revamk]

01:45 PM on 01/16/2012

Good for you, kids! You're never too young to learn that money isn't everything.

[bigjakeIII]

03:16 PM on 01/15/2012

the "artistic" director should be fired.

[Political in Pgh V2]

01:41 PM on 01/13/2012

Patiently awaiting all the apologies from those that were dead set on the fact that the children wrote the song all by their lonesome.

[Aaron Watkins]

11:09 PM on 01/12/2012

Ahh the left. Children used to sing songs of hope and life, even in the worst times.

Now they have them sing cynical divisive songs and videotape it for their political purpose.

How sad this country has become.

[RMosesNJ]

10:20 AM on 01/12/2012

Class warfare has been going on forever and the lower and middle classes did not know it for literally thousands of years. Social media and availability of information have changed the balance of power. If you think it is ok for the top 1 or 2 percent to take an ever increasing part of the pie and be less responsible for their share than you are just giving up and not fighting for your children and grand children anymore. They are going to lose more than we will and the rich will get richer. Look at the facts, these are real numbers, WE ARE POORER THAN OUR PARENTS. If you don't fight to change the system than YOU ARE NOT A REAL AMERICAN.
BILLIONS SPENT IN THE NEXT 2 YEARS FOR ELECTIONS TO SEE WHAT CORPORATE INDUSTRY CONTROLS THE GOVERNMENT! THEY BUY YOUR VOTE WITH LIES AND MONEY!

[bigjakeIII]

03:18 PM on 01/15/2012

America is supposed to be a "classless) society they are the middle wage earners. the middle class is a figment of bhos reelection campaign.

[AndrogynousAthiest]

07:13 PM on 01/15/2012

America is a "classless" society? Does that mean impoverished Americans and wealthy CEOs don't exist?

[NY Guy]

08:33 AM on 01/12/2012

So the kids actually did NOT write the song. More leftist indoctrination of our kids.

[xhawk2]

08:20 AM on 01/12/2012

And if it were a song that celebrated, say, the military, the left would be in arms.

[TexasTreader]

04:12 PM on 01/11/2012

The FACT that public schools are hotbeds of liberal indoctrination is not news unless somebody's trying to do something about it. That's just the way it is. If you want your kids to have the necessary tools and plans for living a fulfilled life, take them out of public schools and put them in a good private school. You might never see a pretty global warming poster but they'll be self sufficient.

[A Dub]

07:59 PM on 01/11/2012

Please, show your facts on public schools are hotbeds of liberal indoctrina­tion. They can't compare to the tea party's re-education camps.

Waiting your proof.

[TexasTreader]

10:35 PM on 01/11/2012

Did you actually READ the article? Not the brightest bulb on the string, are you?

[bigjakeIII]

03:20 PM on 01/15/2012

vouchers for everyone - even if it offends the unions.

[mtrem]

01:46 PM on 01/11/2012

MOREFREETHINGS
“the social contract that educated us did so at about a tenth of the cost...I think the difference is that liberals now expect more with no good reason besides "I have less, you have more"...th¬ere used to be an implied contract to ask not what your country could do for you, but what you could do for your country. Nobody is starving in america...¬.your point that liberals are the ones paying for it is uttery nonsense..”

Everything costs 10 times what it did. CEOs pay is 10 times what is was. Can’t say the same for working class pay though. What liberals are questioning is why enormous wealth is flowing to the top while good honest hardworking people are losing their homes, retirement, and savings. The “I have less, you have more” fantasy that the right loves to peg to the left is actually how the right would react themselves to the same situation. The implied contract was “What can I do for my country” but it seems to have morphed into “How much can I accumulate for myself”….

And the left is paying more and getting less….

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/03/red-states-blue-states-and-the-distribution-of-federal-spending.html

[glockman]

08:32 AM on 01/11/2012

"Paul Reisler, the group's founder and artistic director, said they should have taken more care in keeping the song stance-neutral and avoiding phrases like "I'm part of the 99.""

Why? Are we really that determined to continue to produce mindless drones to replenish the working class?

The education model we've clung to for the past century needs a serious overhaul.

We should get away from this industrial programming and start to teach kids to think critically and freely.

[Andrew Nutra]

11:31 PM on 01/10/2012

In the spirit of socialism, the teacher took one "A" and split it amongst all the students so that everyone gets the same grade.

[sherlockhemlock]

05:50 AM on 01/11/2012

That only happens in classes where the teachers have to pump the lagging Tea Party brats up a grade . . . .

[glockman]

08:33 AM on 01/11/2012

So the children, who at that age are still quite impressionable, are brats because of their parents' politics?

That's some pretty good critical thinking there...

[xhawk2]

08:21 AM on 01/12/2012

Actually, it's liberals who are brats.

[logansteele1]

09:20 PM on 01/10/2012

"In the sessions, children are asked what topics they want to sing about. In this case, one of the students at Woodbrook Elementary School said they wanted to write about "having it all and losing it all."

Sounds to me like this kid might have heard some blues tunes in the past, LOL. The theme of lost love is in so much music from so many genres. Using a child's statement, no matter the reason behind it to further one's own agenda is lacking in any true interest or concern for the children. The kids should have been allowed to write their own song, even if it sounded silly. Now we will never know what they truly wanted to say. Sad really.

[Andrew Nutra]

11:38 PM on 01/10/2012

"having it all and losing it all"? Sounds like a typical Behind the Music episode.

[logansteele1]

10:16 AM on 01/11/2012

It does, doesn't it?! I wonder what that child meant by those words. Was he talking about lost love? Lost opportunity? Regrets from bad decisions? Maybe he was thinking of losing all of his video game points when he lost the game at a top level, LOL. Sadly, we will never know. It has now become convoluted with an adult's perception.

[Jimbo23]

09:16 PM on 01/10/2012

Kids having to watch their parents and friends' parents cut back while the school budgets get axed are more aware than most of how bad it really is out there. It's funny how the right are screaming "politics!" when really it's just economics at work.

It's obvious the rich have gotten richer and are paying less taxes than ever while the vast majority of us are treading water at best and drowning at worst. At some point noblese oblige has got to kick in or the hyper wealthy are going to lose it all to social upheaval.

[Dodgers1]

08:47 PM on 01/10/2012

As Lenin once said, "“Give us the child for 8 years and it will be a Bolshevik forever”.

[A Dub]

08:02 PM on 01/11/2012

Wow, same thing the republicans are saying.

[bigjakeIII]

03:25 PM on 01/15/2012

and you certainly have a link to that??

[C Peele]

08:36 PM on 01/10/2012

As this this comment thread devolves into a raging debate over third graders' capabilities to understand the world we still have the 800 pound guerilla sitting in the corner. Banking is run by the wrong people. The protected "club" of to-big-to-fail has hit the fan. Unregulated derivitives and swaps caused the biggest financial disaster in history. This little diddy is of little consequence.

Let's stay on message - it's time to throw out crony capitalism and indict the perps who committed massive fraud at the taxpayer's expense.

[Blacksheep1]

08:06 AM on 01/11/2012

That's simply one opinion among many, it shouldn't be taught as fact to our children just because you like the sound of it.

[A Dub]

08:04 PM on 01/11/2012

That's simply one opinion among many of the same opinion.

[C Peele]

12:44 PM on 01/14/2012

Facts are facts, Blacksheep. Here are some more facts for your entertainment - the bailout isn’t over yet and the current figure is in the trillions of dollars of hardworking taxpayers money. Just one small example of the fraud - Goldman Sachs sold $76.5 billion of worthless mortgage-backed securities to institutional investors like pensions, municipalities, school districts and insurance companies.

When it was "discovered" that the crap Goldman sold to their customers was worthless, they demanded AIG pay off their bets. AIG was broke so $182 billion of hardworking taxpayer's money was pumped into AIG who promptly paid GS 100 cents on the dollar to the tune of $13 billion, GS them promptly paid themselves bonuses with - hardworking taxpayer's money. You don't just sweep this kind of white collar crime under the rug as you seem to be advocating.

I for one would like to see that our youth are taught the difference between right and wrong and grow up in a world where crime does not pay.