"Where Do The Children Play": A Playlist For Balloon Boy

Take Jon & Kate Plus 8, then add aliens, reality TV and vomit. A recipe for disaster? Or another marginal reason for me to mention some good tunes?

WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY - The Ramones
LEARN TO FLY - Foo Fighters
FAMILY AFFAIR - Sly & The Family Stone
UP, UP AND AWAY -- The Fifth Dimension
I HATE YOU BIG DADDY - Dewey Cox
DO IT FOR THE KIDS - Velvet Revolver
FAME - David Bowie
I SAW IT ON TV - John Fogerty
SAVE THE CHILDREN - Marvin Gaye
SINS OF THE FAMILY - P.F. Sloan
UNREAL REALITY - The Kinks
MR. SPACEMAN - The Byrds
FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN - Miranda Lambert
PEOPLE ARE STRANGE - The Doors
PEOPLE ARE CRAZY - Billy Currington
GROWING UP - Bruce Sprinsteen
UNLOVED CHILDREN - Todd Rundgren
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT - The Who
THE LOST CHILDREN - Michael Jackson
JESUS CHILDREN OF AMERICA - Stevie Wonder
WHERE DO THE CHILDREN PLAY - Cat Stevens

That's my functional, family-oriented list. What songs would the functional Huff Po family suggest for the Heene Family Singers?

 

 

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Comments

[Michael Lubenow]

Don't see "Flying High_ by Ozzie here. Sorry if it's a dupe...

[future primitive]

Looks like I'm batting last.

Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker, Kim Carnes
I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly
I'm Flying - from 1954 Peter Pan

and just for fun

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft - KLAATU

[drewziGNY]

Hold On Tight- ELO (Hold on tight, to your dream.....refering to their hopes for a reality show)
Up In A Puff of Smoke- Polly Brown (refering to thier hopes for a reality show)
Playground in My Mind- Clint Holmes
Fly Me To the Moon- Frank Sinatra
Up Around the Bend- CCR
Ups and Downs- Paul Revere and the Raiders
Float On- The Floaters
Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie- Jay and the Techniques (hide& Seek game, "Ready or not, here I come")
Don't Blame the Children- Sammy Davis Jr.
You Don't have To Be A Star- Billy Davis and Marylin McCoo
Fakin' It- Simon and Garfunkel
Get On Up- The Esquires
I Make A Fool Of Myself- Frankie Valli
Release Me- Englebert Humperdink
Somethin' Stupid- Frank and Nancy Sinatra
Windy-The Association
Both Sides Now- Judy Collins
You're So Vain- Carly Simon ( For the dad anyway)

[drewziGNY]

Couple more came to mind....

The Big Sky- Kate Bush
Up On Cloud Nine- The Temptations
Where Do the Children Go?- The Hooters
Silver Bird- Mark Lindsey
Clean Up Your Own Backyard-Elvis Presley
Causing A Commotion-Madonna
Don't Let Me Down- The Beatles
Going Up the Country- Canned Heat
I'm Livin' In Shame- Diana Ross and the Supremes
Something In the Air- Thunderclap Newman
Don't Bring Me Down-ELO
Escape- Rupert Holmes
People of the South Wind- Kansas
Breakaway- Tracey Ullman
Sailing- Christopher Cross

[Jon Frost]

A little late to the party, but whatevs.

Safe and Sound - Rebelution
Paper Wings - Rise Against
Drift Away - The Expendables
Reach For The Sky - Social Distortion
They'll Never Understand - Synthetic Elements (gotta show some local musician love, and for some reason, this seems to describe how this kid will feel later in his life about this whole mess.)
Head Up in the Clouds - Powderfinger
I Want To Break Free - Queen
Time Out From The World - Goldfrapp

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Better late than never -- LOVE Social D. Thanks

[Sezin]

Great list, David!

So, here I am again with some of my ladies:

*UP, UP, UP - Ani Difranco
*WIND BENEATH MY WINGS - Bette Midler
*MR. INTEGRITY - L7
*LITTLE BOYS - Lauryn Hill
*CHILD OF MINE - Carole King
*STAR WALKER - Buffy Saint Marie
*THE SHOW MUST GO ON - Nicole Kidman, et al "Moulin Rouge"
*PLAYBOY MOMMY- Tori Amos
*BOYS - Britney Spears
*IF I WERE A BOY - Beyonce
*OBJECTION - Shakira
*JONNIE'S IN THE BATHROOM - Hole (Or rather, Falcon's in the Attic)
*TROUBLES - Alicia Keys
*90 MILLAS - Gloria Estefan (Translation: 90 Miles)
*HALF ANGEL HALF EAGLE - Jane Siberry
*HEAVEN'S HERE ON EARTH - Tracey Chapman
*QUESTIONS - Vanessa Paradis
*YOU LIFT ME UP TO HEAVEN - Reba McIntyre
*SON OF A GUN - Janet Jackson
*IN SEARCH OF PETER PAN - Kate Bush

Just to name a few. :-)

Best,

Sezin

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Love the Vanessa Paradis -- of whom I consider myself one of one the more devoted American fans. In fact, last night at the Scream Awards, I ran into one of her even bigger fans -- Johnny Depp. I also love the Carole King. And let me throw in another young lady I admire -- "Rewind" by Diane Birch.

Thanks

[kathy001]

Johnny Depp!?! I'm consumed with envy.

[kathy001]

Late to the game, as usual, so these are probably repeats. But what the heck....

"Teach Your Children" - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
"Children, Children" - The Beatles - "Children, children, where are you. Hiding in the forest playing in the rain."
"Hell is for Children" - Pat Benatar (because I don't think that family is anything like functional.)

[lonesometx]

Check out The Jerky Boys, "Safety Gates".

Warning: Like most Jerky Boys it's rated a strong R for Language...

[kathy001]

I will definitely check that out. When you mentioned The Jerky Boys I remembered their song "Rosine Likes Balloons" or something like that. That sort of goes with this thread and I thought it was funny as heck. So, I will definitely look for "Safety Gates."

[LMPE]

Someone already proposed "Sky Pilot", so here's mine:

"I'll Fly Away", written by Albert E. Brumley, used in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

A very uplifting choice -- thank you

[profa]

Ya mama's all right
Ya daddy's all right
They just seem a little weeee-ird
Surrender!
Surrender!
But don't give yourself awa-a-a-ay!

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Are you accusing the family of pulling a Cheap Trick?

[BN2112]

Nightwish: "Bless This Child"
(those kids need all the good karma they can get with those k00ks as parents)

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Don't know the song, but dig the sentiment

[BN2112]

Well you need to do yourself a favor and check them out. A Finnish symphonic, quasi-prog metal band with a female lead vocal on most songs. A versatile band that are a real treat to start to discover. They recently lost their more operatic lead singer and replaced her with a more pop sounding singer, but are good with either.

[stevefromkelso]

Sky High...Atlanta rythm section
Into the great wide open.....Tom Petty
Magic carpet ride......­Steppenwol­f
I want to take you higer.....Sly and the family Stone
Higher love .......Steve Winwood
Popcorn....Hot Butter (the shape of the balloon?......To obscure????)

[stevefromkelso]

OOPS...Sorry about the "popcorn" repeat. I'll replace it with
( I think I'm in ) Trouble.....Lindsey Buckingham

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Love "Trouble" -- the song, not the concept

[joelaf]

Bruce Cockburn If I had a rocket launcher

Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes Up where we belong

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Cockburn -- so smart
That dad -- so scary

[iMissMollyIvins]

(s)He's Not There - Zombie

Well no one told me about him, the way dad lied
Well no one told me about him, how many people cried
But it's too late to say you're sorry
How would I know why should I care
Please don't bother tryin' to find him
He's not there

Well let me tell you 'bout the way he looked
The way he flew off and caught big air
His voice was soft and sad
Her eyes were clear and bright
But he's not there

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Wow, I've been getting those lyrics wrong for years

[iMissMollyIvins]

Nah, I modified them for the occasion. ; ^ P

[DKlein]

Yes, I absolutely meant Jigsaw. I get my one-hit wonders from the mid-'70s confused sometimes (Both got rampant airplay on the late lamented WWDJ!)

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey, we're all in this crazy Jigsaw together

[TotallyAmazed]

What about -

DIRTY LAUNDRY by Don Henley

There just aren't many lyrics that are any better than these 2:

"We got the bubble-headed, bleach-blond who comes on at 5.
She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye..."

and, "We all know that crap is king."

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

Any excuse to listen to solo Henley is welcome by me, especially when he is quite rightly taking the media to task

[Loophole]

Balloon Man - Robyn Hitchcock

[David Wild - Huffpost Blogger]

A great call -- an oddball gem for an oddball family act

[Loophole]

Given that it now looks like the whole thing was a reality show audition, I'm changing my suggestion to: "It's Money That I Love" - Randy Newman.