I have Schoohouse Rock--Grammar Rock on my iPod. I don't quite remember when I put it on there, but for some reason none of those 10 songs came up in shuffle mode until just recently. The other morning, I was en route to work and "The Tale of Mr Morton" came on. It's the most romantic song about grammar ever. I am just lovin' that song! I don't remember it from back in the day (not surprising--subsequent research has found it aired at the very end of Schoolhouse Rock's run-- 1993) So now I've been listening to all the Grammar Rock songs and find myself in awe of how brilliant these songs are. I think especially listening to 'em on the iPod --without the accompanying animation-- highlights how very well written the music was. Of course the complete cartoons were a kick too... I was thrilled to find THIS SR site with lyrics to all the songs and links to the cartoons on YouTube.
These are the Grammar Rock songs --
1. Busy Prepositions
2.Conjunction Junction-- To me, this is the ubiquitous Schoolhouse Rock song. I had a ringer tee that I used to wear quite a bit that had the "Conjunction Junction" logo on it w/ the little engineer dude . WTF ever happened to that tee? I am so sorry to have misplaced it! Anyways, this song is performed by Jack Sheldon, who is the dude who performed all the best Schoolhouse Rock ditties (Conjunction Junction, Tale of Mr Morton, Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla, & I'm Just a Bill) whom I was surprised to discover is a white dude. You know how sometimes you listen to a song and just automatically get a notion of the singers' race? Like how sooo many radio listeners circa 1987 thought Rick Astley was black ...and how I was always certain that the lead singer of Cameo was white (I mean...he sounded like such a poindexter I just couldn't conceive of him being a black guy...mind you, this was back in pre-Urkel times.) Anyways, you get the gist... I had always been sure the singer of "I'm Just a Bill" & "Conjunction Junction" was black. And today, in my Schoolhouse Rock mania just a modicum of searching turned up these three biographical factoids about Mr. Sheldon: 1) White guy 2) Not dead yet and.. 3)also an accomplished trumpet player!!
3.Interjections!-- One of the most effective ones. The lesson is very clear in this one-- I bet if I was 4 or 5 hearing that song...I could grasp the concept of interjections after 1 listen. But it's catchy too..it's not like it's a godawful drag like some of those America Rock! tunes
4.Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get your Adverbs Here
5. Rufus Xavier Sasparilla-- I love this one ... another Jack Sheldon. Very funny, and still, I do think it explains pronouns pretty comprehensibly.
6. Unpack your Adjectives-- another very good one. Slightly less catchy but still a good song. I hadn't known that Blossom Dearie had performed any Schoolhouse Rock tunes but she did this one (and a few others-- Math & History)
7. Verb:That's What's Happening-- "I get my thiiiing in action!" This song is great...it sounds like the most danceable song on the Hair soundtrack ('cept it's not off the Hair soundtrack..just sounds like it oughtta be) In fact, I was shakin' my arse to this song while I was cooking sweet tater home fries for dinner tonight. Shakin' and cooking--them's verbs. But that song really might be too groovy to teach the lesson. It's hard for me to contemplate parts of speech while wanting to dance...it's like different sectors of your brain are battling...not all that conducive to learning. Still, I love this song.
8. Noun is a Person Place or Thing
9. The Tale of Mr Morton-- this is the one that's really stuck in my noggin . I shoulda skipped the YouTube clip--I thought the animation was meh. It definitely stands out from that great, classic 70s look found in the classic SR bits. It really looks like Heathcliff-caliber cartoonage. Really...it might be by the Heathcliff people. Crappy crap-o-la. But still, the song is boss... check it out...
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