Friday, September 12, 2008

Songs and Lyrics

Taking a break from being an angry liberal here ...

My son LOVES it when you sing to him. He can be cranky and whining, and as soon as I start singing, he quiets down and pays attention. Sometimes I think I even see his mouth move, as if to mimic my own while I sing. Singing to him has been, so far, the ONLY thing to work when we're in the car and he's cranky. I've been known to sing extremely long versions of Old MacDonald while driving. My throat may be hoarse by the time we get home, but to me, few things are worse than a screaming baby in the car so it's all worth it.

As such, I'm always trying to add new songs to my repertoire. One day I remembered Do Your Ears Hang Low? and tried singing it, only to realize that I could barely finish the first verse. After a bit of searching online, I came across this site with a HUGE collection of children's song lyrics. BusSongs.com has collected over 1,600 lyrics and words of children's songs, lullabies, and nursery rhymes for the past five years. What I love most about the site is how easy it is to get around. You can browse for songs by Category (Halloween, Silly, Sports, etc.) or by the first letter of the song title. They also provide lists of Top Rated, Top Visited, and Recently Added songs.

BusSongs.com goes beyond just providing lyrics and words though. They also give as much background information on each song or rhyme, any known alternate words, as well as options to rate, give feedback on, and print the words. Some of the songs also come with free ringtones for your cell phone, a downloadable MIDI version, or a video.

When it comes to children's songs, I don't know if a more comprehensive site exists. The best thing about BusSongs.com is that it's totally FREE! Now excuse me while I learn the lyrics to Camp Grenada.

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