As a new mother, I am concerned about the type of music that I expose my daughter to. I enjoy many genres of music including many with more adult lyrics. Although I do not wish to censor the world from my daughter, I also do not want her listening to music full of negative messages and swear words at such a young age. At the same time, I do not want to have to listen to music targeted at children all the time either. I am therefore always on the lookout for music that both Poppy and I can enjoy.
When The Parenting Patch was approached to write a review of the children’s album Let It Out by Mike Schmid, I was intrigued. Mike Schmid is a critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter who has played with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, and Aly & AJ. His latest album, Let It Out, is about expressing yourself in every possible way. Schmid says that he was inspired by his four-year-old son to write songs such as “Be Yourself,” “Dream,” and “Let’s Have a Party!”
At first I was afraid that Let It Out would be another stereotypical album for children, full of campy tunes that would get on my nerves rather quickly. As soon as I hit play on my CD player, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Let It Out is full of music that sounds like the popular music of today but with lyrics that are family-friendly and all-together positive. I immediately began singing and dancing along to the album with my daughter who also seemed to enjoy the beats and melodies of the CD.
Let It Out contains ten tracks:
- Shake It
- Go Easy
- Can You See All the Colors?
- Let’s Have a Party!
- Be Yourself
- Let It Out
- Twinkle
- Soft Place to Fall
- Dream
- See You Around
My favorite track by far is “Let’s Have a Party!” The song is very upbeat and fun. Some of my favorite lines include:
Welcome, hippos, come on in
Do you know how to swim?
There’s a pool inside the sink
Hop on in and drink
I mean I don’t like to drink water that I’m swimming in
But that’s kind of your thing, right?
As soon “Let’s Have a Party!” comes on, I immediately start bouncing my body around. Poppy especially loves when I bounce her up and down to the beat and sing the silly lyrics to her.
In addition to being fun and silly, many of the songs on Let It Out have a positive message for children and adults alike. I particularly love the themes of “Can You See All the Colors?” and “Be Yourself.” “Can You See All the Colors?” begins with the following colorful lyrics:
I see blue in the day sky
And white in the clouds
I see green in the grass
And the soil dark and brown
I see red in tomatoes
In lady bugs too
But I see every color inside of you
I love the message of this song! As a new parent charged with raising a little person into adulthood, I also really appreciate the message in “Be Yourself.” The lyrics in the chorus are as follows:
If you be yourself
Well, someone’s gonna like you
And if you be yourself
Someone else may not
But if you be yourself
The people who love you
Will love you for who you are
I love that this song teaches kids to be themselves. I also really love that this song teaches that not everyone is going to like you. Growing up during a time when self-esteem was all the rage, I am finally glad to find a song that is not sending the unrealistic message of you-are-wonderful-and-everyone-loves-you.
Poppy and I both give the album Let It Out by Mike Schmid an enthusiastic thumbs-up. I highly recommend this CD not only to parents with younger children but also to anyone looking for music with a positive message. I look forward to hearing more children’s music from Schmid in the future!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Let It Out by Mike Schmid to review. All opinions are entirely my own.
Image Credits
Let It Out by Mike Schmid: http://www.mikeschmid.com/
CD and CD Player © 2012 Heather Johnson
