Archive for April 10th, 2011
I just added some new info to the post about the song and Singable Picture Book, “All God’s Critters,”
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All God’s Critters
Words and Music by Bill Staines
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York, 2009
ISBN 987-0-689-86959-4
To read the full article about this wonderful book (including sound clips, videos and pix), click here:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/all-gods-critters-singable-book-and-all-the-fix-ins/
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I’m thrilled to write that “All God’s Critters” is one of the songs we selected to be part of
“Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret.”
I make a strong committment to each song I perform and completing my Song Craft Worksheet is part of that process,
Because the first section of the Song Craft Worksheet involves background research on the song, I’ll share the answers with you so you can know about the song, too. The more about the song you know (both concrete facts and less tangible artistic choices), the more “authority,” and heart and soul you can put into the singing and sharing of the song with others. If you are interested in improving your artistic abilities for singing songs in any capacity, just simply filling out the Song Craft Worksheet is a great place to start! After the background research, the rest of the Song Craft Worksheet gets VERY personal…don’t worry! I won’t bore you with that.
1 Q: Who wrote the words?
1 A: Bill Staines
2Q: Who wrote the music?
2A: Bill Staines
3Q: When was the song written?
3A: So far as I can tell, the early 1980′s
4Q: At what point in the lyricists’ and composer’s career was the song written?
4A: Early
5Q: What is the song from?
5A: It’s a stand alone folks song written by Bill Staines.
6Q: If from a show, what character sang it?
6A: NA
7Q: If from a show, from what situation does the song arise? Why does the character sing the song? What function does the song/character play in the story?
7A: On Bill Staine’s coffeeshop live performance recording, he tells a story of how he came to write the line about the Porcupine talking to himself…it’s very funny. Plus, the song is filled with the characters of God’s critters and their particular ways of being.
8Q: What other contextual elements of the song are significant?
8A: Children love this song!
9Q: Was the song written for a particular singer? Why?
9A: I assume Mr. Staines wrote this song for himself to sing.
10Q: If not from a show, why did the songwriter write the song?
10A: I would love to ask him this…
11Q: What do you feel the lyricist is trying to say?
11A: I feel like Mr. Stains is making the point that God loves all his creatures equally and that everyone has an important part to play in life. Everyone matters.
12Q: Does the song tell a story or just express feelings or ideas?
12A: This song does tell the story of animals expressing themselves in unique ways, but the song really convey the idea that every person (and creature) has a part to play and a song to sing.
13Q: Who else has recorded this song:
13A: Bill Staines, Peter Paul and Mary, Mack Bailey, John McCutcheon, Emily Leatha Everson, Don Sanders (and many others)
If you are looking for recordings of this song, a number of titles abound:
All God’s Critters
All God’s Creatures
A Place in the Choir
The rest of the questions require VERY personal answers and I will spare you those!
