There Is a Tavern in the Town
The "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is a children's music. The song has been recorded as early as the 1950s, and is frequently sung to the tune of "There Is a Tavern in the Town" or "London Bridge is Falling Down."
There is commonly only 1 verse with lyrics similar to those below. The 2nd line repeats the 1st line both in words and in melody, the 3rd line has a rising tone, and the 4th line repeats the first two. Children might dance while they sing the song and touch their head, shoulders, knees, and toes in chronology while singing every word.
Children's music is music composed and executed for children. In European-influenced contexts; this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a teenage audience. The composers are generally adults. The Children's song has historically held both relaxation and educational functions. The Children's song is often designed to give an entertaining means of teaching children about their culture, other cultures, good behavior, facts and abilities. Many are folk songs, but there is a whole genre of educational song that has become increasingly famous.
The development of the famous music publishing industry, associated with New York's Tin Pan Alley in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to the creation of a number of songs aimed at children. These included '10 little fingers and 10 little toes' by Ira Shuster and Edward G. Nelson and 'School Days' by Gus Edwards and Will Cobb. Possibly the best remembered now is "Teddy Bears' Picnic", with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and the tune by British composer John William Bratton was from 1907.
Recordings for children were intertwined with a recorded song for as long as it has existed as a medium. The 1st words ever recorded was the 1st verse of the French folk/children's song "Au Clair de la Lune". In 1888, the 1st recorded discs (called "plates") offered for sale which include Mother Goose nursery rhymes. The earliest record catalogs of various seminal figures in the recording industry.
During the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s record companies pursued to publish albums for children. Such companies as RCA Victor, Decca Records, Capitol Records, and Columbia Records produced albums based on famous cartoons or nursery rhymes. Recordings, established on Disney movies and cartoons were released at that time, and starting in the late 1950s by Disneyland Records and Buena Vista Records. Frequently the albums were read-along that have booklets that children could follow along with. Several of the biggest names in theater, radio, and motion pictures was featured on these albums.
The role of Disney in children's cinema from the 1930s meant that it acquired a distinctive place in the production of children's songs. The first famous Disney song was 'Minnie's Yoo Hoo' the theme song from a Mickey Mouse cartoon. After the production of their 1st feature-length animation Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with its highly victorious score by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey, the mold for a combination of animation, fairy tale and unique songs was set that would carry through to the 1970s with songs from movies such as Pinocchio (1940) and Song of the South (1946)
The mid-twentieth-century coming of the baby boomers provided a growing market for children's song as a separate genre. Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Ella Jenkins were among a team of politically progressive and socially conscious entertainers who pursued albums to this group. Throughout this time, such novelty recordings as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (a Montgomery Ward jingle that became a book and later a classic children's movie) and the fictional music group, The Chipmunks, were among the most commercially successful music ventures of the time. TV personality Bob Keeshan recorded some children's albums, as did Shari Lewis.
In the 1960s, as the baby boomers grown-up and became more politically conscious, they embraced both the substance and politics of folk music. Peter, Paul, and Mary, The Limeliters, and Tom Paxton were applauded folk producers who wrote albums for children. In 1969, the Children's Television Workshop in the USA organized Sesame Street. The standard of Sesame Street's children's song, much of it made by noted composers Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss, has dominated the children's music landscape to this day - the show has won eleven (11) Grammy Awards.
Children's music obtained an even wider audience in the 1970s, when musical features such as Schoolhouse Rock! And the original Letter People were highlighted on network and public television, respectively. These represented an effort to create music that taught certain lessons about Math, History, and English to young adults through the excellent, award-winning music. The typical public television children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood had music heavily acquired as well. In the late 1970s, Canadian artist Raffi, concurred with the rise of children's song as a recognizable music industry genre. Musical duo Greg & Steve have focused on the positive response children have to music. And former Limeliter Red Grammer has performed his children's song in every state as well as twenty-two (22) other countries.
Disney also re-entered the market for animated musical features, starting with The Little Mermaid from which the song "Under the Sea" won an Oscar for best song. This was followed by successful features including Beauty and the Beast (year 1991) Aladdin (year 1992), and The Lion King (year 1994), the last of which had music by Elton John and Tim Rice, and Pocahontas (year 1995), all of which were awarded best song Oscars.
In the USA, children's song continues to be a force in the commercial music industry. At one point in early 2006, the top 3 albums on the Billboard charts were all children's songs, which is Disney's High School Musical soundtrack, the Kidz Bop series, and the Curious George movie soundtrack. Most albums targeted nationally to children are soundtracks for motion pictures or symbiotic marketing projects, including mass-marketed acts such as The Wiggles or VeggieTales.
As additional children are utilizing smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smart-TVs, kids' songs have entered the high-demand streaming content era. On YouTube, some children's songs have surpassed one billion views, easily beginning to be some of the most viewed YouTube videos of all time.
