There is a good chance that if we instill a sense of environmental responsibility in children, it will stay with them throughout their lives, and real change will come as a result. So I think children’s albums with environmental messages are important. Debi Derryberry’s latest children’s album, Gotta Go Green, is all about making kids aware of environmental subjects, and it’s also a lot of fun. It features all original material, written or co-written by Debi Derryberry.
Gotta Go Green opens with its title track, which begins with a bit on cow bell, something that always makes folks smile. There is a strong pop sound to this song. It’s catchy, and with lyrics that children can easily memorize and sing too. “Let’s clean the world up/Let’s clean the world up/Let’s clean the world up, clean it up/Let’s make it better/And fix the weather.” And it has a cha cha cha ending. Perfect. That’s followed by “My Electric Car,” which has a delicious 1980s pop sound. Seriously, adults around my age are going to love this as much as the kids will, maybe more. One of my best friends recently bought an electric car and loves it. I have to remember to play this for him. Also, I’m learning a few things. “The freeways are busy but you can’t complain/Because electrics can always use the carpool lane.” I didn’t know that. That is particularly handy here in Los Angeles. But the most important thing about this song is that it is totally fun. Seriously, I’m loving this track.
Debi Derryberry takes us in a totally different direction with “Oodle The Orangutan,” a song with a cool old-time jazzy feel. This is a sweet, playful number about an orangutan, and it is a delight. “With her big round eyes and her fuzzy orange hair/Oodle’s just as cute as she can be.” This song is as adorable as it can be. “Swing it, Oodle,” Debi says, and we get the feeling the orangutan might be doing her tap-dancing routine. Because of course she has one. This is another of the disc’s highlights. Debi Derryberry then returns to a modern pop sound with “Recycle!” “Recycle, cycle, cycle/Do it again,” she sings. I love that “Do it again,” because it refers to both repeating the line and recycling. I would love to hear this song at a dance club. It would work. I’m not kidding. “Pick it up, break it down, flatten it on the ground.” I wish the other folks in my apartment building would remember to do that with their cardboard boxes before tossing them in the recycling bin. Perhaps I should play this song for them. That’s followed by another song about recycling, “I’m A Great Recycler.” It’s about donating clothes and other items, and not wasting things. “You can help to save the Earth/When you recycle too.” It was written by Debi Derryberry and Michael A. Levine.
“Don’t Can The Can, Man!” is another song with a good dance beat. It too is about recycling, specifically cans this time. And it has a good funky element. What I also appreciate about this song is it mentions how aluminum is better than plastic: “Cans aren’t bad, they’re better than plastic/The things you can do with them border on fantastic/These plastic bottles hurt our friends, the fish/And end up in the birdies’ bellies, not what I would wish.” That’s followed by “Carbon Footprint.” If you think that might be too much for the very young ones to understand, don’t worry, for these are the first lines: “You can make a smaller carbon footprint/But what does that even mean? (What does it mean?)/Does making a smaller carbon footprint mean having little feet? (No, no)/So what is a carbon footprint?” And she goes on to explain it, and offers examples of what people can do. “You can do it!”
She keeps the fun pop vibes going with “Little Tiny Molecules Of H2O.” “Where do they come from, where do they go/It’s a little mystery that I want to know/Where do they come from, where do they go/Those little tiny molecules of H2O.” That chorus is catchy, there’s no denying it. And the verses teach us a few things about rain and clouds. The album then concludes with “Earth Day’s My Birthday,” a song from the perspective of a tree. “I want to take all of your CO2/And turn it into oxygen for you/I want to be that shady climbing tree/And share my leafy canopy.” It has such a cheerful, optimistic sound, and even includes a little whistling. And the line “I want to meet another evergreen named Marge” makes me laugh each time I listen to this track.
CD Track List
- Gotta Go Green
- My Electric Car
- Oodle The Orangutan
- Recycle!
- I’m A Great Recycler
- Don’t Can The Can, Man!
- Carbon Footprint
- Little Tony Molecules Of H2O
- Earth Day’s My Birthday
Gotta Go Green was released on March 8, 2024.
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