Monday, October 13, 2008

Take my hand, come with me

There's a land that I see where the children are free
And I say it ain't far to this land from where we are
Take my hand, come with me, where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll live


The purple book with the big cartoon letter was heavy in my hands. There were cartoon children crawling all over the title of the book. Free to Be You and Me.

In a land where the river runs free
In a land through the green country
In a land to a shining sea
And you and me are free to be you and me

I see a land bright and clear, and the time's comin' near
When we'll live in this land, you and me, hand in hand
Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song
Come along, take my hand, sing a song


the NEW Free To Be You and Me



My parents completely bought into the message promoted by the authors, Marlo Thomas and Carol Hart, that children needed more stories that celebrated the differences in all of us. That celebrated the whole child, not the stereotypes. That had a popular football player sing "It's alright to cry" or a story about a boy who wanted a doll. That talked about parents as people.

For a land where the river runs free
For a land through the green country
For a land to a shining sea
For a land where the horses run free
And you and me are free to be you and me

Every boy in this land grows to be his own man
In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman
Take my hand, come with me where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll run


My brother and I make a tape recording of our favorite story, two babies meeting each other in the hospital. Marlo Thomas and Mel Brooks recorded it on the album I had (along with the book). My brother and I did a better job.

To a land where the river runs free
To a land through the green country
To a land to a shining sea
To a land where the horses run free
To a land where the children are free
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be you and me






What's your favorite Free to Be moment or memory? Don't worry, I'll be doing this all week so feel free to let me know another day....

3 comments:

Jenn in Holland said...

Nothing like throwing in some GREAT MUSIC for a music monday! Well done, you.
My first memory of Free to Be is dancing to BROTHERS AND SISTERS with a troupe of us from the company who were indeed brothers and sisters.
From that point onward, I think I exhausted this album thoroughly choreographing my heart out over the years to these songs....
Sisters and brothers, brothers and sisters
Ain't we, everyone
Brothers and sisters, sisters and brothers
Every father's daughter, every mother's son

Brothers and sisters, sisters and brothers
Each and every one
Sisters and brothers, brothers and sisters
Every mother's daughter, every father's son

Ain't we lucky, everybody
Bein' everybody's brother
Ain't we lucky, everybody
Lookin' out for one another

Ain't we happy, everybody
Bein' everybody's sister
Ain't we happy, everybody
Lookin' out for Mister Mister

Ain't we lucky, ain't we
Ain't we happy, ain't we
Ain't we lucky, ain't we
Ain't we happy, ain't we


Do do, ooh ooh, do, ooh do, ooh (4x)

Sisters and brothers, brothers and sisters
Ain't we, everyone
Brothers and sisters, sisters and brothers
Every father's daughter, every mother's

Brothers and sisters, sisters and brothers
Each and every one
Sisters and brothers, brothers and sisters
Every mother's daughter, every father's


Man, I can't wait for the new CD!!!

painted maypole said...

i wrote a post about this nearly a year ago, and you commented that your kids weren't nearly as into it as you were.

maybe I need to get it back out for The May Queen, because she was the same way, but maybe if I give it another shot...

:)

Goofball said...

sorry to say I have never heard of it before.

does it exist in Dutch translations?