Does anyone else’s kids have a terrible time with “please”? It’s astonishing to me how often my two well-spoken tots eliminate please from their conversation. TotRock Dad has taken to ignoring the offending kid until they remember to add please. However, that kid usually ends up at the Tantrum City Limits before they remember to add the palabra magica. The whole “what do you say?” prompt really bugs me, and I end up saying it too many times a day. I’m hoping this Tot Rocker will be the answers to my prayers.
Tot Rocker: Please Please Please by James Brown.
A person can really appreciate this live performance because it’s full of strut and shows The Legend of Soul at his finest. However, this studio version is a better example of the power of the song itself. The studio version also does a better job of addressing the “please” agenda.
Kind: sleepy baby. There aren’t many sleepy baby songs in the James Brown catalog, but that’s not because he can’t stick it.
Other Tot Rockers by James Brown: Get on the Good Foot (awake baby), Get up offa that thing (awake baby)
Similar Tot Rockers: Trouble in Mind (sleepy baby) by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Please Please Me (awake baby) by The Beatles
Perhaps we’ll listen to Please Please Please this weekend on repeat and to see if it sinks in.
Even without a “please” it takes a lot of will power to say “no” to this mug.
To be honest, I started writing this post several weeks ago and then I didn’t publish it. With all the recent spotlight on celebrities and domestic violence and James Brown’s notorious history as a perpetrator, I felt conflicted. Fortuna smiled on me, and I happened to listen to a recent Sound Opinions on the same subject. Jim and Greg do a much better job explaining the controversy in the context of James Brown and other music celebrities, much better than I could do. Please check out the Sound Opinions podcast and this article by Jim DeRogatis about R.Kelly.
What’s your favorite Tot Rocker about being polite? Please, will you tell me?
Tot Rockin' 