5 stages parents go through when their kids take a brilliant song – and kill it
Help! My kids have taken a brilliant song and they’re killing it (and my sanity) slowly!
I’m not sure how it all started. My eldest son loves watching music video clips and is pretty well-versed on tunes from the past. He’s the one who brought Karma Chameleon back into my life. We started playing it in the car and it was an instant hit with all four of my children. It was so popular that we listened to it every day, there was always a child that wanted to hear it.
That was a few weeks ago. We’ve listened to Boy George crooning away about a million times now, and I’m not exaggerating. At first, it was lots of fun having an old hit brought back from the past. I mean, we’ve all got fond memories of the Boy George phase, right? Suddenly, I felt young again and could enjoy music time with my kids. There’s nothing better than sharing your old music faves with your children.
But while the song was lots of fun at first, I can see that along the way there’s been several distinct stages of enjoying this song, leading to the one I’m at now. Is it possible to go mad from song overplay?
Stage One: Rediscovery
Okay, like I said, it was all fun and games at first. How great were the 80’s? I never really got into this song the first time it came around, but somehow during those song sessions with Boy George and his crew coming through my car speakers, I rediscovered how beautiful Karma Chameleon was. The words to the song, his gentle, melodic voice and the awesome backing vocals that ramp up the emotion in the tune. Of all the 80’s tunes for my kids to be in to, I was pretty happy for it to be this one. Nice work, guys!
Read more about fun with kids:
- The toddler bucket list: 24 amazing things to do with your two-year-old
- Kids are sharing TMI about body parts and we think it’s hilarious
- 9 sneaky ways to get your kids off their screens (without them even noticing)
Stage two: Cool family
And by the way, how cool is my family? This was how I felt as we drove the streets, Boy George cranked up to the max. The days of the Wiggles and Justine Clarke (god love her) were behind us. No more nursery rhymes and none of that horrible Gangnam style noise. No, my family liked real music, proper tunes that you could sing along to. I mean, there’s no other artist like Boy George, right? If my kids were getting into an old school, iconic artist like him, I was very happy, and very proud of my cool bunch.
Stage three: Hearing the kids sing
Aww, so cute! I loved hearing all four of them singing along to the the tune, especially the way my four year old twins interpreted the lyrics. I could hear them in the backseat, murmuring along to the words, trying to keep up, having no idea what they were saying. One of them kept saying ‘Surmimal’ instead of ‘Survival’. The best. How could I ever get sick of hearing Karma Chameleon playing over and over and over every single day when I’ve got this cute lot to keep me gushing?
Stage four: Dissecting the video clip
We’ve started playing the YouTube clip at bedtime, so we can watch the story that goes with the song. It’s a chilled out tune, so nice for our wind down time, I thought. The clip is set in 1870. There’s a thief who steals people’s jewellery, and when he’s discovered he has to walk the plank. Naturally, my twins love it. They also love watching Boy George with his long, colourful locks, working his 80’s moves as he sings. We lie in bed together, me in the middle, with a twin either side of me, singing into my ear and waving their arms in the air along with Boy. Okay, I might be getting a teeny bit sick of the song, but I will never tire of hearing my four-year-olds’ attempts at singing.
Stage five: Major song fatigue
Seriously, how many times? These kids never get sick of the song. They walk around singing it, want it for every car trip, and it’s now a staple part of the bedtime routine. I loved this song intensely for about two weeks, but it’s been over a month and the song is still on replay. Kids love repetition, I get it. But it’s driving me mad, now! I’m even dreaming about this tune, it’s in my head all the damn time!! I’ve tried introducing them to other big 80’s hits. There’s so many. Take on me, Come on Eileen, Wake me up before you go go. Nothing will distract them from the Karma Chameleon. Sure, I could take control, remove the song for a while and force them to listen to something else, but for some reason, I can’t do that to them. Or to Boy George.
Does anyone else find him oddly sexy?
