For Our Children

Disney

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For Our Children Review

by William Ruhlmann

Inevitably, the first thing that strikes you about this benefit album for pediatric AIDS is the lineup: It contains selections by Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and Barbra Streisand, among other top stars. When you realize that 17 of the 20 tracks were newly recorded, For Our Children quickly becomes a must-have for fans of a wide variety of artists. Beyond those immediate virtues, however, the album is a diverse, if inconsistent, collection of music, some of it definable as children's music in the sense that it is likely to appeal to children, some songs about children from the perspective of parents. The sequencing of the album moves from upbeat material to quieter efforts; this is the kind of album you want to put on in the last hour of a child's day, as he or she makes the sometimes abrupt transition from energetic activity to sleep. Early on, the standouts are Little Richard's rock & roll and rap version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and Bruce Springsteen's hilarious "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips." After the halfway point in the album, Elton John's slight instrumental "The Pacifier" (not everybody made that much of an effort), the songs turn calmer, led by James Taylor's characteristically friendly reading of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Getting to Know You." Actress Meryl Streep turns out to have creditable pipes on "Gartan Mother's Lullaby," and Jackson Browne and Jennifer Warnes give a folk-rock reading to "Golden Slumbers." By the time of Barbra Streisand's austere "A Child Is Born" (from her 1975 album Lazy Afternoon), your young one should be asleep already. For Our Children is never less than pleasant, but, as with any random group of grownups, some of its participants have more affinity for children than others.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
1
Give a Little Love
Albert Hammond / Addis I / Diane Warren
Disney feat: Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers 04:04 SpotifyAmazon
2
This Old Man
Dennis DeYoung / Traditional
Disney feat: Bob Dylan 03:08 SpotifyAmazon
3
Cushie Butterfield
Traditional
Disney feat: Sting 01:17 SpotifyAmazon
4
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Linda McCartney / Paul McCartney
Disney feat: Paul McCartney 03:34 SpotifyAmazon
5
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
Tom Blackburn / George Bruns
Disney feat: Stephen Bishop 03:23 SpotifyAmazon
6
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Little Richard / Carly Simon / Traditional
Disney feat: Little Richard 03:41 SpotifyAmazon
7
Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips
John Cassidy / Nancy Cassidy
Disney feat: Bruce Springsteen 01:45 SpotifyAmazon
8
Country Feelin's
Eugene E. Landy / Brian Wilson
Disney feat: Brian Wilson 02:45 SpotifyAmazon
9
Blueberry Pie
Bette Midler / Bruce Roberts / Carole Bayer Sager
Disney feat: Bette Midler 03:01 SpotifyAmazon
10
The Pacifier
Elton John
Disney feat: Elton John 05:25 SpotifyAmazon
11
Getting to Know You
Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers
Disney feat: James Taylor 02:51 SpotifyAmazon
12
Autumn to May
Noel Paul Stookey / Peter Yarrow
Disney feat: Ann Wilson / Nancy Wilson 03:44 SpotifyAmazon
13
Child of Mine
Gerry Goffin / Carole King / Bill Staines
Disney feat: Carole King 03:44 SpotifyAmazon
14
Tell Me Why
Traditional
Disney feat: Pat Benatar 02:16 SpotifyAmazon
15
A Medley of Rhymes
Traditional
Disney feat: Debbie Gibson 01:57 SpotifyAmazon
16
Blanket for a Sail
Harry Nilsson
Disney feat: Harry Nilsson 02:44 SpotifyAmazon
17
Good Night, My Love (Pleasant Dreams)
John Marascalco / George Motola
Disney feat: Paula Abdul 03:14 SpotifyAmazon
18
Gartan Mother's Lullaby
Traditional
Disney feat: Meryl Streep 03:43 SpotifyAmazon
19
Golden Slumbers
John Lennon / Paul McCartney
Disney feat: Jackson Browne / Jennifer Warnes 03:30 SpotifyAmazon
20
A Child Is Born
Alan Bergman / Marilyn Bergman / Dave Grusin
Disney feat: Barbra Streisand 02:47 SpotifyAmazon
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For Our Children

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