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1974-Present, Safe for All Ages
Gather round and I’ll tell you the tale of a folksinger whose love and respect for children transcend silly jingles.
(7/3/26)
Gather round and I’ll tell you the tale of a folksinger whose love and respect for children transcend silly jingles.
(7/3/26)
In 1991-92, at the tender ages of five and six, I attended Oak Valley Elementary School in Illinois, one of my earliest to provide a special ed. class for my Auditory Processing Disorder. I remember the name primarily because it was written in permanent marker on an old VHS tape recorded by my teacher, Ms. Wilder. It featured myself and my classmates engaged in various activities with all the antics that come with a dozen Kindergarteners. A few of these episodes were accompanied by the songs of a particular folk singer which Ms. Wilder played on her record player. Whether we were “Riding in an Airplane” to pay a pretend visit to a sick and absent classmate, getting playfully nervous at the “Spider on the Floor,” or reciting the story of “The Five Little Ducks” before an audience of proud parents to celebrate the hatching of our resident ducklings, it is impossible for me to separate this man’s music from my memories or vice versa—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Named after the renowned 19th-century Armenian novelist, Raffi Cavoukian was born on July 8th, 1948, in Cairo, Egypt after his Armenian Christian parents had fled the Armenian genocide during World War I. He and his family lived in Egypt, Jerusalem, and Syria before finally immigrating and settling in Toronto, Canada in 1958. His early musical appreciation came from several sources: pop songs on his parents’ stereo; his mother’s lullabies; his father’s accordion; and the experience of first learning songs in Canada like “Baa Baa Black Sheep” at ten years old because he hadn’t grown up with them. Later on, he frequented the guitar store Millwheel, where Canadian musician John Lacey helped him improve his finger picking. After playing in coffee houses for several years, Raffi hitchhiked to Vancouver in 1972, hitting his stride two years later when he performed for the children of a nursery school run by his mother-in-law. He recorded his first children’s album, Singable Songs for the Very Young, in a friend’s basement and released it in 1976.
“The More We Get Together”
The more we get together
Together, together
The more we get together
The happier we'll be
'Cause your friends are my friends
And my friends are your friends
The more we get together
The happier we'll be
I have to say, my mind was very much blown to learn that Raffi’s first and third albums overall (Singable Songs being his second) were for adults. Hearing the first in particular, 1975’s Good Luck Boy, was surreal to say the least. Nothing explicit, mind you; pleasant and moving if you enjoy the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, or Gordon Lightfoot. It’s just that to hear someone I’ve associated for most of my life with silly songs like “Down By the Bay,” “Shake My Sillies Out,” and “Bananaphone,” singing instead about alcohol, empty relationships, and old age and regret in a world that’s moving too fast, just feels . . . weird.
“Bananaphone”
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring banana phone
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding donana phone
It grows in bunches, I've got my hunches
It's the best, beats the rest
Cellular, modular, interactivodular
“Play ‘Melancholy Baby’ Sweetheart”
And I'm singing cowboy chords to jukebox crowds
On a rainy Friday night
Looking for a smile or a tear
Thinking may the Lord be with you
When you're sober once again
May you wake one Sunday morning
To find a new song to sing
Yet I can’t help but speculate that developing Singable Songs may have had some influence on his second adult album from 1977, Adult Entertainment. Tracks like “Little Kristin January 28” (about his baby niece, Kristen), “Out in the Yard” (about the unconditional love between a man and his dog), and “Wish I Were a Child Again” (self-explanatory) are more uplifting and blissfully nostalgic in ways best enjoyed and appreciated by older listeners.
“Wish I Were a Child Again”
Wish I were a child again, right back in my mama's arms;
With the big kids in this world actin' so crazy
I wish I were a little boy
Raffi’s vocals remind me of Adam Young of electronic project Owl City. Like Young, I feel that Raffi has one of those special singing voices that lacks any pretentiousness or auditory trickery and possesses instead a natural warmth and youthful purity that can uplift and comfort in equal measure. I’ve often associated his music with the cozy intimacy of sitting on a classroom carpet and listening to a kind teacher playing simple tunes and encouraging their little listeners to sing and clap and dance along. This aesthetic is strengthened by some adorable album art: authentic children’s crayon drawings of Raffi with his guitar and surrounded by a sun with a face, a green T-Rex, or other very colorful things. Sadly, this art style was only done for his first three children’s albums: Singable Songs for the Very Young; 1977’s More Singable Songs; and 1979’s The Corner Grocery Store. From then on, Raffi’s album covers would feature him in photographic or more realistically drawn images. While these are still very delightful and show off Raffi’s fatherly good looks, I think a certain charm was lost here. Luckily, this doesn’t affect the music’s quality at all. Though his primary instruments are the acoustic guitar and ukulele, Raffi utilizes a variety of others for all those funny, sleepy, or thoughtful moods that kids feel: trumpet, keyboard, accordion, violin, harp, and of course, kazoo. Because what kid doesn’t love the kazoo? :) But the best sound of all is the kids themselves. Though the crayon drawings are gone, the classroom quality remains intact via the children’s chorus featured in several of Raffi’s songs, not an organized professional youth choir, but a nice, big bunch of playfully out-of-tune little ones.
“Biscuits in the Oven”
Biscuits in the oven gonna watch 'em rise,
Biscuits in the oven gonna watch 'em rise,
Biscuits in the oven gonna watch 'em rise,
Right before my very eyes.
“Must Be Santa”
Who's got a beard that's long and white?
(Santa's got a beard that's long and white)
Who comes around on a special night?
(Santa comes around on a special night)
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus
“Let’s Make Some Noise”
Let's make some noise, we girls and boys
We got a voice, so let’s make some noise
Let's make some noise, we girls and boys, hey
We got a voice, so let’s make some noise
Speaking of being naturally playful, I especially adore Raffi’s new takes on old classics. These can be clever and funny: “Comin’ Round the Mountain” gets a Christmas twist in “Comin’ Down the Chimney”; a gruff old lion plays his own “Hokey Pokey” as “The Lion Pokey”; and instead of a farm full of animals, “Old MacDonald Had a Band” full of instruments.
“Old MacDonald Had a Band”
Old MacDonald had a band, E-I-E-I-O
And in this band he had a guitar, E-I-E-I-O
With a *guitar strum* *guitar strum* here and a *guitar strum* *guitar strum* there
Here a *guitar strum*, there a *guitar strum*
Everywhere a *guitar strum* *guitar strum*
Old MacDonald had a band E-I-E-I-O
Or they can be sweet and gentle, such as when he replaces the darker and more disturbing elements of nursery rhymes and lullabies like “London Bridge is Falling Down,” “Ring Around the Rosie,” and “Three Blind Mice” with much brighter and happier alternatives: “London Rain is Falling Down,” “Ring Around Sweet Roses,” and “Three Kind Mice.”
“Three Kind Mice”
Three kind mice
Three kind mice
See how they run
See how they run
They help each other to some cheese
Asking nicely by saying, "Please"
Sharing with friends and families
Three kind mice
His music also caters to children of different countries and cultures. Being Canadian, his most frequent non-English tracks are in French, from the tranquil paradigm “Frère Jacques” to the impishly fun “Les Zombies et Les Loups-Garous.”
“Les Zombies et Les Loups-Garous”
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
But Raffi has dabbled in other languages and world styles, too: Portuguese with “Sambalele,” Caribbean with “Tingalayo,” Spanish with “De Colores,” Tibetan with “Tsetang Gangla,” and Japanese with “Haru Ga Kita,” to name just a few.
“Haru Ga Kita”
Haru ga kita, haru ga kita
Doko ni kita
Yama ni kita, sato ni kita
No ni mo kita
In a 2024 interview with Emma Silvers of motherjones.com, Raffi stated:
“In my early childhood, growing up in a fairly authoritarian family, my parents loved me greatly. But it was at times a coercive love, not exactly a respectful love. And I felt sometimes like a possession. So there was a lot I had to work out. I’m really glad I did it, because I learned a tremendous amount not only about myself, but about how it works with humans, that the love we are born with is dependent on caregivers and their respect and love for us.”
His own childhood challenges—adjusting to his new life in Canada and then growing up through such tumultuous social justice movements as Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War—helped shape Raffi’s views on the importance of a person’s first years of life, which in turn has helped shape not only his music, but the way he presents it to the world’s children. In 2010, he founded the Raffi Foundation of Child Honoring, the philosophy of which he conceptualized in 1997 and described as “a vision of an extraordinary social-change revolution with the universal human at its heart, and that universal human is the human child.” Along with several Canadian and music honors, Raffi also won 2006’s Fred Rogers award for his continual refusal of commercial endorsement offers, going so far as to turn down a film proposal for his most famous song, “Baby Beluga.” In fact, not counting his pre-recorded live shows, his only film credit as of this episode is the song “Raining Like Magic” in the 1992 animated fantasy film, FernGully, The Last Rainforest, a most appropriate choice given his love of nature and consistent environmental advocacy.
“Raining Like Magic”
It's raining like magic
It's falling like starlight
It's raining like magic
It's raining life
The forest is breathing
Ferns are rejoicing
And the trees are all singing
Hey - It's raining life
Indeed, over the years Raffi has become increasingly involved in various causes for the sake of new generations. Many of his more recent songs like “Big Blue Planet,” “ABC Democracy,” and “SustainABILITY” celebrate the beauty of our planet and teach and encourage young listeners to change the world for the better. The messages aren’t very subtle, artistically speaking, but I think that’s for the best given the core audience—not to mention how sadly and needlessly messy politics tend to get in the grown-up world.
“SustainABILITY”
On and on and on / sustainABILITY
Power to the people
Honoring the children / sustainABILITY
Love for generations
Moreover, he’s composed tribute songs for several influential figures and groups who have worked and struggled and sacrificed for the greater good. Some examples include:
- “Jane, Jane,” in honor of English primatologist and anthropologist Dame Jane Goodall
- “For All You Do,” in honor of the essential workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- “Cool It,” in honor of Canadian environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki
“Cool It”
Temperatures are rising
Arctic ice is melting
Polar bears are scrambling
The heat is all around
We’ve got to cool it down, cool it cool it down
It seriously amazes me that this guy never became a parent himself. From nonsensical tunes and dancing beats to didactic verses and gentle lullabies, Raffi has a song—and a place in his heart—for every kind of child. Just as important, his music is filled with joy without immaturity, conviction without force, and love without sentimentality—sounds that we as kids, both young and old, need to play and hear more of in this crazy world of ours.
CREDITS:
Special thanks to KTWH 99.5 Two Harbors Community Radio. All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
https://www.briandmorrison.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BriandMorrisonGuitar/
https://www.youtube.com/user/briandmorrison
Named after the renowned 19th-century Armenian novelist, Raffi Cavoukian was born on July 8th, 1948, in Cairo, Egypt after his Armenian Christian parents had fled the Armenian genocide during World War I. He and his family lived in Egypt, Jerusalem, and Syria before finally immigrating and settling in Toronto, Canada in 1958. His early musical appreciation came from several sources: pop songs on his parents’ stereo; his mother’s lullabies; his father’s accordion; and the experience of first learning songs in Canada like “Baa Baa Black Sheep” at ten years old because he hadn’t grown up with them. Later on, he frequented the guitar store Millwheel, where Canadian musician John Lacey helped him improve his finger picking. After playing in coffee houses for several years, Raffi hitchhiked to Vancouver in 1972, hitting his stride two years later when he performed for the children of a nursery school run by his mother-in-law. He recorded his first children’s album, Singable Songs for the Very Young, in a friend’s basement and released it in 1976.
“The More We Get Together”
The more we get together
Together, together
The more we get together
The happier we'll be
'Cause your friends are my friends
And my friends are your friends
The more we get together
The happier we'll be
I have to say, my mind was very much blown to learn that Raffi’s first and third albums overall (Singable Songs being his second) were for adults. Hearing the first in particular, 1975’s Good Luck Boy, was surreal to say the least. Nothing explicit, mind you; pleasant and moving if you enjoy the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, or Gordon Lightfoot. It’s just that to hear someone I’ve associated for most of my life with silly songs like “Down By the Bay,” “Shake My Sillies Out,” and “Bananaphone,” singing instead about alcohol, empty relationships, and old age and regret in a world that’s moving too fast, just feels . . . weird.
“Bananaphone”
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring banana phone
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding donana phone
It grows in bunches, I've got my hunches
It's the best, beats the rest
Cellular, modular, interactivodular
“Play ‘Melancholy Baby’ Sweetheart”
And I'm singing cowboy chords to jukebox crowds
On a rainy Friday night
Looking for a smile or a tear
Thinking may the Lord be with you
When you're sober once again
May you wake one Sunday morning
To find a new song to sing
Yet I can’t help but speculate that developing Singable Songs may have had some influence on his second adult album from 1977, Adult Entertainment. Tracks like “Little Kristin January 28” (about his baby niece, Kristen), “Out in the Yard” (about the unconditional love between a man and his dog), and “Wish I Were a Child Again” (self-explanatory) are more uplifting and blissfully nostalgic in ways best enjoyed and appreciated by older listeners.
“Wish I Were a Child Again”
Wish I were a child again, right back in my mama's arms;
With the big kids in this world actin' so crazy
I wish I were a little boy
Raffi’s vocals remind me of Adam Young of electronic project Owl City. Like Young, I feel that Raffi has one of those special singing voices that lacks any pretentiousness or auditory trickery and possesses instead a natural warmth and youthful purity that can uplift and comfort in equal measure. I’ve often associated his music with the cozy intimacy of sitting on a classroom carpet and listening to a kind teacher playing simple tunes and encouraging their little listeners to sing and clap and dance along. This aesthetic is strengthened by some adorable album art: authentic children’s crayon drawings of Raffi with his guitar and surrounded by a sun with a face, a green T-Rex, or other very colorful things. Sadly, this art style was only done for his first three children’s albums: Singable Songs for the Very Young; 1977’s More Singable Songs; and 1979’s The Corner Grocery Store. From then on, Raffi’s album covers would feature him in photographic or more realistically drawn images. While these are still very delightful and show off Raffi’s fatherly good looks, I think a certain charm was lost here. Luckily, this doesn’t affect the music’s quality at all. Though his primary instruments are the acoustic guitar and ukulele, Raffi utilizes a variety of others for all those funny, sleepy, or thoughtful moods that kids feel: trumpet, keyboard, accordion, violin, harp, and of course, kazoo. Because what kid doesn’t love the kazoo? :) But the best sound of all is the kids themselves. Though the crayon drawings are gone, the classroom quality remains intact via the children’s chorus featured in several of Raffi’s songs, not an organized professional youth choir, but a nice, big bunch of playfully out-of-tune little ones.
“Biscuits in the Oven”
Biscuits in the oven gonna watch 'em rise,
Biscuits in the oven gonna watch 'em rise,
Biscuits in the oven gonna watch 'em rise,
Right before my very eyes.
“Must Be Santa”
Who's got a beard that's long and white?
(Santa's got a beard that's long and white)
Who comes around on a special night?
(Santa comes around on a special night)
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus
“Let’s Make Some Noise”
Let's make some noise, we girls and boys
We got a voice, so let’s make some noise
Let's make some noise, we girls and boys, hey
We got a voice, so let’s make some noise
Speaking of being naturally playful, I especially adore Raffi’s new takes on old classics. These can be clever and funny: “Comin’ Round the Mountain” gets a Christmas twist in “Comin’ Down the Chimney”; a gruff old lion plays his own “Hokey Pokey” as “The Lion Pokey”; and instead of a farm full of animals, “Old MacDonald Had a Band” full of instruments.
“Old MacDonald Had a Band”
Old MacDonald had a band, E-I-E-I-O
And in this band he had a guitar, E-I-E-I-O
With a *guitar strum* *guitar strum* here and a *guitar strum* *guitar strum* there
Here a *guitar strum*, there a *guitar strum*
Everywhere a *guitar strum* *guitar strum*
Old MacDonald had a band E-I-E-I-O
Or they can be sweet and gentle, such as when he replaces the darker and more disturbing elements of nursery rhymes and lullabies like “London Bridge is Falling Down,” “Ring Around the Rosie,” and “Three Blind Mice” with much brighter and happier alternatives: “London Rain is Falling Down,” “Ring Around Sweet Roses,” and “Three Kind Mice.”
“Three Kind Mice”
Three kind mice
Three kind mice
See how they run
See how they run
They help each other to some cheese
Asking nicely by saying, "Please"
Sharing with friends and families
Three kind mice
His music also caters to children of different countries and cultures. Being Canadian, his most frequent non-English tracks are in French, from the tranquil paradigm “Frère Jacques” to the impishly fun “Les Zombies et Les Loups-Garous.”
“Les Zombies et Les Loups-Garous”
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
Voyez-vous les zombis la?
(Les zombies et les loup-garous)
But Raffi has dabbled in other languages and world styles, too: Portuguese with “Sambalele,” Caribbean with “Tingalayo,” Spanish with “De Colores,” Tibetan with “Tsetang Gangla,” and Japanese with “Haru Ga Kita,” to name just a few.
“Haru Ga Kita”
Haru ga kita, haru ga kita
Doko ni kita
Yama ni kita, sato ni kita
No ni mo kita
In a 2024 interview with Emma Silvers of motherjones.com, Raffi stated:
“In my early childhood, growing up in a fairly authoritarian family, my parents loved me greatly. But it was at times a coercive love, not exactly a respectful love. And I felt sometimes like a possession. So there was a lot I had to work out. I’m really glad I did it, because I learned a tremendous amount not only about myself, but about how it works with humans, that the love we are born with is dependent on caregivers and their respect and love for us.”
His own childhood challenges—adjusting to his new life in Canada and then growing up through such tumultuous social justice movements as Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War—helped shape Raffi’s views on the importance of a person’s first years of life, which in turn has helped shape not only his music, but the way he presents it to the world’s children. In 2010, he founded the Raffi Foundation of Child Honoring, the philosophy of which he conceptualized in 1997 and described as “a vision of an extraordinary social-change revolution with the universal human at its heart, and that universal human is the human child.” Along with several Canadian and music honors, Raffi also won 2006’s Fred Rogers award for his continual refusal of commercial endorsement offers, going so far as to turn down a film proposal for his most famous song, “Baby Beluga.” In fact, not counting his pre-recorded live shows, his only film credit as of this episode is the song “Raining Like Magic” in the 1992 animated fantasy film, FernGully, The Last Rainforest, a most appropriate choice given his love of nature and consistent environmental advocacy.
“Raining Like Magic”
It's raining like magic
It's falling like starlight
It's raining like magic
It's raining life
The forest is breathing
Ferns are rejoicing
And the trees are all singing
Hey - It's raining life
Indeed, over the years Raffi has become increasingly involved in various causes for the sake of new generations. Many of his more recent songs like “Big Blue Planet,” “ABC Democracy,” and “SustainABILITY” celebrate the beauty of our planet and teach and encourage young listeners to change the world for the better. The messages aren’t very subtle, artistically speaking, but I think that’s for the best given the core audience—not to mention how sadly and needlessly messy politics tend to get in the grown-up world.
“SustainABILITY”
On and on and on / sustainABILITY
Power to the people
Honoring the children / sustainABILITY
Love for generations
Moreover, he’s composed tribute songs for several influential figures and groups who have worked and struggled and sacrificed for the greater good. Some examples include:
- “Jane, Jane,” in honor of English primatologist and anthropologist Dame Jane Goodall
- “For All You Do,” in honor of the essential workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- “Cool It,” in honor of Canadian environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki
“Cool It”
Temperatures are rising
Arctic ice is melting
Polar bears are scrambling
The heat is all around
We’ve got to cool it down, cool it cool it down
It seriously amazes me that this guy never became a parent himself. From nonsensical tunes and dancing beats to didactic verses and gentle lullabies, Raffi has a song—and a place in his heart—for every kind of child. Just as important, his music is filled with joy without immaturity, conviction without force, and love without sentimentality—sounds that we as kids, both young and old, need to play and hear more of in this crazy world of ours.
CREDITS:
Special thanks to KTWH 99.5 Two Harbors Community Radio. All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
https://www.briandmorrison.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BriandMorrisonGuitar/
https://www.youtube.com/user/briandmorrison
All other songs are by Raffi:
“Baby Beluga” (from Baby Beluga [1980])
“The More We Get Together” (from Singable Songs for the Very Young [1976])
“Bananaphone” (from Bananaphone [1994])
“Play Melancholy Baby Sweetheart” (from Good Luck Boy [1975])
“Wish I Were a Child Again” (from Adult Entertainment [1977])
“Biscuits in the Oven” (from Baby Beluga [1980])
“Must Be Santa” (from Raffi’s Christmas Album [1983])
“Let's Make Some Noise” (from Everything Grows [1987])
“Old MacDonald Had a Band” (from Singable Songs for the Very Young [1976])
“Three Kind Mice” (from Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times (with Lindsay Munroe) [2022])
“Les Zombis Et Les Loups - Garous” (from The Corner Grocery Store [1979])
“Haru Ga Kita” (from Everything Grows [1987])
“Raining Like Magic” (from Let’s Play [2002])
“SustainABILITY” (from Communion [2009])
“Cool It” (from Motivational Songs [2019])
“Mr. Sun” (from Singable Songs for the Very Young [1976])
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Raffi on Wikipedia
Raffi’s Official Website
The Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring
Raffi on The Canadian Encyclopedia
Raffi's Facebook Page
Raffi's Instagram Page
Raffi’s Official YouTube Channel
Raffi on Spotify
Raffi on Apple Music
Raffi on Discogs
Raffi on Amazon
Raffi on eBay
^^ Back to Music, Bands, and Other Creations of Sound
“Baby Beluga” (from Baby Beluga [1980])
“The More We Get Together” (from Singable Songs for the Very Young [1976])
“Bananaphone” (from Bananaphone [1994])
“Play Melancholy Baby Sweetheart” (from Good Luck Boy [1975])
“Wish I Were a Child Again” (from Adult Entertainment [1977])
“Biscuits in the Oven” (from Baby Beluga [1980])
“Must Be Santa” (from Raffi’s Christmas Album [1983])
“Let's Make Some Noise” (from Everything Grows [1987])
“Old MacDonald Had a Band” (from Singable Songs for the Very Young [1976])
“Three Kind Mice” (from Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times (with Lindsay Munroe) [2022])
“Les Zombis Et Les Loups - Garous” (from The Corner Grocery Store [1979])
“Haru Ga Kita” (from Everything Grows [1987])
“Raining Like Magic” (from Let’s Play [2002])
“SustainABILITY” (from Communion [2009])
“Cool It” (from Motivational Songs [2019])
“Mr. Sun” (from Singable Songs for the Very Young [1976])
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Raffi on Wikipedia
Raffi’s Official Website
The Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring
Raffi on The Canadian Encyclopedia
Raffi's Facebook Page
Raffi's Instagram Page
Raffi’s Official YouTube Channel
Raffi on Spotify
Raffi on Apple Music
Raffi on Discogs
Raffi on Amazon
Raffi on eBay
^^ Back to Music, Bands, and Other Creations of Sound
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