Fashions seem to be cyclical in nature. Just when a style has passed into distant memory, designers drudge it up again with a tiny tweak to freshen it up for the “new” look book. You have to have accumulated a few years to notice this, though. Flare jeans were a new thing to me when I was in middle school, but my mom promptly showed me vintage pics of my dad sporting some totally groovy plaid flare pants. It was then I realized that fashion just built upon itself, year after year, revisiting some styles with perceived merit.
Well, I am officially old enough now to recognize the ‘80’s fashion coming back around in the form of high-rise jeans, scrunchies, and crop tops, and it got me into a retro mindset. I started remembering more of the awesome ‘80’s and life as a young child then. It was a great time!
Children’s choir was a standard activity for kids at church in the 1980’s, and I was all about it! I believe my involvement in kids’ choir helped to shape who I am today through community and through the songs I learned during those impressionable years. Reminiscing about those days, I pulled up the Psalty albums on Spotify for my kids one day for some car music. We always call older songs “vintage” in my house instead of “dated” because the former sounds intriguing and a bit cool. To my delight, my second daughter loved so many of the songs! She was singing along in no time and picked up a few of the (rather difficult) harmonies as well. I was quite surprised to hear the challenging harmony structure and the part singing throughout these kids’ songs, and it dawned on me that I probably developed a bit of my musical ear from singing these very songs.
My daughter has always seemed to have a sixth sense of being able to judge quality, and her seal of approval on the music reminded me that a good melody will make a good song even with some “vintage” instrumentation or vocal stylings. She and I had the best time that afternoon of driving around listening to these ‘80’s tunes. My 2-year-old son was also grooving along, picking up bits and pieces of the songs with a big smile.
We were all singing together and having fun—so much bonding was happening in that very moment. It was also a way of connecting my children to my own sweet childhood memories in a way they could grasp. You better believe we will have a reprise of this sing-along—and I don’t think I’ll have to be the one to initiate it. I am pretty sure I will hear a cute young voice asking for the “Ha La La” song, and I will be so excited to hit the play button.
Share your retro songs with your kids! They might love some. They might think some are better left in another decade, but you might find a few goodies that will speak to everyone and become family favorites. Tell the stories that go along with the song. Did you sing the song in children’s choir? Was this your favorite song in second grade? Did your dad sing this song to you when you were afraid? Our kids love hearing these stories, and they will appreciate a shared song much more when they get some background information. So as you are pulling out the retro gear to pass on to your children, don’t forget to dust off those favorite “vintage” songs as well.
Come Sing Together 