Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

Latest Episodes:

Don’t Trick Your Dad Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Today is April Fool’s day, and our song comes from my “Wha’d’ya Wanna Do?” album. It’s called DON’T TRICK YOUR DAD. Most kids love to trick or fool the adults around them, because when they know something that the adult doesn’t know, they feel powerful! Adults usually have more power and information than kids, so when kids can reverse the roles on them, they’re delighted! Some homes and parents feel safer than others, because they allow the open expression of our full range of feelings. Like every other social skill we acquire, we need to figure out what works and what doesn’t work, and then practice! When we play a joke on someone, every situation is different, and needs to be looked at from each person’s point of view, right? We all know grown-ups who still haven’t learned that skill! Jokes and tricks can be playful and fun, as long as there are no victims, which means that everyone feels included and no one feels excluded. I used to love April Fool’s Day jokes, but now I don’t think they’re funny. First, I get someone to trust me, … and then I play a trick on them. Jokes are like that are scary and mean, even if we all laugh. It’s just not funny when somebody ends up feeling victimized and left out. It's always helpful to make sure others don’t feel unsafe with us.

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Womb Envy Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Our “Song To Chew” for today, is WOMB ENVY performed and written by Ron Romanovsky and Paul Phillips, of ‘Romanovsky & Phillips’ fame! It’s on my “Ebenezer’s Make Over” album; a collection of songs from the feminist Men’s and Women’s movements. When I first met Ron and Paul and saw them perform, I felt an immediate bond with them because of their smart lyrics, their joy and the obvious fun they had performing their comic songs on contemporary gay life to audiences all over the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Their songs carry such honest, vulnerable, and strong messages and consciousness-raising content, that their work helps lift the lives of many ‘in-the-closet’ men and boys who suffer in isolation under the cultural thumb of shame that was so prevalent back then. Unfortunately those embers still smolder and burn right now, under the fabric of our world society. I’m so glad you stopped by. Feel free to explore these ideas with your friends, and join us again next week for another Song to Chew!

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://peteralsop.podbean.com

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Be Gentle Robin Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Today our ‘Song To Chew’ is BE GENTLE ROBIN from my “Wha’D’Ya Wanna Do?”album, written by Dr. Tedd Judd, a concerned Dad who gives advice to his young son Robin. I love this song because it shows that if we want our children to be gentle, the best way to do that, is for us to model ‘gentleness’ for them. I got spanked as a child, but I’ve never hit my kids. I believe that hitting a child teaches them that violence is an acceptable way to solve a problem, and with armed conflict currently happening in numerous places around the globe, and the threat of nuclear warfare still a possibility, it makes sense to teach our children other options for resolving conflicts. If we refuse to see violence as a solution to our problems, they will learn from us, and search for other ways to resolve difficulties. We need to honor the fact that each of us have our own path, even our own children. It’s all about our own ability to be ‘gentle’. Thanks for stopping bye!

~ Please subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Pass It On! Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

I’m Peter Alsop and a big fan of ‘silly’, so our ‘Song To Chew’ this week is PASS IT ON! from my “Chris Moose Holidays” album. It’s a wonderful song for creating discussions, which is what this podcast is all about. It may be the first and only “sneeze-along song” you’ve ever heard! Thirty years ago, there wasn’t a big political controversy about wearing face masks, but today our world is a much different place than it was when I wrote this song. We’d never heard of Co-Vid and few of us died from the ‘flu’. Seems like much of our consternation about wearing a mask has to do with our “risk assessment”. There’s been lots of mis-information disseminated, partly due to the fact that it takes time to scientifically figure out what works, and partly because it’s so human to want to know what to do when there’s danger lurking ‘out there’ somewhere, so stories get made up and passed around. Check it out, and if you find yourself singing this song out loud at work or in a restaurant, my apologies! I’ll see you again next week with another Song to Chew.

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

K1*! The Children Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Our ‘Song To Chew’ today has a very disturbing title, K1*! THE CHILDREN. It’s part of a feminist radio-play I wrote, “Ebenezer’s Make Over”, about Ebenezer Scrooge getting a feminist make-over from three spirits who show him how joyless and emotionally impoverished he has become, living in our patriarchal world. The third Spirit shows Scrooge what his future will be, if he continues going in the direction he’s headed. The song’s a warning to all of us, about where we will end up if we don’t change our ways. Read Patrisse Cullors' book, ABOLITIONIST’S HANDBOOK. She offers healthy guidelines to help us change ourselves and each other as we share our lives on this planet. It’s a practical guide to achieving many of the suggestions in my songs over the years. We can do better!

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Rachel And The Moon Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

Today’s Song To Chew from my ‘Stayin’ Over’ album is RACHEL & THE MOON. Many years ago, my friend and teacher, Luke Barber told me about a story his young daughter Rachel had written in school. Luke is a philosopher and a very deep-thinker, and the story touched him deeply because the story finished with something he had done with the best of intentions that hurt his little girl’s feelings. “No matter how hard we try as parents to do the right thing with our kids, or our friends, it’s inevitable that once in a while we do something we wish we hadn’t done,” he said. I agreed, and Rachel’s story inspired me to write this song, because it’s about forgiveness.

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Junkfood Junkie Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

This week’s ‘Song To Chew’ is about food! How appropriate! JUNKFOOD JUNKIE was written by my old friend Larry Groce. He let me record it on my first ‘Peter Alsop’ album back in 1975. Larry’s best known for being the artistic director and host of “Mountain Stage”, a two-hour live music radio program produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting on National Public Radio. His song got lots of radio airplay when it came out. It’s about a health food advocate with a hidden sugar addiction, who medicates himself uncontrollably with junk food, and eventually overdoses alone in his room. Still relevant today, eh?! Enjoy!

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

I Aint’ Afraid Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

Today’s song, I AIN’T AFRAID, is written and performed by Holly Near on my “Ebenezer’s Make Over” album. It’s a courageous song about religion because this topic is so loaded with extremist ideas and sensitive, defensive feelings about people’s most devout spiritual beliefs and stories about their God or gods, that it can be physically dangerous to tread on these pathways. Holly does it with such powerful skill, grace and truth, showing clearly that it’s the people who act violently and self-righteously in the name of their ‘god’ who are in fact, dangerous. ‘Ebenezer’s Make Over’ is a collection of songs from the feminist men’s and women’s movement in the form of Charles Dicken’s ‘Christmas Carol’. You can get it from my site, or by emailing me directly at peter@peteralsop.com. Please subscribe, and I look forward to seeing you next week, for another ‘Song to Chew’.

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Kids Peace Song Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

Today’s “Song To Chew” is the KIDS PEACE SONG from my “Take Me With You!” album. In order to have peace in the world, it helps to know how to have peace within ourselves. We plant the seeds for finding non-violent resolutions to struggles in the world when we speak up for ourselves without feeling fearful or needy. If someone attacks us, we can protect ourselves without having to crush them back as punishment. When we do that, it throws our systems out of balance again. They feel more threatened and try to get “even with us”! And round and round it goes. As parents, everything we do is watched carefully and copied by our children. Depending on what they learn from us, they can learn to respect others, and to resolve their disputes peacefully. The more we practice non-violent ways to solve our problems, the more they learn how to look for similarities with others, and appreciate our differences. Humans will always struggle. And of course, it’s difficult to feel peaceful when we don’t feel safe, so it makes great sense for all of us to learn how to 'make safe places' for ourselves and for our neighbors. And when in doubt about how to proceed, it always helps to consider what we’re teaching the children.

~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Men Are Good Jan 28, 2022

Show notes

Today’s “Song To Chew” is MEN ARE GOOD, written and performed by Joe Jencks. When I first heard Joe sing this song, it blew me away! I’d never heard a song that gave credit to the many, many wonderful things that ‘men’, (and boys), do on a daily basis all around the world. This version is on my “Ebenezer’s Make Over” album, (which is an adaptation of Dickens “Christmas Carol”). It’s full of powerful songs, written and performed by Holly Near, Geof Morgan, Romanovsky & Phillips, Joe Jencks, me, Charlie Murphy, Fred Small and other activist song-writers from the feminist men’s and women’s movements that create discussions about gender, homophobia, men’s relationship to war, work, our fathers, the women in our lives and each other. Check it out today podcast by clicking on this link:

~ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe