Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

Latest Episodes:

Atta Way T‘Go Boy! Sep 03, 2021

Show notes

I wrote today's 'Song To Chew' ATTA WAY T'GO BOY! back in the early 80’s for an anthology album called "Bullets And Guitars". It was produced by Gary Cristall, who ran the Vancouver Folk Festival for years and includes songs by Si Kahn, Utah Phillips, Holly Near, Leon Rosselson and other talented progressive folksingers and activists. My song’s a satirical 'pat on the back' to our President back then, to provide some balance to this left-leaning musical anthology! All profits from the album went to committed artists and cultural organizations in Central America to fight the exploitation and intervention of outsiders, particularly the US, who continue to prevent the workers and peasants of Central America from exercising their right to self-determination. Does art and music and poetry actually have any 'real world' impact on dictators? You betcha!! We work to undermine the fear-based support systems of authoritarian dictators with our courage, organizing, art, humor, song, poetry, education, solidarity and just better, healthier ideas. I hope this song helps you continue to think about these things you and your friends can do to take some action to help us move us a bit closer to a more fair,and just world for all of 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

~ 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

Dear Mr. President Aug 27, 2021

Show notes

Today's ‘Song to Chew’ is DEAR MR. PRESIDENT, from my 'Stayin' Over' album. It's written by Bob Blue in the form of a letter written by a 2nd grader to the President of the United States about how he got in a fight with a friend over who had the biggest 'sticker collection'. He thought the President might want to consider that fighting about 'having the most' isn't really worth it. Kids constantly have to figure out problems in their lives at home and in school. I've found that when we feel stuck with a 'problem', we can think of it as a 'puzzle' and reframe it! Then we don't feel so 'stuck'. We can feel hopeful, because we know that puzzles can be solved! It becomes possible to 'move ahead'! We just have to locate the missing piece of the puzzle, and figure out where it goes! And then, get on with our lives! I'm Peter Alsop. Yesterday I got a note from a fan thanking me for these "free little life lessons"! If you've been enjoying these podcasts, please subscribe, and let your friends know about it too. I'll be back next week with another ‘Song To Chew’. Bye for now!

~ 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

Burning Times Aug 20, 2021

Show notes

BURNING TIMES is our 'Song To Chew' today, written and performed by Charlie Murphy, one of the strong clear voices of the early feminist men's movement. It's about the plight of women in Europe in the Middle Ages, who were labeled as witches by establishment men who feared the influence they had as community organizers. It's from my "Ebenezer's Make Over' album which is a story with songs by Holly Near, Geof Morgan and many other feminist writers. There's a wonderful, short book I recommend by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, called "Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History Of Women Healers" that exposes how 'women-led healing was delegitimized to make way for patriarchy, capitalism, and the emerging medical industry. It explores today's changing attitudes toward childbirth, alternative medicine, and modern-day witches'. We can know the facts about historical stories of the past like this, but we don't really understand them until we feel them in our hearts. I'm Peter Alsop. Please check out this podcast and subscribe so you can join me every week with other "Songs To Chew". Bye for now!

~ 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

Chickens For Peace Aug 13, 2021

Show notes

Today's 'Song To Chew' is CHICKENS FOR PEACE, inspired and loved by thousands of children who want a peaceful world, but no one much listens to them, because they can't vote! We want to protect our loved ones from wars and violence, but when we don't explain scary things to children, it can create more anxiety for them. It's not easy, but it IS possible to talk with kids about serious subjects in safe ways without scaring them. This song is designed to do that by reframing the word, 'chicken', which is most often used as a negative word about someone who doesn't want to do something scary. Being called a 'chicken' implies that, you're acting like a 'coward', or someone who's afraid to speak up when something's wrong. But I think it takes some courage to NOT 'follow the crowd'! There's nothing wrong with being 'cautious' or trying to come up with a peaceful solution, right!? I've seen real live chickens 'follow the flock', and not have enough sense to know when something's dangerous! They're unaware that hanging out with a group that isn't concerned about the safety of all it's members, is not very smart! I'm Peter Alsop, and if you agree, please help spread the word! Peace starts with us! Bye for now!

~ Subscribe to Songs To Chew = 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

Five Moms And Three Dads Aug 06, 2021

Show notes

On this week's "Songs To Chew" we'll listen to my friend Tom Hunter's song, FIVE MOMS AND THREE DADS. It's on my 'Ebenezer's Make Over' album. Tom presents a different vision for how we can support a more caring and fulfilling society by allowing and supporting more diverse kinds of family groups. The traditional American 'nuclear' family, with two biological parents and their offspring, is what most of us learned, and considered to be 'normal'; whereas a bunch of adults, living communally with each other and their children, feels 'foreign' to many of us who were raised in accepted "normal nuclear" families. Historically family groups included parents, grandparents, siblings, and cousins all looking out for the well-being of the children. Some scholars point out that these extended family groups actually improve children’s lives, by protecting children; wealthy, middle class or poor, from some of the negative effects associated with parental absence from the home. So let's make sure that all our kids have someone to go to, when they need help with something that they're working on, as they figure out how to be a kid in this world of ours. I'm Peter Alsop. Hope to see you back here 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

~ 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

Animal Crackers Jul 30, 2021

Show notes

Today's short, little 'Song To Chew' is called ANIMAL CRACKERS. It exemplifies how children act out their anger while they're playing. When angry, hurt or sad feelings aren't allowed to be expressed directly, they will surface again, often in less healthy ways. Healthy parents can set clear limits for children about what is okay and what isn't, and still allow kids to express all their feelings. When kids know they have 'safe parents', who won't let them 'go too far', it allows the kid to act like a kid again, and explore their own abilities, knowing that they're in a safe space. I've always wonder if I gave my kids 'mixed messages' by buying them animal crackers, and then at dinner time telling them, "don't play with your food!" The kids turned out alright, (mostly!). Kindly let your friends and family know about this podcast. It's free. I'm Peter Alsop. See you 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

~ 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

The One About The Bird In The Cage Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

The SONG we'll CHEW today, from my 'Asleep At The Helm' album, is "THE ONE ABOUT THE BIRD IN THE CAGE' written by Rutthy Taubb. It's about a man who keeps his "bird" in a cage, dependent on only him. He feeds her, owns her, says he's going to teach her how to fly, and to sing, but he will have to clip her wings. And she buys his story and loves him, but then wakes up to find that she is unhappy and her 'song' is gone. He angrily blames her. Somehow, she gathers the courage to stand up and tell him that she's leaving. This is a multi-layered song about the joy of finding the courage to speak up and set boundaries to care for yourself, and it's also about the sorrow of understanding how you've driven away someone you thought you loved, but who you simply wanted to control and own. How many men and boys have had to learn this lesson by being left by their loved ones? Depressing? No. It's uplifting for the "bird' and sad yet hopeful for the man, for now he must figure out how to find his own joy and beauty within himself, instead of searching outside of himself to feel strong and of some worth to others. I'm Peter Alsop. This podcast is free. Please let your friends know about it. 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

~ 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

Aaargh! Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

Our song today is called "AAARGH!", from my live concert album "Family Roles". It's for all the 'family heroes' out here in the world, often the 'first borns', who have learned to seek approval from our parents. We grow up feeling that we need to be perfect, but striving for perfection can become an obsession, and then everything we do becomes a test of our worth. We have to study hard and plan well, or we don't measure up, and when that happens, we feel like we've failed. Many of us even take up jobs as human services professionals because it's easier to care for others than to care for ourselves! This song actually has a 'scream-along' chorus so you can join in and release some of your built-up stress from having to be so perfect all the time! Please subscribe and let your friends know about this podcast to help get more of this kind of helpful information into more people's ears. See you next week with another song to chew!

~ Subscribe to 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

Peel Back The Skin Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

Our 'Song To Chew' today, PEEL BACK THE SKIN, was written by my friend Stuart Stotts. He sings for grown-ups and kids in schools about how we can help each other live happier, healthier lives. I really love this song because it makes a really important point. When we hurt ourselves, before we put on a bandage, we have to make sure the wound is clean, or it won't heal properly. And when I say "WE", I mean that when each of us faces the pain of our own old injuries, we become stronger. And then like the individual threads of a blanket, the fabric of our society grows stronger and, healthier, and our systems become more balanced and more just for everyone! So please subscribe or follow this podcast. Invite your friends and family to listen, so we can get these songs into more ears and the ideas into more heads. When we each commit to taking action, things change! Bye for now!

~ Subscribe to 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

~ stuart@stotts.com

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

You Ain't Been Doin' Nothin' If They Haven't Called You Gay! Jul 02, 2021

Show notes

Have you ever noticed how much 'name-calling' goes on when cultural and social change is in the air? I thought today we might chew on a Tedd Judd and Sandy Pliskin song I recorded on my "Ebenezer's Make Over" album. It's called YOU AIN'T BEEN DOIN' NOTHIN' IF THEY HAVEN'T CALLED YOU GAY! The form is based on a song written by Eliot Kenin back in 1982 called "You Ain't Been Doing Nothing If You Ain't Been Called A Red". Activists who work to make people's lives a bit more just and balanced and equal, get labeled as 'Reds' or 'Communists' or 'Socialists'. The practice of using negative labels is often used by frightened, dominant privileged people when they feel threatened by others, whose existence or life-style is unfamiliar or different than their own. And we've seen it forever in the realm of gender and sexual orientation and identity. High time we 'called out' this practice, eh? Thanks for stopping by!

* Subscribe to this weekly Songs To Chew podcast here: ~

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

* Check out my new CAMPING WITH DADS album here: ~

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

* 'Like' my FaceBook page here: ~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Watch my music videos here: ~ Youtube.com/peteralsop

* Support my music and teaching here: ~ Patreon.com/peteralsop

* You can order my CDs & downloads here: ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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