Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

Latest Episodes:

Foolish Notion Jun 25, 2021

Show notes

Today we'll listen to a song written and sung by Holly Near, from our "Ebenezer's Make Over" album. She wrote FOOLISH NOTION in 1980, and it's still completely relevant today. Here we are, 40 years later, still asking the same, age-old question; "Why do we kill people, who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong?" We'll chew on that idea after the song! I've never hit any of my children, (although I DO remember being spanked by my Dad!) Things can change! When we eliminate the option of using violence, then we're forced to come up with "better" ways to resolve conflict, and we also stop modeling to younger generations, the misconception that we can solve problems by using violence! Thanks for stopping by. If you subscribe to this podcast, then I'll be sure to see you here next week too! Bye for now!

* Subscribe to 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

Au Revoir Jun 18, 2021

Show notes

I have a friend who refuses to say "good-bye". She says "it sounds like we'll never see each other again!" So today's "Song To Chew" is AU REVOIR, from my "Uh-Oh!" album, because "au revoir" in French means "until I see you again!" Much less scary! Separation from someone we love, can bring up fears that we might not see that person again; that we might find ourselves all alone and abandoned! As social human creatures, we have deeply rooted fears of being left alone. Those fears usually go away as we get older and more secure in our ability to survive without our parents. But some of us grown-ups still have trouble when it's time to separate and go our own ways. Lots of pre-school teachers play this song to help kids AND parents understand that they WILL see each other again at the end of the day! It also helps parents see how our own separation anxieties can get passed on to our children. As my friend and teacher, Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse says, “The health of a family can be seen, by the ease of their comings and goings." So, take it easy, and I'll see ya next week, with another song to chew. Au Revoir!

* 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

L.A. Freeway Song and Hey You! Jun 11, 2021

Show notes

On this week’s episode of SONGS TO CHEW, we have a couple of short songs to chew on. In my family of origin, we grew-up with a lot of 'teasing' and 'making fun' of each other. Everyone in our family was 'fair game' as a target, and sometimes we'd all laugh so hard that we'd start crying. Most often, our clumsy attempts at being clever, were just dumb and ridiculous, and a bit cruel, and we learned to develop a thick skin. As I grew older and wiser, I learned that when I tried to make myself 'look good' at someone else's expense, it really doesn't look all that good, and if we're paying attention, it doesn't feel all that good either. First, we'll listen to THE LA FREEWAY SONG, live from the Icehouse in Pasadena, and then a song I wrote almost 50 years ago to play for people who weren't listening to what I was singing up on stage. It's called, HEY YOU! Both of these songs use 'body sounds' to get people's attention. I hope you enjoy these free weekly podcasts, and your friends will thank you if you suggest to them, that they too might enjoy listening to each week's menu. Thanks for stopping by!

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

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

Dyin' To Be Thin Jun 04, 2021

Show notes

Our 'Song To Chew' this week is called "Dyin' To Be Thin". I wrote it as the title song for a 1986 NOVA documentary on anorexia and bulimia that won an Iris Award for excellence. In the US, an estimated 8 million people suffer from anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders and that includes at least three out of every 100 adolescent girls. "Dyin' To Be Thin" was used in a musical version of Aristophane's play "Lysistrata", presented at the Theatricum Botanicum in the summer of 2003. It fit so well with the play's theme, where the Greek woman agreed to withhold sex from any soldiers who wouldn't stop fighting in the wars. It's staged at a modern-day gymnasium with the women working out to look their most attractive! (check the YouTube link below!) My sister-in-law, actress Melora Marshall sings this one, along with the other actors in the cast. Like Lysistrata, we're all concerned about wars and countries taking over other countries, and racial injustice, patriarchy and the systems and conditions that we live in. Our economic and social systems create stories for our youth, who in order to feel good about themselves, have to constantly diet and exercise to lose weight and look more attractive, rather than simply eat a healthy diet and exercise to stay fit. I'd love to change those stories! Help spread the word! 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 - my newest album! ~

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHmsgbZ8UOQ&t=19s ~ "Dyin' To Be Thin" video

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

Let's Trade Butts! May 28, 2021

Show notes

Today's Song To Chew from my Fan Club Favorites album, has been a big hit in junior high schools all across this country! It's called LET'S TRADE BUTTS, so of course, it's humorous. When teens are asked about their bodies, they often express self-criticism, and strong feelings of inadequacy, jealousy and shame. Our adolescent years are difficult because our bodies AND our role in society are changing. As teens we often want to look like someone else. We want some body part to be bigger or smaller. We know our life would be better we were taller or thinner or our hair was a different color or length or texture. Our appearance seems to be the ticket to acceptance from our peers. So I figured, "Why not just trade body parts with our friends? They might want something we have, and then everybody wins, right?! Yet beneath the humor of this song, lurks the painful feeling for some of us, that if we're just ourselves, we're "never enough", and then the grass always look greener when we look in other people's yards, or at their bodies, or their lives. And that's a recipe for painful depression, and as the song says "If you don't like your own, you're nuts!" We don't have a music video for this one yet, so if you're inspired by the topic, please feel free to make one! You have my official permission to put it up on YouTube! And let your friends know about this podcast. It's free! I'm Peter Alsop. 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 - my newest album! ~ https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

G-Gee Its Warm Out Here May 21, 2021

Show notes

Today our 'Song To Chew' is sung by an ecological activist, Snowy the Frostman! The kids and I are hanging out at the mall during the holiday season, listening to Snowy 'stutter-sing' his way through "G-GEE IT'S WARM OUT HERE" from my "Chris Moose Holidays" album. It's about climate change and global warming! "So why does Snowy the Frostman stutter?", you may ask. I think 'stuttering' sounds like 'shivering while you're talking', and because I work with many special-needs kids, I like my songs to include some of the special 'differences' that these kids live with. Kids with special needs are still 'kids', not just someone identified by what's different about them! So teachers use this song to help their students discuss why people stutter and how it feels. They also use it to address climate change! One young ecological warrior of today with special 'differences', is the wonderful Gretta Thunberg. She's helped our whole world focus on why we have to take action soon to save our planet! If each of us does something small to reach out to others, it will get us all moving in a more sustainable direction, and we'll have a better chance of NOT ending up where we're headed! I'm Peter Alsop. See you next week with another SONG TO CHEW. Bye for now!

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

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

My Secret May 14, 2021

Show notes

Let's chew on the 'Wonderful Diversity of Human Sexuality' with MY SECRET, a song from my very first album. I often use humor in my songs to share tidbits of information that I've found valuable. This song is loaded with bad puns and exaggerations. We humans have a huge range of diverse sexual behaviors, many of which are common, but there are some secrets that people hide, out of fear that others may regard them as "not okay" or "weird, exotic, disgusting, sacrilegious, shameful, dirty, illegal, sinful or just plain silly." I believe that an adult person's sexual behavior is their own business, unless they're cruel, destructively violent, abusive or coercive. Treating another person like that is just never okay with me. So if you find yourself hiding your behaviors, you might want to see if your own flags are going up to signal you, saying "Hey! Maybe we need to get some help here!" I wrote this song to get folks who pass judgement on other people, to acknowledge that very probably, they have their very own hidden private quirks and idiosyncrasies! As the song says, "I’ll tell you, if you’ll tell me. Do you get hot with your bathroom locked? Well, I cool my nerves with Mom’s preserves, it’s just a difference of degree!" I'm Peter Alsop. I'll be back next week with another SONG TO CHEW. Bye for now! (Illustration by Terri Asher)

* Subscribe to my weekly - Songs To Chew podcast ~

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

* CAMPING WITH DADS - my newest album! ~

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

No One Knows For Sure May 07, 2021

Show notes

Today's 'Song To Chew' is NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE, about having hope when things look 'the darkest'. Hope is a very powerful force in our human world. Our attitude can limit us when we're negative about ourselves, but it can also expand and open doors for us, when we're optimistic and hopeful about our future. Our expectations actually have an effect on what does happen! One of the many wonderful stories I've heard about "No One Knows For Sure", is that it played a role in helping to save the life of a little seven-year old girl. She required chronic special care and the doctors were running out of options for treating her illness. Two wonderful pediatric nurses, Diane and Penny, introduced this song to the little girl and the staff on her ward to keep their spirits up. This song became part of the daily fabric in that ward. They kept searching for ways to help this child survive, and in spite of over-whelming odds, last I heard, that little girl made it out of that hospital very much alive! 'No One Knows For Sure', right?! It's stories like this that keep me writing songs. Keep singin'!

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

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

You Get A Little Extra When You Watch TV Apr 30, 2021

Show notes

Today's Song To Chew is YOU GET A LITTLE EXTRA WHEY YOU WATCH TV, from my 1983 "Wha D'Ya Wanna Do?" album. It's about all the hidden messages delivered to us constantly through our televisions and internet. Commercials and news and sit-coms model for us how the rest of the world around us operates, right? But we see what the producers and marketers want us to see! Have you noticed how extremely 'happy' TV people are when they have a nice clean floor in their kitchen? Have you ever felt 'that happy' after cleaning your kitchen floor? Hmmm? The behaviors we see on the media, begin to seem 'normal' to us. Lots has changed in the last 40 year since I wrote this song. We've become more aware that it isn't just men who can fix cars or only women who can take great care of kids, ... but those hidden messages just keep on coming. So I wrote this little humorous tongue-in-cheek song 'way-back when', to help kids and families take a look at the 'not-so-subtle' messages about our culture that are being marketed to us every minute of every day. You can find my CD's or downloads at peteralsop.com, or from any of the on-line sources. I'm Peter Alsop. Thanks for stopping by!

* Subscribe to my weekly Songs To Chew podcast ~

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

* CAMPING WITH DADS - my newest album! ~

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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

So Long Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

Today on 'Songs To Chew' we'll listen to a song called SO LONG, and talk about sadness and loss and grieving. We know that things in our lives have beginnings and middles and ends, and so it is with people. Leaving people, places and things behind can be scary and sad and exciting all at the same time. Sometimes leaving things or people that created problems for us becomes even more complicated, because they also provided us with some great stories and unforgettably joyous rides. Some losses in our lives we have absolutely no control over, but sometimes we do have some control and we can choose. With practice, we learn to make better choices, and then we begin to intentionally steer our lives in directions we want to go, and set our course toward a life that we want to live. I'm Peter Alsop. I'll see you next week with another SONG TO CHEW. Bye for now!

* Subscribe to my weekly - Songs To Chew podcast ~

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

* CAMPING WITH DADS - my newest album! ~

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

* E-mail/ Website ~ peter@peteralsop.com ~ https://www.peteralsop.com

* www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

* Youtube.com/peteralsop ~ videos

* Patreon.com/peteralsop ~ support my music, podcast & other artistic endeavors

* CDs & downloads ~ http://www.peteralsop.com/music

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