Spenblog

I am a big fan of children’s music. I listen to it all the time as a dad of 2. Usually, with my oldest, I have a rule with music in the car: “one song for you, one song for me.” The one artist I will make an exception for is the Okee Dokee Brothers.

At its best, children’s music teaches kids something new or gives them a new perspective, while still remaining a simple, enjoyable song that kids can sing along to (Raffi, Fred Penner). At its worst, children’s music is pandering to what it thinks kids will latch onto or will get caught in their heads. If I were to levy one criticism across the entire genre, it is that the musicians do not afford their audience enough credit for what they can handle. Sometimes I get the impression that children’s musicians self-censor from getting into heavier topics and themes lyrically and musically out of fear of alienating their audience or making sensitive parents clutch their pearls. I view this as a huge disservice to their audience because kids want to hear about real life. And from my experience, the more a subject is avoided as taboo, the more interest it can generate from the kid. A topic that is avoided can also be a shock for the kid to learn about when it is encountered in real life.

But maybe the tendency to stick to safe material is for good reason. If you put something into a kids song, you need to do it in such a way that it can be understood and enjoyed by kids of all ages. Taking complex subject matter and distilling it down such that it can be understood by a young child is really hard to do.

I think what sets the Okee Dokee Brothers apart from their peers is their uncanny ability to make music that is simple, easy to sing along to, and which covers subject matter that is complex, but relevant to their listeners. They never speak down to their audience and they respect the listeners’ ability to discern the themes and larger picture to their records (which are often concept albums).

For example, their 2023 album Brambletown, revolves around the two main characters (based on the two songwriters) returning to their hometown and realizing things have changed. The two main characters confront the fact that they have grown apart as friends. They deal with issues like addiction (Old Badger) and separation from loved ones (the Fox and the Hare). They even confront larger philosophical questions that kids think (and ask) about in Little Dipper and Big Dipper: “why are we here, momma? What does this life mean?”

In handling these topics, Brambletown never stops being a delight to listen to. The upbeat songs are full of joy and energy. The sad songs are well and truly sad. The songs dealing with the big questions don’t pretend like they have all the answers. The album trusts its audience to grapple with its content and never dulls its edge for the sake of ease. The album hits its high point with a song about the connectedness of things: “The Life that’s in You.” The Okee Dokee Brothers conclude with a reminder that we are not alone in the struggles covered in the record and to find strength in community: “Love and grief, life and death, are all bound together by the very same breath.”

So, in my view, what makes the Okee Dokee Brothers so singularly great is their ability to handle almost any subject with honesty and humility while never forgetting to be simple, fun, and easy to sing along to. I can’t recommend them enough. Start with my favorite album of theirs, Winterland.