Come out and play!

Was lying still on my bed for two whole hours before I finally called it quits. Seems I won't be able to get much sleep tonight. I got up out of bed and then the song "Come out and play" by Offspring suddenly got caught in my mind. I was humming to the tune while flipping the television channels when a puppet suddenly emerged onscreen. Then the song in my head changed, it became Sesame Street's "Somebody come and play".

I can't figure out how the appearance of a puppet gave my mind a quick jolt, thus its sudden shift to memories of my childhood. It's fascinating though, that of all the memories of Sesame Street that I have, it focused on this particular song in all probability because of its similarity to Offspring's song title. So now the Sesame Street song fills my head and am reminded of the last lines of the song which goes something like:

"...Somebody come and be my friend, and watch the sun until it rains again..."

So what happens if it does rain? Do the bonds of friendship apply only on sunnier moments? Maybe because we live in a tropical country, but there was simply nothing better than a full blown typhoon or the monsoon season to bring the gang together in my younger years. Heavy rains meant no classes, no electricity at times, and nothing to do at home. So "we" (kids, my neighbors aged around 10 years old) found ourselves out of the house, ready for action even if it means getting drenched by the rains as well as the overflowing sewer lines.

Well anyway, if you do remember the song, enlighten me if there were any instruments on the track. I can't for the life of me remember, all that I'm stuck with is the voice of the little girl (or muppet) singing the song in their innocent voice with the occasional crackling of the record. (yes, it was an LP, those shiny black disk precursors of the cassette tape) There are some songs that you'd never want Sonic Youth or any other band to cover, and this is one of them. Leave the little monster muppet alone!

How sad must this kid be to sing that song out aloud... those days, kids placed great value on having someone to play with, interact with. These days all a kid needs is a television and a console to be happy. No, they don't need friends anymore, just the latest games and the tv guide. The upside of course is that the population is sure to shrink if this keeps up. You'd have teens with no social skills whatsoever, as well as the occasional online loser, cleaning his baby armalite gun, while thinking about a score he has to settle with the world.

Anyway, back to singing along...

Somebody Come and Play - The Muppets (I think)

Somebody come and play.
Somebody come and play today!
Somebody come and smile the smiles,
And sing the songs,
It won't take long.
Somebody come and play today.

Somebody come and play.
Somebody come and play my way!
Somebody come and rhyme the rhymes,
And laugh the laughs,
It won't take time.
Somebody come and play today.

Somebody come with me and see the pleasure in the wind.
Somebody come before it gets too late to begin.

Somebody come and play.
Somebody come and play today!
Somebody come and be my friend,
And watch the sun til it rains again.
Somebody come and play today.

Somebody come and play.
Somebody come and play today!
Somebody come and smile the smiles,
And sing the songs,
It won't take long.

La, La, La, La, La, La,
La, La, La, La, La, La.

Somebody come with me and see the pleasure in the wind.
Somebody come before it gets too late to begin.

Somebody come and play.
Somebody come and play today!
Somebody come and be my friend,
And watch the sun til it rains again.
Somebody come and play today.