Sunshowers: Some of Gigi’s Favorite Songs

I was asking my Auntie Carolyn in the D.C. area to start feeding me some news about the latest goings on in “Chocolate City.” Then I told her how much our daughter (nicknamed Gigi) loves the song “Chocolate City” by Parliament.

Gigi also really gets into the songs discussed below. Some are, of course, favorites of ours, so it follows that she would love them too—she certainly hears them enough around the house.

“Sunshower” by Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band

(Chorus)
Sunshower, just a sign of the power of loving you, oh, baby
Sunshower, got me by the hour, wanting you, oh, baby

When my eyes went out to you,
I made up mind,
That every little thing I do,
Be designed to glorify you.

Ooh, my whole life through,
I've been walking in the rain
Until that day I chanced on you
And the sun came pouring down, too …

“Sunshower” is one of my favorite songs that Gigi has been hearing since she was in the womb. I think she loves the following song because it borrows from the original “Sunshower.”

“Sunshowers” by M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam)

"From the Congo to Colombo!
"Can’t stereotype my thing yo / I salt and pepper my mango"…

Sunshowers that fall on my troubles
Are over you, My baby
And Some Showers I'll be aiming at you
Cause I'm watching you, My baby ...

She can’t sit down to this one from a CD called African Playground (from Putumayo World Music):

"Battú" by Angelique Kidjo. (She sings in Yoruba, but here are some of the words in English):

We may have no money
We may have no food
But we know our pride.
You can go play with your money
Enjoy it with other people
We couldn’t care less!

Gigi and I both have to move whenever we hear “The Ave.,” an instrumental trip hop number by a group called Holland Tunnel Project from their CD, What Hip Hop Left Behind.

She loves “Um Canto de Afoxe Para O Bloco do lle (Ile Aye)”, a festive Brazilian song that uses children to sing the danceable chorus. The words are in Portuguese, but here’s the English Translation:

"Ile Aye" by Caetano Veloso and Moreno Veloso

You are so beautiful to see
What beautiful beauty to behold

Your beauty is transformed into you
What a happy way to live ...

Listen to a sample of Ile Aye here (Number 4).

Not only does she love the show, but she also loves the theme song to the Nick Jr. show, The Backyardigans:


Your backyard friends, the Backyardigans!
Together in the backyard again,
In the place where we belong,
Where we'll prob'ly sing a song,
And we'll maybe dance along.

We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore.
We always find things we've never seen before.
That's why every day we're back for more
With your friends, the Backyardigans.

And if you could only here her sing "A Change Is Gonna Come," you wouldn't believe the adult-like passion she puts into it. She means it when she sings this song.

"A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cook

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been runnin’ ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon’ come, oh yes it will …

Of course you can't keep Gigi in her seat when she hears Jill Scott’s “Golden.”

I'm taking my freedom,
Pulling it off the shelf,
Putting it on my chain,
Wear it around my neck,
I'm taking my freedom,
Putting it in my car,
Wherever I choose to go,
It will take me far,

[Chorus]
I'm livin' my life like it's golden
Livin' my life like it's golden …

And finally, my husband wouldn't be right if Gigi didn't know all the words to, "It's a Family Affair" by Sly and the Family Stone.