Commentary

I have always loved children’s books and songs.  Besides folk favorites by "traditional" and “anonymous,” some of my favorite children’s songs were written by Raffi, the Sesame Street writers, Linda Arnold, Charlotte Diamond, Tom Chapin, and—someone I regarded as an “old lady” who sang at pancake breakfasts I attended as a child—Malvina Reynolds. 

Because this is a children’s song, it didn’t feel right to include a bridge section, but I wrote one and I will share it here:  

Yes, we humans are mammals.  Though the reptilian part of our brains wires us to avoid danger and our distinguishing cerebellums make us smart in the way of computers, it is the mammalian brain (shared for example with dogs and horses) that connects us socially, enables our emotional lives, and directs our thinking and conduct. (A General Theory of Love, Thomas Levine et al.)

Quite a few “dog years” have passed since I wrote this song in 2012.  The song’s “young dog,” Stella, is already the getting to be the "old dog.”   Hank is our new youngster and Kobe, the Sheltie, has gone on.

Listen

Lyrics

Chorus:
Feed, pet, and play with my animals
I feed and play with my pets.
I love my dogs, my horses too
And yooooooooooooooooooou are the best that it gets.

My young dog's a frisky playmate
With bouncy step and silky ears.
My old dog barks and keeps us safe
Though he's getting on up in years.

It's said that the outside of a horse
Is good for what's inside a man.
I love to groom and to feed them
And to ride them those days we can.

The dogs hang around, their tails wagging.
The horses' independence is real.
You and I work at it daily;
It depends on the way that we feel.

Yes, you are my favorite animal
You are warm, friendly and kind.
Together we eat, together we pet,
And when we play we have a good time.