More Family Time, an Album by Ziggy Marley
This year has been tough for everyone, and many musicians have made the most of the time during lockdown to reflect about their lives and the state of the world today. This has led to many interesting creations, but many of them focus on the things we are living today, and becoming so self conscious can be a little exhausting, that’s why there is a musician that preferred focusing on something free of the darkness of the world and full of optimism for the future, children.
Just like many others Ziggy Marley found himself at home with a lot of spare time and decided to make music, but not just any kind of music, children’s music. Some may say that the audience for this kind of music is limited or that it doesn’t resonate that much, but it does. Besides when you are a very young kid, it’s hard to find a connection with most of the music out there, but there is music for them, which helps them learn and find this connection.
Marley had already released a children’s music album back in 2009 called “Family Time”, so “More Family Time” it’s the follow up, and according to him, a very fun album to make and commented on doing something comforting during this hard times.
Rolling Stone Interview
“For me, [this album] was the rebellious thing to do, instead of writing about what’s going on, it’s something comforting. Plus, the children need as much help as anybody else in what we’re going through. So giving a family something to uplift their spirits and feel happy and enjoy together, I think, is just as important as addressing what is going on.”
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He is working on other things as well such as Bob Marley: Portrait of the Legend,but this project it’s an important part of music that can’t be ignored.
He also says that his songs also teaches kids, which is an important aspect of music at an early age.
He talks about a song on the album called “Please Excuse Me Thank You,” which is a duet with Alanis Morissette, and it has the title of the song work like a mantra. “These are the words we use every day,” and then “Please, I would like some pizza?/Please, may I have some ice cream.”
“So there’s a lot of teaching going on; there are a lot of lessons in the songs,”
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Music is a great way for children to develop social skills, learn faster, have fun and of course develop a deeper connection with music, but it’s also great for adults who interact with the children, including of course the person who made the music, which in this case is Ziggy Marley.
“My father loved children — he has that childlike energy to him also,”
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He talks about how Bob Marley and going through old photographs inspired him to make the album.
“We went through a bunch of these photos, and you can see his childlike innocence. You can see how relatable he is to the children who are there. There is just a purity of innocence.”
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Everyone deserves to be happy, and today we all need anything we can get to achieve that, and children could benefit from this sort of projects, as they find music exciting and new. Chldren’s music are not just b-side jingles, they deserve more recognition in the music industry, and we can only hope that there is always something we can look up to for our young ones.
