Aaargh!

(Not just for Pirates!)

We run into difficult times in our lives and wonder how to proceed. Many of us have felt ‘shock-and-awe’ about our current world turmoil. I know I certainly have! And then on top of that, we had to evacuate our home because the Southern California fires came licking up into our neighborhood in Topanga!

When these happenings shake our lives, we dig around in our emotional toolbox to see what resources we have to help us. Love and support from family members helps, if it’s available, along with caring friends, teachers and mentors.

One of the most wonderful teachers and mentors in my life is my friend Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse. I met her many years ago and soaked up much of her seminal work on how birth order in families affects the different characteristics of each child. I tailored many of my songs to match her work so that I could pass her information on to parents, kids and teachers through my concerts and albums.

The ‘first born’ child in a family is the one labeled as the ‘family hero’. If we’re the first born in our family of origin, we try very hard to be ‘perfect’, so our parents will be pleased with us. For many parents, the job of the ‘first born’ is to model how to behave for the younger siblings! That can be a lot of pressure for a kid. Often family heroes get invested in ‘doing everything perfectly’, and they can miss out on some of the finer points of how to get along with others. Yes? And as we go merrily along this path, eventually we run into the difficult lesson waiting for us. We’re not really ‘in control’ of everyone and everything around us, … (including ourselves!) It’s tough being perfect all the time … isn’t it!??

Many of us, even if we’re not the ‘family hero’, have tried to live our lives in a kind-hearted manner, doing unto others, as we would have them do unto us’. It’s all very frustrating when things don’t seem to be working out properly. So here’s a helpful technique you might like to use, when things aren’t going the way you wanted.

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AAARGH!

I am always good as gold G

I do exactly what I’m told G

I do what the grown-ups say F

I don’t complain, ‘cause it’s okay. D-D7-G

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I don’t talk back, I don’t get mad

I don’t upset my Mom and Dad

I don’t get sick, I comb my hair

I wear clean socks and underwear.

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I fold my clothes, pick-up my room D-G

I dust and sweep and vac-cu-um D-G

I clean-up mud and dirt and grime D-G

I always go to bed on time. C-D-G

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But sometimes when I’m all alone, Em

I have to sing this little song B7-C

It really helps me feel better, A-D

If you want to, sing along, … B7-E

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Cho: Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go! E

Aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaargh! D7 (up-down)

Let's do it again, okay? C’mon!

Aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaargh! D7 (up-down)

There, now doesn't that feel better? D7

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I don’t make noise or laugh or cry

I don’t stick out my tongue or lie

I don’t fidget, I sit still

When I have soup, I never spill, . . . it!

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I do dishes ev’ry night

I do my homework, I don’t fight

I follow rules, I don’t chew gum

I never even sucked my thumb!

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I never watch the TV. set

At school, I am the teacher’s pet

I have the best grades on the list

Some day I’ll be a therapist!

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Your parents prob’ly wanted you,

To be a perfect kid like me

But maybe that’s a little crazy,

Sing along if you agree!

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Cho: Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!

Aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaargh!

Let’s do it again, okay?

Aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaargh!

There, doesn’t that feel better?

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Written by Peter Alsop, ©1987, Moose School Music (BMI)

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Illustration by Terri Asher

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Striving to be perfect can become an obsession, and then everything we do, becomes a test of our worth. We study hard and plan things well, and when things don’t measure up, we feel that we’ve failed.

It also helps us in these difficult times to have a good laugh with some good friends, … those who we can trust to ‘hold up a flat mirror’ for us, so we can see ourselves more clearly.

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Peter’s Website - and - All Albums! - and - Songs To Chew

You can also support my work by sharing this and getting this kind of information into more people’s ears! And there’s a Podcast about ‘Aaargh!’ with much more information about this subject available as one of my SONGS TO CHEW podcasts (#137- July 2021), or anywhere you get your podcasts.