kids: adopt this as your first mantra

thanks to j.y. for the tip about this kids' tune by brooklyn-based singer & songwriter randy kaplan, from his album of kids' tunes five cent piece, in which he refashions the stones into a fun and folksy parable in the style of arlo guthrie's "alice's restaurant."

the song pits a young and impish version of randy in a battle with various figures of authority, primarily his mother, who unfairly dictate the terms of the boy's life, first curtailing his time at the playground then forcing him to both get dressed after a bath and eat a healthful dinner of dark greens and whole grains, by inverting the chorus of guthrie ("you can get anything you want / at alice's restaurant") and replacing it with that of mick and keith ("you can't always get what you want"). even the family pets - a remarkable array of family pets - eventually get in on the act as kaplan impersonates - to fine and kid-pleasing effect - various members of the family's hierarchical establishment. it's still a little advanced yet for marzy, but a.g. has it on good authority that not only do children relate to this song, they also downright dig it. have a listen:

randy kaplan - you can't always get what you want



you can catch randy's live shows - the kid oriented version, anyway - around new york this month, including at southpaw in brooklyn on 13 april. info here. and, while i'm at it, might as well reacquaint you with arlo guthrie's epic tale of alice and her restaurant:

arlo guthrie - alice's restaurant



and - because why not? - here are a couple of takes on kaplan's inspiration, the first by the stones themselves from an unreleased 1972 concert and the second a cover by greg brown and bill morrissey.

the rolling stones - you can't always get what you want (live)



greg brown & bill morrissey - you can't always get what you want