Sing! Sing A Song!
I grew up watching Sesame Street - as many of you or your kids might have - and it is hard to miss the catchy tunes featured on this show. To this day, I can still hear Ernie’s voice singing “Rubber Duckie.” Of all the Sesame Street songs, the song “Sing” is the most performed. “Sing” was written by Joe Raposo in 1971. Raposo was a composer and songwriter who created music for Sesame Street and other Muppet projects. Some of his other notable songs include, "Sesame Street Theme," "Bein' Green," and "C Is for Cookie.” “Sing” has been performed by various artists, including the Carpenters, whose 1973 version led it to become a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Whether you are familiar with this song or not, I would like to give you the choice of listening to it now or after I have gone into more detail about the song and its messages. Below is one of my favorite versions of the song. You may have your own version that you like. The lyrics are listed at the bottom of the blog.
“Sing” is more than just a fun melody, and I definitely missed its deeper meaning when I was a kid. It wasn’t until I was an adult when I was looking for singable books for a music therapy video that I connected with the song. The children’s book I found, which is illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, uses the song’s lyrics to tell a story about a bird who learns to use its voice. The other birds in the nest find their voice quickly, leaving the one bird discouraged and frustrated. A guitar player comes to sit under the bird’s tree and encourages the bird to be itself, helping him find its own unique voice.
After doing some research on the song, one source states that Raposo’s inspiration for “Sing” came from his own struggles with depression and anxiety. According to Rapsoso’s son, “Sing” was a message to Raposo himself to keep going. Whether or not you experience depression or anxiety, we all face difficult days and challenges that make us feel stuck or want to give up. I’d like to share with you some of my takeaways from “Sing” to give you some ideas on how to get unstuck and overcome challenges.
When I listen to “Sing,” I can hear the overall encouragement it offers listeners to keep going, and to share our voice without fear or hesitation. Listeners can particularly hear this encouragement in the lyrics “Sing out loud, sing out strong” and “Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear.” We experience a sense of vulnerability when we share our creative work, feelings, or opinions with others, or when we are just trying something new. If we don’t take risks or open up and share our voice or work with the world, we create barriers to ourselves for growth and fulfillment. Oftentimes our inner critic pops up and prevents us from moving forward with our work and passions. Our inner critic is the voice we hear in our head when things start to get difficult and we doubt ourselves. This voice tends to get louder and harsher as we get older. When this voice comes, it’s important to remember that just because we have a thought, it doesn’t mean it’s a fact. By reframing our self talk to be more helpful, this inner critic voice becomes a kind and compassionate one. We can then return to doing the things we once enjoyed doing, take advantage of new opportunities, become more engaged with our work, and better connect with others and the world around us.
I’d now like to turn your attention to the lyrics: “Sing of good things not bad, sing of happy not sad.” These lyrics remind me of a topic I talk a lot about with clients: “thinking traps.” Thinking traps are exaggerated or irrational negative thought patterns (cognitive distortions) that can prevent us from seeing things as they really are. These unhelpful thoughts can be damaging because it can impact our emotions, behaviors, and perceptions about a situation. These lyrics in particular make me think of the thinking trap, “filtering.” Filtering happens when we only pay attention to the bad things that happen and ignore all the good things. This prevents us from looking at all aspects of a situation and can give us a negative outlook/mindset, when in reality, there are positives or things that have been going well. “Sing of good things not bad, sing of happy not sad” asks us to think of the things we are grateful for, our successes, things to look forward to, and things in our life that bring us joy. When we remind ourselves of these things, we allow ourselves to move forward, getting unstuck from our unhelpful thinking.
While we don’t want to get stuck in a negative mindset and focus only on things not going how we would like, it is also important to experience unpleasant emotions like sadness. Many of us have experienced some sort of negative messaging about our emotions early in life. What things have you heard or have been told and conformed to when it comes to emotions? Myths (mistaken beliefs) about emotions can get in the way of our ability to regulate our emotions. Myths that certain emotions are bad or weak lead to avoidance of emotions. Below are some myths about emotions. Have you ever fallen into these myths?
There is a right way to feel in every situation
Letting others know I’m feeling bad is a weakness
Negative feelings are bad and destructive
Some emotions are stupid
Yes, some emotions may be more unpleasant and unwanted, but all emotions have a purpose. Having a range of emotions is an essential part of being human. Emotions motivate us to take action, help us understand others better, help us to make decisions, protect us from danger, and provide us with important information about ourselves. Emotions such as sadness, anger, jealousy, and anxiety are not “bad” in and of themselves. It is how we respond and react to these emotions that can create unhelpful outcomes. We must accept our emotions, whatever they are, and express them in a positive way instead of bottling them in. When we stop judging our emotions and allow ourselves to be curious and open about our feelings, we end up better understanding ourselves which leads to personal growth and greater resiliency.
I’d like to leave you with some ideas to try that are inspired from this song. You can choose one to focus on, or complete all the exercises!
What do you “Sing” for? You can identify things in your life that you’re grateful for, things you’ve accomplished, successes for the week, times you have felt joy or have found delight in something. You can choose to name these things aloud in your head, or maybe you want to experiment with journaling, creating art or music, or sharing with another person to express these things.
Catch any critical thoughts that run through your mind when trying to produce work (whether professional or personal) or when you are considering trying something new. Stop the critical thoughts by saying “no” to yourself or visualize something to prevent the thoughts from moving further such as a wall around you. Challenge your thoughts and remind yourself that they are not necessarily true. Change your thoughts to be more encouraging and supportive.
Take time to express yourself and your emotions in your own unique way without any judgment. Allow yourself time to acknowledge and release any frustrations or unpleasant emotions if needed. Start an open conversation with a friend or family member, create a picture, sculpt, write, play your instrument, sing, dance, or use whatever your creative medium is. Or maybe try a creative medium that is something different than what you’re used to. As the song reminds us “don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear” because this is just for you and it does not need to be perfect
