Children's music, an adult thing

It is Sunday in Havana's Metropolitan Park. A central place to take the children to invest all their energy: they run among the ponies and the merry-go-round, the cafeterias and the cachumbambé. Above the hustle and bustle, you can hear the music.

Although there are different age groups, the area is oriented to children. I wonder: can any playlist be used to liven up these recreational activities? In the season of good DJs, from Liuba María Hevia to Fixty Ordara and Ja Rulay: from the cult to the popular, and vice versa. Sometimes, the mix comes with deliberate intention; other times the one who gives Play does not even know what the memory contains flash.

Even in random order, there doesn't seem to be enough of an appealing variety of contemporary children's music. In turn, that opens the door for other, perhaps less kid-friendly, options to "sneak in."

We start from the fact that they usually do not choose what they listen to: they depend on an adult to decide which song will stay with them as a broken record, and which they may not know. Then, by dint of repetition, they begin to be interested in adult music, even if they do not understand it. Wouldn't it be healthier if from the first steps they were surrounded by proposals that are more like them?

The problem is multifaceted. On the one hand, mass media coverage is deficient. This kind of vacuum is covered by a variety of international topics: from Lola the cow to the soundtrack of Frozen or other animated ones. It is hard to accept that in a country as musical as Cuba, which produces a lot of music for children, these songs are so popular.

Perhaps we should start by asking ourselves what really attracts them. Making a song for an adult audience, appealing to one's own visions and experiences, is not the same as going back to the world of childhood and composing from something that is farther away.

Maybe the Achilles' heel lies in what is understood as a children's song. As the critic Rufo Caballero said years ago, children are children, they are not stupid. Not necessarily everything has to be summarized in diminutives and "tenderness", nor in easy rhymes or the simplification of the world that surrounds them. You can also talk to them about transcendental things in life, such as growth or freedom, because what child does not despair of being big?

The other thing would be to think about the diversity of the children's spectrum. According to their age, what catches their attention changes, and therefore it is logical that the songs become more complex. Also, just as they do not like all foods, or all kinds of clothes, we cannot assume that they will like any music "suitable for minors".

On one occasion I had to play DJ at an impromptu party. The guests were not older than 10 years old, they were too many for the living room of the house, and I had to entertain them while the activity officially started. I didn't know what to play: I did a quick search on YouTube, "children's music", not sure if that was the best term. Bartolito the rooster and Chicken Pio topped the results.

When I played them I noticed that, although they were quite well known, they did not capture the attention of most people. I typed again: "Cuban children's music", and the same old songs appeared, remastered and re-contemporized. They were as indifferent to them as the previous ones.

So, I kept trying until a Disney combo came up and everyone connected instantly: they hummed and laughed, no matter the style or theme. The rest was up to the algorithm.

Audiovisuals and music for children have been almost inseparable for decades. Disney movies, in fact, represent the paradigmatic example of commercial success and popularity. Their songs speak of love, respect, tradition... and are nonetheless contagious. Of course, there is a powerful market and millions of dollars between there and here.

So it all boils down to lack of budget? The Internet and digital networks have been transforming the way music is marketed. But what can be done to give movement to a genre that seems unattractive to the local industry?

Even so, generations of Cubans have grown up with the soundtrack of Elpidio Valdés' cartoons. It is enough to listen to the first chords, and the stories of the mambí parade before our eyes. Note that these songs have very little of "childish", and a lot of sensitivity.

Years ago the festival Cantándole al Sol (Singing to the Sun) was held. This initiative gave birth to songs defended by small performers from all over the country. It was a project that worked at the time, although it should not be the only one. We are grateful for the usual songs: Teresita Fernández, in the first place, with her cozy grandmotherly voice that lulls us to sleep, the virtuosity of Liuba María Hevia, and the catchy choruses of Lidis Lamorú, the sonorities of the duo Karma and Rita del Prado, who have also left their mark.

Surely there are other lesser-known exponents on the island who come up with something new every day and bet on it. However, it is not just a matter of desire or good intentions: the proposal and the opportunity must materialize.

Why not dare to make reggaeton or timba for children, with all the "bomba" that goes with it? And so the soundtrack of childhood is marked by songs made in Cuba? Yes, there are children's songs with these rhythms, for example, M with A, N with Iperformed by Haila, but, as the saying goes, one swallow does not make a summer. I think of how much our songbook would be enlarged with each talented performer who, with his own stamp, would contribute at least one children's piece. Let us remember the album Laughing and singingby Omara Portuondo, The Cutaraby William Vivanco, and the animated series A hymn to smilealso by Haila. There is no predetermined limit, but a world to explore.

As we ponder, the children are still at play, humming and dancing to cast tunes or other popular rhythms. The chance to enjoy their Sunday at Metropolitan Park will not be eclipsed by adult debates.   

Rather than giving recipes, what I would like is for there to be abundance and variety for the little ones - just as we hear in the different genres for the grown-ups. Productions that, in fact, also attract the attention of the older ones.

Thanks to an anime fan, I came across a video of the Japanese singer Mitsuko Horie, the performer of the original theme song of the movie Voltus V. It was a gigantic show, with an adult audience euphorically enjoying themselves. Activated the karaoke mode, I sang along, sticking to the "authentic" Japanese of my childhood. With subtitles, I discovered the sensitivity and simplicity of the lyrics. Perhaps that is why the song has had the power to transcend time, audiences, and even languages.

Something similar was demonstrated in La Colmenita's tribute to Los Van Van. Bees and drones took over the songs in such an authentic way that they won over Formell and the rest of the orchestra. In the end, good music -and here we have plenty of it- overcomes the presumed distinction of categories "for adults" or "for children".