Intermission: An Electric-Car Kids Jam from They Might Be Giants

As a general rule, songs about the environment suck. But this kids jam by They Might Be Giants most certainly does not suck. It's called "Electric Car," it features the vocals of Robin Goldwasser, and it's off of TMBG's Here Comes Science children's album, released last year. And the video's pretty awesome, too:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAv6M1Bai0c&feature=player_embedded

Here are a couple things to love:

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• They Might Be Giants' Youtube account is called ParticleMen. (I can't be the only one who loved their work on Tiny Toons, right?)
• In the description for the video, they write, "There is no such thing as clean coal, and bikes are even more environmentally friendly than cars."
• The lyrics, which include these fantastic verses
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Electric car
On roads so dark
To change the end
Rewrite the start
Electric car
So good, so far

Electric car
On verdant green
Invent a turn
Invent a dream
Electric car
The new machine

and, finally:

No diesel, steam, or gasoline
Let's take a ride in an electric car
Happiness resides in an electric car
You can even drive an electric car
Won't you take a ride with me?
Come on and take a ride with me

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I have to say, given the total fecklessness in Congress and the dreary, sucky days of energy policy ahead, I'm starting to feel that seemingly goofy things like this—a song that plants the seeds of the positive value of electric vehicles in the fertile minds of youngsters—might wind up being the most important actions of this era. Here's to hoping that 14 or so years hence, when all these lil tykes are getting their licenses, they're all demanding the keys for an emissions-free vehicle.

By the way, if you're getting to the point in life where your friends are starting to breed, I can't recommend all of the They Might Be Giants children's albums highly enough. (Here Come the ABCs and Here Comes Science are personal recommendations, for the toddler and the pre-schooler, respectively.) Kids love them, and parents sure are pumped to swap out Elmo, Rafi, and Thomas the Train albums for a band they actually dig. (Though I could go on at length, and have at family gathering, about the great value that Thomas will yield the mass transit movement 20 years from now.)

Via The City Fix.