small fry favorite love songs

We all have vivid memories of our parents singing to us. For Emily, her dad worked around the clock as a doctor, but whenever he could he’d pull out his guitar and sing “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac by her bedside. In that instant the world felt so safe and calm, and watching his tan hands strum and pick the song out a million times over just solidified her love of music at an early age. For Nicole, her sweet daddy passed away when she was just a teenager, and no matter how dark the days felt, her mom would sing “I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the flowers, I love the daffodils” and she was immediately reminded of all the beautiful things of this world. That song perhaps shaped her into the eternal optimist that we know and love to this very day. Jenna’s earliest memories are dancing with her dad by their record player to the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Elvis. You’d think you couldn’t fit all that soul into such a tiny girl, but she carried it with her and loves and sings along with her dad even still. (We attribute her killer dance moves to this education as well.) We are all tied to our parents even tighter because of that shared love of music, and we hope to pass it to our own kids!

love songs, play list, i tunes, brooke white, dixie chicks, bob dylan, cat powers

Having our own children deepened our love and respect for our parents, and it’s even more so such an extension of our love for our spouses! That moment when you sing one of “your” love songs to your little one it’s sort of this magical full circle moment. It represents a time where you held hands and kissed through dates, movies, concerts, long drives, all the while they were just a dream in our heads. We wondered what they might look like, or funny things they might say, and then fast forward and there we are rocking them to sleep, singing those very songs. Here is a list of the ones we love to sing with our little families that no matter how many times brings a lump to our throat, tears to our eyes, and make our hearts feel like they just might burst.

Take a listen, we hope you enjoy!

21 Comments

  • natassja
    February 11, 2013 at 7:03 am

    Oh my! How I love this! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂

    Reply
  • heidi
    February 11, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    loved this. My 4 year old and I listened to the playlist the whole way through while playing games this afternoon.

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      February 13, 2013 at 12:02 pm

      YES. that made my day.

      Reply
  • Allise
    February 11, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Love the playlist! I am a big fan of Elizabeth Mitchell for my kids & just discovered the Okee Dokee Brothers after their Grammy nomination a few months ago. They had a win over Elizabeth last night! I’ve been singing Roll on River & Small and Simple to my littles every night for months – check them out! Educational for the kids and it’s fun and folky for mom, too. 🙂

    Love the blog! Thanks for all the fun ideas.

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      February 13, 2013 at 12:02 pm

      love those song choices!

      Reply
  • Summer
    February 11, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    Ooo! I will totally have to check these out! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    xo
    summer

    Reply
  • Katie
    February 11, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    What an awesome playlist! My one and a half year old and I are rocking out to it right now. (just found you through A Foodie Stays Fit…loved your post there, I was also one of the first crossfitting girls I knew for a long time!)

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      February 13, 2013 at 12:02 pm

      welcome!! love crossfitters 🙂

      Reply
  • rebecca
    February 12, 2013 at 2:22 am

    oh these are great! i love them.

    Reply
  • Mina
    February 12, 2013 at 3:30 am

    I will def listen to these during dinner time tonight! Great choices!! I play the Pandora app alllll the time for my little girl. I think instilling a love of music at an early age is so beneficial for kids. I mean, just look at all the beautiful memories you ladies have from your childhood. Love it. 🙂

    Reply
  • Haydee A
    February 12, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    Awesome Playlist. You guys consistently put out fabulous content. Keep up the good work ladies.

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      February 13, 2013 at 12:01 pm

      THANK YOU. that means a lot to us!

      Reply
  • bridget
    February 12, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    I loved this playlist!

    Reply
  • JoAnn Jordan
    February 13, 2013 at 5:48 am

    Playlists are wonderful gift. Thank you for sharing yours. The mix of music is great.

    Reply
  • Brooke White
    February 13, 2013 at 10:50 am

    oh you gals, you are the best, thank you so kindly for including me in your love songs play list, that was really nice.

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      February 13, 2013 at 11:59 am

      OF COURSE brooke. we love you!

      Reply
  • aubry.
    February 13, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    mmm. i love this. i just copied it all over into a spotify list. i’m adding tupelo honey from van morrison because it is my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e.

    Reply
  • Michelle Botkin
    February 14, 2013 at 8:17 am

    i love this post.. music has such a powerful impression. I love listening to my music with my little kids and hearing them sing the lyrics.. or play the name the artist game with my 5 year old. Its amazing to see the love that he already has for some our favorite bands! we’ll be listening to this playlist all day thankyouverymuch

    Reply
  • Lora
    February 15, 2013 at 7:11 pm

    Thanks for sharing! Ingrid Michaelson is on our bedtime routine list too and “Home” makes for a great dance party song in our house. 🙂

    Reply
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