This song I heard as a child is titled "We all Sing with the Same Voice" by Sheppard Greene and J. Philip Miller in 1981. Harper Collins made a children's book with the song lyrics in 2001 but I heard the song and story from the original Sesame street episode in the 80s. This song has always been on my mind since I was a little kid. Basically the words "My name is you" have been haunting me for 40 years.
My hair is black and red
My hair is yellow
My eyes are brown and green and blue.
My name is Jack and Fred.
My name’s Amanda Sue.
I’m called Kareem Abdul.
My name is you.
I live in Southern France.
I’m from a Texas Ranch.
I come from Mecca and Peru.
I live across the street, in the mountains, on the beach.
I come from everywhere, and my name is you.
We all sing with the same voice,
the same song, the same voice.
We all sing with the same voice.
And we sing in harmony.
Sometimes I get made and mean.
Sometimes I feel happy.
And when I want to cry I do.
When I’m by myself at night,
I hold my Teddy tight
until the morning light.
My name is you.
I have sisters…
One, two, three.
In my family, there’s just me.
I’ve got one daddy,
I’ve got two.
Grandpa helps me cross the street.
My cat walks on furry feet.
I love my parakeet.
My name is you.
We all sing with the same voice,
the same song, the same voice.
We all sing with the same voice.
And we sing in harmony.
I like to run and climb.
I like to sit and read.
I like to watch my TV, too.
And when it’s time for bed,
I like my stories read,
“Sweet dreams and love,” you said.
My name is you.
We all sing with the same voice,
the same song, the same voice.
We all sing with the same voice.
And we sing in harmony.
We all sing with the same voice,
the same song, the same voice.
We all sing with the same voice.
And we sing in harmony.
The song is about diversity. When I first heard the song I suffered a lot for being different from other kids. I moved schools often and was often placed in developmental classes because I didn't speak. I had to repeat first grade twice because teachers thought I was unresponsive. I was put in a speech class but after a week with me the speech teacher told the principal there was nothing wrong with my speech or reading abilities. I simply refused to speak unless coerced otherwise.
Adjusting was difficult as I moved to a school on the West side of Chicago. The cool thing was the free lunch program. I got warm lunch every day. The not cool thing was getting stopped in the middle of the street.
"Why are you going so fast kid?"
"What's the hurry?"
"Hey, you have a nice bike."
"Ain't you J's brother?"
"We've gonna do you a favor and take the bike off your hands."
What can an eight year old riding a 20 inch Schwinn predator say? There are only five words that really work in this situation. It always worked when I lived out there. I just said,
"My dad will be angry."
These kids somehow knew who my dad was. They teased me a little but, but one of the older kids said,
"Let the kid go."
Sometimes I wished I grew up in another family or another neighborhood, but when it came down to it I was proud of my dad. Some people misunderstood him, but he was a really good guy deep down. At the time he worked with a Youth Group to straighten kids out.
My mom told me stories about how she was the only "white" girl in an all black school. She told me how the kids there didn't mind that she was different. Instead they loved to braid her hair and taught her games and songs. She also told me how that all changed in 1968 and she could see from her window the neighborhood light on fire. It wasn't just racial differences dividing the country. There was a difference in ideas and people couldn't stand still anymore. Many were angry at the way the world was and thought violence was the only way they could be heard. Sesame Street gave us a new song.
We grew up with Sesame Street. Artists like Jim Henson and Joe Raposo tried to weave some harmony into the chaos of a world we lived in. On the outside the songs and skits seemed real cute and kiddish, but the songs were really for adults. Songs like "It Ain't easy being Green", "Listen", "Who are the people in your neighborhood?", "I Love Trash" and "We all Sing with Same Voice" were big ideas with hope for openness and understanding. The message was YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
People sometimes ask about the line:
I’ve got one daddy,
I’ve got two.
At the time this was written few people considered the possibility of a family with a father and another father together. Most people who heard the song considered it a child from divorced parents. The point is that we really can't change the family or the background we grow up in. All over the world there are people. They come from different religions and families and customs and traditions but we are not really that different after all.
People is people
