What do you think of this?

[boolady]

I just went to DD's day camp play, and just need a gut check about something. Let me preface this by saying that I do not intend to complain about this to the camp, as I know they meant no harm. Rather, I'm wondering if I get too ridiculously emotional in certain circumstances and how some of you would feel.

DD's camp is a lovely, very well run enterprise that we could not be happier with. This play was adorable, age-appropriate, with kid-made costumes, narration, and simple song-and-dance numbers. The programs were very professionally done, and it was clear that the staff put a lot of time and thought into the show.

And then...the finale, with all the kids who had performed (from ages 3 through just finished 3rd grade) was Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Sweet, I agree. Except it was the version by Ingrid Michaelson and the Children of Newtown. This is where I need the gut check- am I nuts for immediately, upon recognizing the version, thinking, "what the h*ll are they thinking?" I was floored that seven months after the horror of what happened in Newtown, you'd use it in a scenario like this, with about, IDK, between 80 and 100 elementary school kids singing along? As a disclaimer, I am often emotionally moved by school concerts and shows with the little ones and their sweet voices and enthusiasm, even though Im not generally a very emotional person. I quite frankly found this heart wrenching. I just kept thinking...why not one of the, oh, hundreds of other versions of this song?

So have at me.:) I am not concerned that the kids knew the version or were harmed in any way, but can I have been the only one wondering, "What the...?"

ET clarify: I should have said recording, not version. The campers were singing along to the actual Newtown kids & Ingrid recording.

[Ceepa]

I hadn't heard the version as sung by the Newtown kids but after a Google search and an abbreviated listen it seems to be the same as that by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. His ukelele performance of the song has been around since the 90s.

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131812500/israel-kamakawiwo-ole-the-voice-of-hawaii

Either way, it would have choked me up too because it's a beautiful song.

[AnnieW625]

I haven't heard that version so maybe I wouldn't have noticed, but yeah that would bother me. I however was completely also bothered by the photo shoot of the childrens' family survivors in People Magazine a few months ago so I have kind of distanced myself from the whole Newton thing and it's coverage. I think what happened at Newton was completely horrible and outrageous and we all have the right to be sad, but while these tributes start out as a good idea sometimes to me they just come across as a tad explotation like.

(As an aside: Besides my sister's best friend at age 7 being run over by a drunk trying to pick up her grandkids or gaurdians at my sister's school and seeing my sister's friend survive this horrific accident I have never been really that close to a tragedy like Newton so maybe understanding why people do these kind of tributes and probably never will because I really have no BTDT. I did also have a distant cousin who we didn't hear from for about a week after 9-11 who worked in one of the smaller buildings that collapsed after 9-11, but again no real connection to any victim so maybe I just don't have enough BTDT experience.)

[boolady]

I hadn't heard the version as sung by the Newtown kids but after a Google search and an abbreviated listen it seems to be the same as that by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. His ukelele performance of the song has been around since the 90s.

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131812500/israel-kamakawiwo-ole-the-voice-of-hawaii

Either way, it would have choked me up too because it's a beautiful song.

It is. But they played the recording with Ingrid & the kids singing, and the campers sang along.

And Annie, I should have clarified. I don't think they meant it as a tribute- it had to do with the storyline of the play. I could be wrong, but it was just the finale of the show that included lots of other well-known songs.

[Ceepa]

OK, if they played the same recording I would not have recognized it as being connected to the shooting, but obviously you did and others probably did, and it was all planned by the camp. So, yeah, that was strange.

[AnnieW625]

And Annie, I should have clarified. I don't think they meant it as a tribute- it had to do with the storyline of the play.....

I was talking about the Newton people releasing the song, not the camps using it in the play. Maybe somebody just downloaded that version not realizing it. It could have been a simple mistake, but I hear you, that would be strange to hear esp. if there has been a lot of talk about the people who recorded releasing it as a fundraiser or something.

[lmr1101]

It is. But they played the recording with Ingrid & the kids singing, and the campers sang along.


It's one thing to sing the song - there are a lot of different versions - but if they are going to play the recording with the other kids I would have also questioned that.
I can't imagine you are the only one who thought twice about hearing your kids sing along to the Newton version.

[musicalgrl]

I personally did not know that there was a version with Newtown kids singing, so I am going to go along with the theory that someone innocently downloaded it without realizing what it was. There's no other reason I can think of that someone would intentionally use it. They probably thought it was sweet that kids were singing along. Is that possible??

[hillview]

I personally did not know that there was a version with Newtown kids singing, so I am going to go along with the theory that someone innocently downloaded it without realizing what it was. There's no other reason I can think of that someone would intentionally use it. They probably thought it was sweet that kids were singing along. Is that possible??
agree and I'd try hard to just let it go vs take action. Sorry it sounds pretty emotional for you (sometimes this happens to me).

[boolady]

agree and I'd try hard to just let it go vs take action. Sorry it sounds pretty emotional for you (sometimes this happens to me).

It may have been a mistake. I really was just shocked. I'm not going to say anything...I know they meant no harm.

[Pyrodjm]

Is it possible that they were just looking for a version with kids singing so the camp kids could sing along? They could have used it without realizing who those kids were.I would not have recognized it, didn't know it existed.

[pinkmomagain]

I wouldn't have recognized it as I hadn't heard it. Even if I did, it really wouldn't have bothered me. Maybe in just a "huh, why that version?" way.

[KpbS]

Is it possible that they were just looking for a version with kids singing so the camp kids could sing along? They could have used it without realizing who those kids were.I would not have recognized it, didn't know it existed.

Me too. But I would have definitely gotten emotional. Even without the song, the cute performance with the kids--that kind of thing gets to me every time. Snap shots of their childhood I want to hold on to forever.