Marlo Thomas and Friends

Free To Be… You And Me (Bell/Arista)
by Lex Marburger

Take my hand, come with me, where the children… are subjected to some of the most blatantly subversive children’s songs ever made. Contained on this platter of vinyl are songs that advocate tolerance, but the connotations stretch far beyond sexual equality. I’ve caught overt references to homosexuality and crossdressing (Mel Brooks wants to be a Cocktail Waitress?), as well as violence towards those little girls who are bitches (courtesy of our wonderful Uncle Shel Silverstien, author of such lines as “Nothing to do? Put some mustard in your shoe”), rebellion against conformity (“a person should do what they want to, and not what other folks say, a person’s a person that way”), and the creepy “Girl Land” is one track I was never able to listen to without thinking of sinister men in dark trenchcoats who sit in long black Cadillacs and offer candy to little children. Yeah, I’d say it’s punk.