I started writing songs about family life when my kids were tiny. The first songs were lullabies and odes to diaper changes. Then came Slugs & Bugs and songs about lost pajamas, ninjas, and swinging on the swing set. Now, at 14, 12 and almost 8, the content has morphed again.
When our oldest (Livi) was 11, she broke her wrist on a friend’s trampoline. This friend had an iPhone. As Livi waited for us on their living room couch, sniffling and wiping away tears, her friend sat nearby and played a game on her iPhone. When we arrived and picked up our injured daughter, Livi’s friend never looked up from her phone.
That moment left a mark, and helped shape Livi into an admirable, considerate user of technology. I know she’s less attached to her phone than I am to mine. I say it’s because of work, but… is it really?
Cell Phone Jones is our first Slugs & Bugs song about technology. You may get distracted by Amy’s mesmerizing background improvisations, so it’s OK if you have to watch it twice to get all the lyrics. (Lyrics below.)
Cell Phone Jones
Her name was Cell Phone Jones and that’s a fact
Her grandparents nearly had a heart attack
Her mom and daddy loved their cell phones so
They named their little baby girl Cell Phone Jones
What’s a girl named Cell Phone supposed to do
She got a cell phone when she turned two
She figured out quick she was all alone
Little Miss Cell Phone
There goes Cell Phone Jones
Cell Phone Jones
Chasing a dragonfly through the garden
flip flops popping, flip flop
There goes Cell Phone Jones
Cell Phone Jones
Flip flop, flip flop
Flip flop, flip flop
Flip flop, flip flop
She mastered Minecraft and Angry Birds
She learned her letters she figured out words
And late at night, by the cell phone glow
She learned what her cell phone did not know
‘Cause it could not laugh, it could not cry
It could not seek it could not hide
If she needed a hug or a good night tuck
Cell Phone was outta luck
There goes Cell Phone Jones…
Suddenly, all her friends had iPhones too
Now they’re stumbling ‘round with their faces down
Just like she used to do
While birds fly on the breeze
With their babies in the trees
And they’re all looking up
They’re all looking up
They’re all looking up
They’re all looking up
Just like Cell Phone Jones…
—–
Editor’s Note: Randall Goodgame is the founder of Slugs & Bugs Family Music. Chris Whitler has rightly called Slugs & Bugs, “the PIXAR of kids music.” Get some. -Sam
- The Well-Hidden Wisdom of Children - February 3, 2020
- We Are God’s Masterpiece: A Brand New Slugs & Bugs (Sing The Bible) Song! - July 17, 2015
- Cellphone Jones: A New (Unreleased) Slugs & Bugs Song! - April 10, 2015
Oh my gosh – a new S&B song! And let’s talk about that guy in the Mets ballcap in the header picture. Nice moves, dude…
This is absolutely hilarious. I love it.
Awesome.
i don’t know how you do it. i would have cracked up several times FOR SURE. it’s what my friend and i call serious bop. love it. 🙂 went from here and listened to several more on youtube with the kids tonight.
When Livi has to go back to “real” school you need to take Amy on the road. She’s awesome. (And the song is great, too 🙂 )
The man in the Mets ballcap … wait for it … is me. Bum bum bum….
That is … me. (Somehow posted as Guest) I had no idea this photo existed. Thanks, Randall! (my finest moment)