Three "Sid The Science Kid" Songs (lyrics, videos, & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information about Sid The Science Kid and showcases three songs from that series along with lyrics and comments. I recently was introduced to the Sid the Science Kid songs as a result of watching that series with my three year old granddaughter.

My focus is on what I believe to be the Black cultural influences in those songs.

An Addendum to this post showcases a holiday video from that series.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those associated with Sid The Science Kid series and special thanks to the composers of these showcased songs. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this series and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "SID THE SCIENCE KID" SERIES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_the_Science_Kid
"Sid the Science Kid is an American half-hour CGI animated series that aired on PBS Kids from September 1, 2008 to March 25, 2013, with a total of 68 half-hour episodes produced over two seasons. The computer generated show is produced by The Jim Henson Company and then-PBS member KCET in Los Angeles, California using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio. The show is produced by motion capture which allows puppeteers to voice digitally animated characters in real time.[2][3] Production began in the fall of 2008 with 42 half-hour episodes of Sid the Science Kid having been ordered. The series debuted on PBS Kids along with Martha Speaks on September 1, 2008,[4] with a two-year on-air commitment.[5] The original working title for the series was "What's the Big Idea?" and the central character, Sid, was originally named Josh.[6]

KOCE, the current primary PBS member for the Los Angeles area, began co-producing the show after KCET disaffiliated with PBS on December 31, 2010.

24-hour preschool channel Sprout began airing Sid the Science Kid on March 25, 2013.

Premise
The main character in the show is Sid, an "inquisitive youngster" who uses comedy to tackle questions kids have about basic scientific principles and why things work the way they do. He tries to answer questions and solve problems with the help of his classmates (May, Gerald, and Gabriela), Teacher Susie, and his family (his mother Alice, his father Mort, his Grandma and his baby brother Zeke)...

The conceptual content of Sid is based in national science learning standards, cognitive learning theory, and on the preschool science curriculum, Preschool Pathways to Science.[7]

Each week's episodes are built around a single scientific theme or concept...

Sid's mother is of African descent and his father grew up Jewish as noted in the Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa episode"...
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A video of Sid The Science Kid that episode is embedded below.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS AND COMMENTS
Video #1. The Sid the Science Kid Theme Song! - The Jim Henson Company



The Jim Henson Company Published on Oct 23, 2014
-snip-
Lyrics: SID THE SCIENCE KID THEME SONG
Hey is this thing on?
Hey Sid, what do you say,
What’chawanna learn today?
I want to know why things happen and how,
And I wanna know everything now.
How does this thing work?
Why does that stuff change?
How does that do what it just did?
What's up with the sky?
Do you think i can fly?
The world is spinning and I wanna know why.
I got a lot of questions and big ideas, I'm Sid the Science Kid"

Source: http://kids.thirteen.org/files/2010/06/Sid_Song_Lyrics.pdf
-snip-
In the lyrics "Hey is this thing on?", this thing refers to a microphone.

People who are more musically inclined than me might be able to expand on this statement, but all that I can say is that that I think that this theme song sounds to me like Hip Hop music.

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2. Sid the Science Kid - "I Love My Mom!"

-snip-
song lyrics:
"I love my mom!
(Un hun)
My mom is cool
(Un hun)
But now it's time
(Un hun)
To go to school!)
-snip-
I've come across several parodies of this song which have the ending changed to "now it's time to play in school", "it's time to get beaten up at school" and even "now it's time to shoot up the school".

With regard to what I consider to be the Black cultural influences on this song, notice the use of African American Vernacular English (i.e. My mom is cool." Also, notice the call & response structure of this brief song. Several commenters on this YouTube video's discussion thread noted that this song reminds them of a Hip Hop mixtape.

honey nut, 2015
"sid new mixtape be fire"

Lunatikkrazie azylum, 2016
"When's his mixtape gonna drop 🔥🔥🔥"
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In African American Vernacular English, something that is "fire" (or someone who is "on fire") is real hot (really good).
-snip-
Another commenter on that same discussion thread, unknowncreeper, wrote in 2016 "dude this kid spits straight barz". "Spits straight barz (bars) is Hip Hop lingo for "rapping really well".

WARNING: Although Sid The Science Kid is a children's animated series, a number of the comments on the YouTube discussion thread for this video and other related videos contain profanity and other content that is not suitable for children.

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Video Example #3: I'm Looking for My Friends! - Sid the Science Kid - The Jim Henson Company



The Jim Henson Company Published on Oct 23, 2014
-snip-
LYRICS: I'M LOOKING FOR MY FRIENDS*
Sid: I'm looking for my friends.
I'm looking for you.
There's Gabriela.
Gabriela: Watch what I can do.
Lah lah whee!
lah lah woo!
Oh, yeah! [Gabriela dancing]
Sid: Wow!
I'm looking for my friends.
I'm looking for you.
Hey, there's Gerald.
Gerald: Check out my moves.
Heh Heh. Ha Ha.
I'm a rock star! [Gerald dancing]
Sid: Coo!
I'm looking for my friends.
I'm looking for you.
Hey, there's May.
May: May I show you how I groove?
Bing by da da da (May laughing and dancing)
Yeah!
Sid: Groovy!
Gabriela, Gerald, and May: We're looking for our friends.
I'm looking for you.
Hey, there's Sid!
Sid: Did you hear the one about the kid who wanted to know everything about everything?
Gabriela, Gerald, and May: That's you!
Sid: Ah. You got me.
[Everyone in the group laughing, dancing, and saying random exclamations like "Yah da da da" and "Yeah".]
All: We're looking for our friends.
All look what we found.
We found each other.
Friends!
[ends with sounds of laughter]
-snip-
*Transcription by Azizi Powell from this video. Other video clips of this song may have slightly different lyrics. Additions and corrections are welcome.

Sid The Science Kid's "I'm Looking For My Friends" song reminds me of an adapted foot stomping cheer*. Sid begins each iteration of the song with the words "I'm looking for my friend" and one at a time each member of the group takes a turn showing how they dance. Sid's turn is different from the others as he talks and doesn't dance. The song ends with the entire group laughing, dancing, and singing together.

In contrast, "standard" foot stomping cheers begin with a group voice, followed by a soloist. After the soloist has her (or his) turn, the cheer begins from the beginning and the next soloist takes her (or his) turn. Each soloist turn is the exact same length of time. Some foot stomping cheers end with the entire group doing the same foot stomping movement as the soloist. This pattern continues until everyone in the group has one equal time turn as the soloist.

*Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/11/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/11/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html for information and examples of foot stomping cheers.)

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ADDENDUM: Sid the sience kid- Holidays



Hacked By GothD0g84, Uploaded on Dec 28, 2009

Sid talks about holidays and about tradtions and SNOW!
-snip-
The holidays that Sid talks about in this video are Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

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