Bill Harley

Coming up on the Children's Hour, Grammy-winning storyteller, author and songwriter Bill Harley joins us for a full hour of music, laughter and unforgettable stories. Bill shares stories that families love to sing along with and a powerful one from his own childhood that shows how everyday moments can shape who we become. With more than 2,500 school performances and two Grammy Awards, Bill Harley has inspired generations of kids to use their voices and

trust their ideas. Join us for a joyful, thoughtful hour with Bill Harley coming up on the Children's Hour. The Children's Hour is an independent production of the Children's Hour Incorporated, a New Mexico based non-profit. We're distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio network. It's time for the Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio. Why did the computer keep its password a secret? I don't know why! It didn't want anyone logging in on its feelings!

Kids Public Radio Tell me won't you tell me tell me why it's so grown-ups make you hurry then they go so slow Tell me won't you tell me tell me why it's true you always make me hurry then I have to wait for you I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore I don't want to wait anymore anymore don't want to wait anymore Standing at the door While you talk to Aunt Louise There's nothing to do at her house Her perfume makes

me sneeze You just go on talking You never say goodbye The sun comes up, the sun goes down I just want to die Oh, I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore When a grown-up says just a minute I have to roll

my eyes A minute's not a minute It's an hour in disguise If you want my attention and it seems you can't get through You can just remember I learned it all from you Oh, I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to wait anymore no no no I don't want to wait anymore anymore I don't want to

wait anymore I don't wanna wait anymore, anymore. I don't wanna wait anymore. You're listening to an encore edition of The Children's Hour that we recorded back in 2020, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Oh, you are tuned to The Children's Hour and our guest today is Bill Harley. He is a Grammy winning storyteller and musician and a... Dear friend of the Children's Hour, welcome back to the Children's Hour, Bill Harley. It's nice to

be here. It's been a long time. I have a feeling that the last kids I sang with are probably, I don't know, maybe they have kids of their own or something. We're past childhood for them. Well, it's great to have you back. I want to introduce everybody who's on our crew, who is with us today on Zoom. I'm Katie Stone. Who's here today? Hi, it's Eli. Hi, it's Evan. Hi, it's Luminata. Hello, I'm Isaac. Happy day, it's Maya. Hello, it's Zen. Hello, it's Amadeus.

Hi, it's Lucas. Hi, it's Octavia. I'm so glad that everyone's here to be on the show with us today to hear Bill Harley. Bill Harley, you come from far away. We're talking now on Zoom and you're also recording your end, so we sound pretty nice. I hope so, yeah. Where are you? So I live in Massachusetts and I live in a town called Seekonk, which is south, it's about an hour south of Boston, but it's actually very close to the state line of Rhode Island.

So I actually live very close to Providence, Rhode Island. I always tell people when they don't know where it is, said, if you were in New York city and you're driving to Cape Cod, where the first town you get to in Massachusetts. So you can look at the map and see us there. Right now we're in New Mexico, which is like the total opposite type of environment from where you are. Yeah, I know you guys, there's, I know I'm familiar with it because I've been

to New Mexico a bunch. I'm familiar with uh the mountains and the desert and uh it's such, it's so very different from where we live. We live about a half, I live about a half hour from an ocean beach and, our hill, don't have big mountains. There's some in Northern New England, which are not big, but it's mostly kind of rolling hills leading down to the ocean. uh And it's, we get a lot of rain here, at least much more than you do. As a matter of

fact, we a huge rainstorm yesterday. buckets and buckets. So everything is kind of flowering now. It's kind of great to see. We've got the daffodils are blooming here. So. Beautiful. That happened for us like a month ago. I know. I know you guys are way ahead of us on that. Yeah. Are there any requests from Bill Harley? I know you've all heard of Bill Harley. Can you tell me some things you might know about Bill Harley? Anyone? How about you, Eli? He's

funny. Uh oh. I guess I better be funny today. You never know. He's a storyteller. Um, and he wanted to play baseball when he was little. But what happened? Did he ever play baseball? No. I mean, he's here, but we don't, could ask him both why. I'll just wait. I want to find out what happened to me. Yeah, what did happen to him? I was just on his website. So yeah. So you saw the picture of me when I'm like four years old or three years old. Yeah, I saw that.

Yeah, I was born in Ohio, so my favorite team when I was growing up was the Cincinnati Reds. So I wanted to be a second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. But when I got to junior high school, I was playing baseball, but I couldn't hit the curveball. That's why I started to play guitar. It was either hit the curveball or play guitar. Am I correct that you have two beehives? I do. As a matter of fact, I was just... I really opened up my beehives for the first time today.

They, uh, the kind of rule of thumb for us around here is you can first look in your hives when the dandelions came out. And so I opened up one of the hives today. I was going to open up both of them, but I literally got a bee in my bonnet and all of sudden it was buzzing around and then it stung me on the neck. And so I decided I was done working with the bees for today because the bees, got I was in the hive too long. Usually they don't do that,

but one got in there with me and so it was not happy. Well, you have a dog. I do have a dog. His name is Django. We've had him for about a year now and he's a border collie. So he loves to herd. He herds everything. Mostly he likes to frisbees and tennis balls, but he'll also try to herd us too. He'll try to shove us all into one room. He's very active.

oh just recently read that Bill Harley also writes books. That's right. I do. have a series of seven books about a kid named Charlie Bumpers and it's about, Charlie's in fourth grade. And so the last one came out last year and I've got another book that um I'm editing now that's going to come out next year about a 15 year old girl who drives across the country

by herself. Uh, yeah. So I'm, working on that book. That'll come out next year. Uh, so when I'm not making up songs or performing, which I do a lot, um, I usually try to write for about an hour a day. That's one of the things I try to do. Bill, uh, I heard that you wrote a book about speed foot toads. I did. I wrote a book. I, uh, I have a friend of mine who's a science teacher and she took me out one night in spring, actually just about this time of

year. And she showed me where these, uh Eastern spadefoots breed near me and they're an endangered species around where we are. And we went out, we were out at midnight listening to these little toads. I decided it was just this amazing experience of being out at night in the middle of a rainstorm with the toads were calling, the American toads were calling, the American toads go, eee, and the spring peepers going beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And the

spadefoots go, whee, whee. And so I decided I wanted to write a book about that. And it's actually about a book about a kid who who comes to where I live from uh Arizona. And so he moves in the desert and he moves to this town and he he finds out about these toads and the land is going to get developed and where the toads live. And he decides he wants to save it. So that's the book. And it's actually um it's in a lot of school curriculums now. know

like 55,000 fifth graders in New York City read it this year. Whoa, what? I know, I know. See, what's the name of this book again? It's called The Night of the Spadefoot Toads. Fantastic. So you're a writer, you write songs as well, you write stories. You have stories coming up for the children's hour and songs, and you're with us for the whole hour. That's right. That's right. so excited. You're listening to the Children's Hour. have with us in, I would

say in the studio, but each in our own studios, Bill Harley. He's a Grammy winning storyteller and musician. And Bill, what are you going to play for us? So this is a song I wrote. was, I was whining one day and my wife and I said, Oh, I should stop whining. And my wife said, Oh Bill, everybody's a baby about something. So I wrote that down because I like that. So this is what the song that came out of it. Okay.

My sister likes her butter and noodles made in their own special way. If the butter doesn't melt like she likes it, somebody is going to pay. Her bottom lip puffs out. You see her start to shout. When she's like that, there's nothing you can say. Because everybody's a baby about something. Wah wah wah. And And you can do the wah wah wah part if you want

to join in. uh My brother has to sit by the window Every time we go to the store He doesn't want to sit in the middle He has to sit by the door As we drive down the street He screams and kicks his feet Till you can't take it anymore Here we go Cause everybody's a baby about something Don't say it doesn't matter. It just makes him feel sadder. Everybody's a baby about something, sometime. Your part.

Don't tell me that the sun is shining. I don't care cause I'm busy whining Someone scratched my uncle's new pick up Someone spilled on mom's new rug My dad got stuck in the traffic My sister died teacher lost her favorite coffee mug Grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, kids in diapers, men in pants. They all whine when they get the chance. Here we go. Everybody's a baby about something together. Wah wah wah, wah wah wah. Something makes everybody wah-ee-eye-eye.

Wah wah wah, wah wah wah. Don't say it's no big deal. That's not the way it feels. Don't say it doesn't matter. It just makes us feel better if you felt like we do. Then you'd be whining too Everybody's a baby about something Sometime... Big ending! Today on The Children's Hour, we have Bill Harley. He is a storyteller who has won two Grammy Awards for best spoken word album for children. He's received five nominations over the years.

You can also find Bill Harley in the library online. He's got several books, including the Night of the Spadefoot Toads and the Charlie Bumpers series. Bill Harley has performed in more than 2,500 schools over the years. He's been on The Children's Hour before. and we wanted to have you hear a bit of what he sounds like with a full band. This is from his CD, Down in the Backpack, Mom in the Radio, right here on the Children's Hour. getting in the something decent for once.

Every time we got somewhere to go My mom and I fight about the radio She wants her station, I want mine She says it's my car Tough luck don't whine DJ says these songs are a solid goal, but every one they play's about a million years old. One after another, on and on, and what makes it worse is my mom sings along. She sings along, and she sings. Do what a ditty, baby. My mom music drives me Baby, she don't care

Tried to get her to listen to my favorite band, she says. That's just a bunch of noise that I cannot stand. She turns her radio back to where she wants it to be. Starts to sing along. Way off key. oh My mom sings off key. Mom, please stop it. I cry, cause everybody's looking at us as we drive by. She rolls down a window, she doesn't care. I sit down in my seat, like

I'm not there. I wish I was there, when she sings. You know what I did, baby? My mom's music drives me Baby, she don't care I promise when I get older I will not be so weird I promise if I have kids I won't make them want to disappear telling you all I was in school last week walking down the hall I was with my best friend and I started humming some tune When he looks at me like I come from the womb I say what's the

matter? says what do mean man what's the matter with you? Suddenly I realize I was doing it too Oh no please help me Someone I said my mom's dumb songs are stuck in my head. That are in my head. And I'm sitting in New York.

minutes more five minutes more I promise that I'll get up in five minutes more five minutes more I swear I'll lift my head up This bed's so warm, it's really warm It's comfy and it's warm and soft This bed's too warm, it's much too warm For me to throw the covers off Outside it's cold, I know it's cold There's ice there on the windowpane It's really cold, it's much too cold I get up, I'll freeze my brain I can't get up, I can't get up I think somebody tied

me down I can't get up, I can't get up My body weighs a million pounds oh You know I know, but still I think it's awfully cruel I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I I have to go to school Five minutes more, five minutes more I swear I'll lift my head up then Five minutes more, five minutes more I promise that I'll get up From a release called Here and Gone in 60 Seconds, it's a compilation. That's our guest, Bill

Harley, with 5 Minutes More. You're listening to The Children's Hour to a show we recorded back in 2020. In the background, that's Bill playing for us. You're listening to The Children's Hour, kids public radio. We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is a production of The Children's Hour Incorporated. We're a New Mexico based non-profit organization and we're funded by listeners just like you. Learn more at childrenshour.org. The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

supports The Children's Hour. Celebrate the diverse cultures of New Mexico at nmculture.org. You're listening to an encore edition of The Children's Hour that we recorded back in 2020, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. You are listening to The Children's Hour and we are with Bill Harley, storyteller and musician in studio. We're in our studio, he's in his studio, the kids are all in their own studios at their own homes. Welcome back to The Children's

Hour, Bill Harley. It's great to be here. Could you tell us a story? I would love to tell you a story. That's my job. It's hard to believe it's my work, but this is it. Okay, so I'm going to tell you story about something that happened to me in school. By the time I got halfway through second grade at Delaware Trail Elementary School in Indianapolis, Indiana, I had been in every room in the school except for one. I had been in all the classrooms

because I was a Mrs. Elliot's little messenger. I'd been to the principal's office once on a field trip. I'd even been in the girls bathroom once on a dare. There's only one place I had never been and neither had my friends. The teachers lounge. All the other doors at Delaware child elementary school that those little narrow windows you could look through right to see them. m Not this one. There was no window and it was always shut and you can never see what

was going on there. We would walk by in second grade and we look up and there were these signs up there up high above our heads that would say, teachers lounge, staff only. We wondered what those words meant. I had to figure out what lounge meant. At first I had to sound it out, know, lo-ung, lung, lung-y, lounge, lounge, you guys said lounge. Whoa, my dad sat on a lounge chair. Do they go in there and just sit on lounge chairs? But the other words

were even more confusing. Staff only, staff, what does that mean? Well, I used to go to Sunday school and I wasn't very good at Sunday school, but they say that, you know, Moses had a staff. It was a big stick. The teachers had sticks that were going to beat us. or I was, maybe they didn't learn to read music and they would go in there staff only. They were learning to read music, but I didn't know. And neither did my friends until one day

after recess. That day on the playground, my teacher, Mrs. Elliott, my second grade teacher, she wasn't the playground monitor. It was a third grade teacher. And we were afraid of the third grade teachers. We were always afraid of the teachers in the grade above us. I don't know why they wanted that, but we always were. And so she led us in the classroom and she said, sit down. We said, okay, okay, okay. Cause we were afraid, you know, cause who

knows what they're going to do, you know? Like I remember when I went to kindergarten, And I was afraid, I was afraid and I wasn't afraid anymore. And then one day the kindergarten teacher said, don't do that. Boys and girls, if you do that in first grade, they'll break your arms. So we were always afraid of the teacher, head of us, right? So she said, sit down. So we sat down and then she said, I'm going across the hall. I want you to be very quiet until

Mrs. Elliot comes back. And so she left and we were quiet for a long time, like 45 seconds. And then we heard this, we looked and it was Warren. Warren Brennan sitting at his desk with his head on his desk, his hands covering his head. We thought, what's wrong Warren? said, he raised his head. said, I cut my hand. He cut his hand on the playground. And when he cut his hand, he looked around for Mrs. Elliott, but she wasn't there. It was just that third

grade teacher. And if he knew if he showed it to her, she'd say, too bad. I was just going to cut it off next year anyway. So he decided to wait. Now it wasn't a really bad cut, it was just a slice, you know? And he wiped the blood off, but then it came back, and then he wiped it off again, and it kept coming back, and he started to cry. Well, when we saw he was crying and there was blood, we knew when you see blood in the classroom, you can get

out of your seats. So we surrounded him. We said, let's see a warrant. And I said to Mike Newcomb, his dad was a doctor, I said, Mike, what do you think? And Mike said, if my dad says if a kid loses two pints of blood, he dies. I'm gonna die. Someone said, you're not gonna die. I'm not. No, you're gonna have to stitches. I don't want stitches. We tried to help him. Now, we knew what was supposed to happen, right? You get hurt in school, where do you go? The

nurse's office? Yeah, the nurse's office. But none of us had ever been there before. It was like seven miles away. You had to have somebody give you permission to go to the nurse's office. And then she could give you something like a Band-Aid or a cough drop or an ice cube. But someone had to go find Mrs. Elliott so she could give Warren permission to go to the nurse's office. Who was going to find Mrs. Elliott? We knew right away who should go. We knew

that Emily Hornacker should go because she was Emily Hornacker and we weren't. Emily always did everything right. She was always neat. She always got hundreds on her test. Whatever she did was the right thing to do. We said, Emily, go. She said, no. We said, why not? She said, you're not supposed to be in the hall without permission. We said, there's no way to give permission. She said, no, we have to wait. No, no, no. And then Warren

said, And Mike said, he's lost a pint. And then someone said, Emily, what if someone goes with you? And that was when everybody looked at me. Because if someone is going to be in the hall, why not Bill? He spent half the day in the hallway anyway. Mrs. Elliott was always sending me in the hallway. Not because I was a bad student. I was a good student. I always did everything I was supposed to do. It's just that after that, I did more. Yeah,

like, it was the way I was. I get into school and I do work for about three or four minutes and... And all of sudden my body would say, get up! And I'd get up and run away around. And Mrs. Elliott would say, what are you doing? I I don't know. She'd say, sit down. So I sat down. I did what I was supposed to do. But then I was up again. And Mrs. Elliott realized I couldn't stop it. And that's when I became her little messenger. Every time she had a

message to deliver, and sometimes when she didn't, she sent me in the hallway. So I knew the whole school. Bill will go, they said, Bill. And Emily said, I don't know. And Warren started to cry. And Mike said, he's lost a pint. He's going to die. And she said, OK. I said, great. We got out the door, and I started to run down the hall. And she said, stop. I said, what? She said, no running in the hall. I said, why not? She said, you might trip and hurt

yourself. I said, Emily, you sound like you're 45 years old already. She said, no. So I started to walk, stiff leg. She said, that's running. I said, no. My legs are straight. We walked by a classroom. She said, what if they see us? I stuck my head in the class. Hi, Miss Considine. She said, hi, Bill. Emily said, you know her? said, yeah, I know all the teachers. She said, what about the kindergarten teachers? I said, Emily, that's like level one. They can't kill

us anymore. We got to the office. She said, what if a grownup sees us? I said, pretend like you go to the library and you scoot by. She said, you do that? I said, every day. Finally, we got up to the door. Teacher's lounge. Staff only. We were afraid to knock on the door. We heard them laughing. I said, I wonder what they're doing in there. Emily said, they're probably preparing for their next class. I said, I don't think it's that much

fun. But now we're getting nervous, right? So what if some sense, what are you trying to do? And we say, we're trying to save our classmates life. So Emily said, knock on the door. She was so bossy. She was bigger than me and she was a bop. All the kids, all the girls in second grade were bigger than me. So I knocked on the door. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Nobody answered. We heard more laughing. Were they laughing at us? She said, you didn't knock

loud enough. Boom, boom, boom. Knock more. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I said, help. Warren's dying. There's blood everywhere. She said, open the door, open the door. I said, you open the door. She said, no. I said, Emily. Have you ever done anything you weren't supposed to do? She said, no, you're not supposed to. I said, well, today's your lucky day. Open up the door. She said, I can't. I said, you have to. She said, I don't like you. I said, that's

OK. You've got to open up the door. And there in that moment, Emily had to decide what she was going to do, what she was supposed to do, or what she needed to do. And they were different. And sometimes that happened. And so she knew, she reached up and she grabbed that doorknob, she twisted it, she pushed it open. We looked in and I went, whoa! And Emily said, oh my goodness, all of the teachers of the school were in there. It seemed like all of like

we could have escaped. And they were standing around these two long tables and there were balloons in there. And there was all these ribbons hanging all over the place, balloons hanging from the ceiling. And they were eating cake. There was this big cake on the table. And one of the teachers was licking the icing with their fingers. And there were these two empty half gallon cartons of ice cream. And the teachers were laughing. And one of the teachers, must

have been a fifth grade teacher, was standing on a chair. And people were applauding and laughing. Now I look at it I say, you know, Maybe it was her birthday. Maybe she just found out she's gonna have a baby. But back then, I thought, wait till the principal finds out about this. We're back there doing those dumb worksheets and they have a big party. And when I said, whoa, and Emily said, oh my goodness, all the faces turned and looked at

us like a cover novel. Oh, my pretty, will suck your blood out now. Mrs. Elliott walked over to us. She wasn't afraid to see me. I mean, surprised, like bills in the hallway. But Emily, she said, Emily, what are you doing here? And Emily said, Warren's dying! What? Warren cut his head and he has to go to the nurse's office and you weren't here and I said we couldn't go because we didn't have permission but they told me

I had to go and so I can't! I'm sorry! Mrs. Elliott said, honey it's okay. It is? Yes. I'll be right there you go back to class. And she shut the door on us. Well we heard more laughing. There was nothing to do but turn around and walk back to the classroom. said, I can't believe what they do. Emily said, I can't either. She's wiping her eyes. We got back to class. What do you think about Warren? He's dead. No, he was not dead. No, that's not what

this story is about. The bleeding had stopped, but he's trying to get us started again. We said, she's coming back. We sat in our chairs. She came back. She called Warren up, sent him down to the nurse's office. He came back with, cough drop and a bandaid. But here's what I want to tell you guys. The things that happen to you today, when like when I was seven or when you're nine or 11 or 13 or five, they're important because they make you who you are.

They're not in the news, but they're important. And I found that out because a couple of years ago, I went back to Indianapolis to do some school shows and I was setting up my stuff in the gym. where I do all my shows and this short woman came in. I remember she's short. And it was before school started. The kids weren't there. She said, Bill. said, yeah. She said, we're so glad you're here. I said, I'm happy to be here. I actually grew up around

here. I said, and she said, I know. I was in your second grade class. My name is Emily. And I remembered all of it. I hadn't thought of it for years. I said, Emily Hornacker? She said, doesn't know my name anymore. And I thought, that's good. She said, do you have a minute? I said, yeah. And she led me down the hallway, past the office. The kids weren't in school yet. She said, come on in. She came to a door. It's a teacher's lounge, staff only.

She opened the door and the teachers were all in there. And they said, hi. And there were balloons there. And there were donuts and there was bagels and there was all kinds of stuff. She said, we're so happy you're here. We decided to have a party. Emily Hornacker had become a teacher and I knew why. She became a teacher so she could have a party every day. And that is that. Incredible! Yay! That was a great story. Thank you. Bill

Harley, Storyteller, Grammy winner. You can go to bilharley.com and find out a lot more. I hope you'll stick around and play some more music for us. Can you play us a song, Bill? Yeah, sure. oh My dad said take a walk around the block Put on your shoes and socks take a walk around the block You're driving me crazy it's got to stop Get outside and take a walk around the block I walked out the door I walked down the street I said how to do to everybody I'm me

I got home about half past noon My dad said you're back too soon Hi dad! Hey wait a minute, what? How'd you get back so fast? I ran! I said take a walk around the block. Okay. My dad said take a walk around the town. Quit hanging around. Take a walk around the town. You're driving me crazy with your running around. Get outside and take a walk around the town. I walk by the stores. I walk by the school. By the post office in the swimming pool.

I got a home about half past one. My dad said you can't be done. I'm back. Wait a minute. What? Did you run, um, just once? When was that? Um, the whole time? My dad said, take a walk around the land. Man, oh man, take a walk around the land. You're driving me crazy and I can't stand it. Get outside and take a walk around the land. I walked to the mountains. I walked to the shore. I walked through the desert. I walked a little more. I got home

about half past two. My dad said, you cannot be too, I'm back. You did not walk around the land. Yes I did. No you didn't. Yes I did. No you didn't. Yes I did. No you didn't. Yes I did. No you didn't. No I didn't. Yes you did. What? My dad said, take a walk around the earth. Things are getting worse. Take a walk around the earth. You're driving me crazy and my head hurts. Get outside and take a walk around the earth. I walked through Asia and

Europe too. to come carry to Timbuktu. I got home about half past three. My dad said, no, it cannot be. I'm back. You did not walk around the earth. Yes, I did. The elephants were fine. They were great. That's enough of that. So are the anacondas. I said, that's enough. So are the penguins. That's enough. So are the polar bears. That's enough. So is Mount Everest. That's enough. My dad said, take a walk around the moon. Don't come back soon,

take a walk around the moon. You're driving me crazy, crazy as a loom. Get outside and take a walk around the moon. I walked past the clouds, I walked by the sky. I sat on moon, I watched earth rise. I got home about half past four. My dad said, what are you here for? I'm back. You did not walk around the moon. Yes, I did. No, you didn't. It's impossible. No, it's not, Dad. Other people have been around the moon. Not some kid in sneakers. It's impossible.

No dad, it's not impossible because it's possible. What? Yeah. See if you can do it, it's possible. If you can't do it, it's impossible. So you do something that's possible, not impossible. I did it so it's possible. It can't be impossible, impossible at the same time. That would be impossible. So it's possible and not impossible. did it. Dad, what? Can I have a cookie? My dad said, take a walk around space. Get out of my face. Take a walk through space. Driving

me crazy, running around a place. Get outside and take a walk through space. I walk by Mercury and walk by Mars. I walk by comets. I walk by stars. I got home about half past 10. My dad said, where have you been? Well, dad. I was in outer space. I can't go to outer space and come back in an hour. That would be impossible. Yeah, okay. Hey, Dad. What? Can I have a cookie now? No, it's late, it's bedtime. No, Dad, it's not bedtime, it's cookie time. No, it's late,

it's bedtime. No, it's impossible, it can't be bedtime yet. What? Yeah, because you haven't had cookie time yet. You can't have cookie time after bedtime. That would be impossible because you can't eat the cookie when you're asleep. So you have to have cookie time before bedtime, bedtime after cookie time. So you have a cookie time, you eat the cookie, then you go to bed. Can I have a cookie? Take the cookie. I love you, Dad. I love you too. Yay!

Hi everybody! Hey Bill, how you doing? Good to see ya. Hey Bill, your shoes have mud all over them. Would you mind taking them off? Oh sure, I'm sorry. Just let me undo them right here and then I'm really sorry. Oh, Bill! What's the matter? Bill, the smell is from your socks! Not these socks, I don't think so. Bill, how long have you been wearing them? Oh, four days I guess. Maybe. Wait a second. These are black socks. Black socks never get dirty. What?

Black socks, they never get dirty, the longer you wear them, the stronger they get. Sometimes I think I should wash them, but something inside me keeps saying, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet. Black socks, they never get dirty, the longer you wear them, the stronger they get. Sometimes I think I should wash them, but something inside me You're listening to The Children's Hour. guest today is Bill Harley, comedian, storyteller, author, singer, songwriter.

Is there anything the man doesn't do? We're going to find out more after the break. You're listening to The Children's Hour, kids public radio. We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is making weekly learning guides for every episode. thanks to the support of the Albuquerque Community Foundation. You can support this effort too. Go to childrenshour.org and click donate and find our learning guides under our podcast menu. Many thanks to the Outpost Performance

Space for hosting the Children's Hour. Support for the Children's Hour provided by New Mexico Arts, a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for the Children's Hour provided by the City of Albuquerque Cultural Services Department and the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund. You're listening to the Children's Hour, Bill Harley with us on the show today, coming from his studio. We're in our studio

and the kids are on Zoom. Great to have everybody here with us today. We would really love to talk with you a little bit, Bill, about all the different things that you do, all the different things that you've been in studying and researching about you. You've written so many books. and you've won the Grammy twice and you've been married a really long time to a super nice lady and you've just been a huge influence on kids lives for, I mean, hate to tell you

this, but for like decades now. I've been doing this for 40 years. It's unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah. When did you first start playing your music? Well, when I was a kid, I took piano lessons when I was in elementary school. those piano lessons where it's like, did you practice today? That kind of stuff. um And so I learned something about music then. And when I was in junior high school and high school, I played trumpet. But then at the end of high school,

I started to play piano again. And when I went to college, that was when I got a guitar. My freshman year in college, I got a guitar. And I immediately started to write songs when I was doing that. um And so I was performing. And I played in a band. played in a rock and roll band when I was in college. But I also started to perform and I also started uh to sing with kids and families. My friends and I, one of them is Debbie, my wife, uh started

a day camp for kids. And I was the guy at the end of the day when everybody was sick of the kids and the kids were sick of the counselors. They'd say, see Bill. And so for uh the last 25 minutes of the day, um I would sing some songs, would be a dozen songs that I taught everybody that we would sing. And I had two or three stories. So that was when I really started to get interested in what happens when you tell a story or when you sing a song with

people that are with together, you know. um And I didn't do it right away for job, but I always performed. How many kids do you have and if you do, how many? Yeah, I have uh two sons. uh and they're both grown. They're in their thirties. Their names are Noah and Dylan and uh they both play music. They're both songwriters and they write. They're really good songwriters,

but they do other things for work. My older son Noah is a translator. He translates books from German and Spanish into English and my younger son Dylan has done a bunch of different

things, but he's an arborist now. He works with trees and so that's But they also they play music so and when they were growing up, you know My job was a little bit weird, but at least they understood it It was like and they would you know, their friends were saying oh my gosh, you're dad's Bill Harley and they were like He's just a dad really But at least they understood what I did sometimes, you know parents go to work and kids are like, I don't

know They just kind of go out there. I don't know what they do and then they come home again But my kids knew what my kids knew what I did, you know, cuz they heard about it from their friends in a sea of children's artists who write songs and write books, how do you feel that you make yourself uh unique? And how do you come up with titles for books? Almost every time I write a book, I have a fight with the publisher about what they want to call the

book and what I want to call the book. And I usually lose because the marketing of the book is very important. But a long time ago, when I started to perform, I went to work with a director. And he looked at my work because I felt like I wasn't good enough. And he said, well, you're not a virtuoso, you know? And he said, that's okay. He said, your job is not to be the best. Your job is to be the only. You have to find a way to say things

in a way that's unique to you. um And you need to develop your skills so that you can say those things that you want to say. And when you do those things, then you'll find your voice, which is the way you say things in a way that nobody else does. And there's people who have, you know, a bigger vocabulary than I do, or they're better singers or they're

better guitar players, or they're better at plotting, like all those things. There's always somebody that's better than you at one thing, but there's not really anybody that's better than I am at being me. We're talking with Bill Harley. He is a singer, storyteller, songwriter, novelist, funny guy, and here he is. I'm desperate, I'll do anything. He'll do it all. And here he is on the Children's Hour, and he's in his studio. We're in ours, and the kids are on

Zoom. Bill, will you play one more song for us? Yeah, sure. I've got a sister, she is nine. She likes to argue all the time. What's more, unfortunately, she likes to argue most with me. If I say black then she says white. If I say day then she says night. My mom says why can't you agree I say it's her fault. Don't blame me. Is not is to. Is not is not is to is to is not is not is not is not is to is to is to. No matter what I say or do it seems

that I just can't get through. I tell her something's wrong with you. She never sees my point of view. I yell it loud so she can hear. I yell it loud into her ear. I could yell all day and night. She won't see what I say is right is not is to is not is not is to is to is not is not is not is not is to is to to. One day I guess we went too far when we were yelling

in the car. When we got home my mother said the two of you were right to be. From my room I heard her call My sister talking through the wall It's all your fault we're stuck inside Here we go again I cried Is not, is too Is not, is not, is too Is not, is not, is not Is not, is too, is too, is too My mom said, you too drive me bats I said, go tell my sister that She said, no, it takes both of you. Two are you, just the way you do. If you won't

listen, you are bound. To watch your fight go round and round instead of saying is not his due. Why don't you both say something new? Fine. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Uh uh uh It's not, it's too, it's not, it's not, it's too, too, too, too, too, too, too, it's too, it's too, too, it's too, too, too, it's it's too, it's it's it's too, it's too, too, too, All right. Thank you. Yay. Bill Harley on the Children's Hour. Thank you for being with us.

Bill Harley. Learn a lot more about him at BillHarley.com. And we're going to play a little more from recorded Bill Harley. This one is a sing along. Won't you sing along with us? know you're

a little bit nervous, aren't you? It's alright, we'll get through this. From early in the morning to when the stars all shine I have got a song in this head of mine Sometimes I sing it softly Sometimes right out loud Sometimes when I'm all alone Sometimes in a crowd I like to sing Open up my mouth the song comes out I raise my voice Make a joyful noise and sing. Now got a part for you. It's very simple. It's so simple there aren't even

any words. They're just sounds. It's so simple that even an adult can sing it. I know that sounds funny, but I want to tell you I've noticed something. That if you ask a bunch of kids who here can sing, they all raise their hands. See, there you go. You ask a bunch of 45 year olds who here can sing, they don't raise their hands. What's that about, you know? They forgot how. I don't know why, you know? Or they sing in the car with their windows rolled up and

nobody's watching. Actually, you see them driving down the road. So I said maybe the parts are just too hard for them. So what if they came up with a real simple part that even an adult could sing? So I came up with a part I think you guys can handle. I sing, I like to sing. You go la la la la. That's all I want. I don't even care if it's in tune. don't really care. Alright? Let's try that, alright? I like to sing la la la la. That was excellent.

Most excellent. As a matter of fact, it was so good we'll move on to the second lesson in singing recovery. We'll add a little rhythm just to kind make it a work song, alright? You go la la la la and then go huh! I like to sing la la la la. That's very cool. Open up my mouth, the song comes out, I raise my voice. Yeah, I wanted you to sing on that too. Right there. I know you were afraid to sing. Some of you were thinking about singing,

weren't you? You thought, oh maybe I'm supposed to sing. But maybe I better not, because what if I sang and I wasn't supposed to? They'll probably kick me out or something. Okay. I raise my voice, la la la la. That sounds so cool. Make a joyful noise and sing Well when I was a baby on my mama's knee Everybody worried what was wrong with me Cause I would scream my head off, do it all day long But I was only practicing my little baby song I like

to sing Make a... Open up, let some song come out I raise my voice Make a joyful noise and sing Well I've got some vocal cords I've got a pair of lungs I've got a great big mouth That's where I keep my tongue They all work together When I tell them to Cause there's nothing I like better than to sing this song for you I like to sing Open up my mouth, the song comes out, I raise my voice Make a joyful noise and sing Okay, we got one more verse

and chorus and now we're gonna do a little test Little non-standardized test for the adults Goodness knows there's enough testing for children I think we need do some more testing for adults, don't you think? Alright? So, kids. Alright? The first time we come to the La La La's trip, please, please, just try to be quiet for once in your life and let the adults sing, okay? Alright? And let's see how they do. And then on the second La La La's, adults, could you

please try to be quiet for once in your life and we'll see how the kids do, okay? But there's no poking of the children, I'm sorry. Alright. I know. What's the point? Alright. Okay. Is that enough directions for you? That's enough directions for me. Glad you're doing it. Here we go. Well every creature's got a song Listen you will hear Whales out on the ocean Mosquitoes in your ear Coyotes in the canyon Dolphins in the sea Hooting, howling, buzzing, growling

One big symphony they like to sing oh Whoa! was great! Okay kids Open up their mouths, a song comes out, they raise their voice. Make a joyful noise and sing. Everybody, they like to sing. Open up their mouths, a song comes out, they raise their voice. Make a joyful noise and sing. That's award-winning storyteller, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and author Bill Harley. And you can learn a lot more about him at billharley.com. We're going to go out with one more. This is

from a super fun CD by Bill Harley and Keith Munzlow, also a funny guy. The CD is called It's Not Fair to Me. This is swimming. We'll catch you next time for another edition of The Children's Hour. Bye When the pavement burns the soles of my feet Temperatures rising and I can't take the heat Don't you know There's a place I like to go When the sun is climbing high in the sky No shade around and I think I might die and there's a place, puts a smile on my face.

Talking about swimming, swimming in the water Diving like a dolphin, splashing like an otter Might be an ocean, might be a pool Might be a puddle, just as long as it's cool I got to jump in, I got to get my oh rump in Could be a pond or a river that flows Could be a bathtub, you know it could be a hose It doesn't matter As long as it's water It gets me so high to dive solo Playing water tag Marco? Hey, Marco? Did you guys get out? Where are you? I'm jumping in with the big belly

fly You better watch out, you're gonna get sopped. I ain't joking. No, no. You're gonna be soaking. Sometimes you know I stay in all afternoon. And I get out my body looks just like a broom. But that's OK. I'm happy that way. Talking about swimming, swimming in the water Diving like a dolphin, splashing like an otter

Children's Hour is produced by The Children's Hour, Inc., a New Mexico non-profit. You can find photos, playlists, learning guides, and activities for every episode at childrenshour.org. This episode of The Children's Hour was written and produced by me, Katie Stone, with production help from Bill Harley, Sarah Gabrielli, Daniel Lentz, and Mackenzie Gronke. Amber Scheele writes our learning guides, and you can find this one at childrenshour.org. Look for Bill

Harley. Find our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or go to our patreon.com slash The Children's Hour. Or ask your smart speaker to play The Children's Hour podcast. Our theme music was written by C.K. Barlow. The Children's Hour is distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio network. Thanks for listening to The Children's Hour, kids' public radio.