Toddler Hiway
Toddler Hiway
The words in this post will greatly outnumber the words in this 25 second song.
Toddler HiWay is a short song. Twenty-five seconds of John Flansburgh and John Linnell using only their voices (get out of here instruments!) and 38 words, create a whimsical piece of music that paints a picture of early childhood joy. Pictures, being worth a thousand words, I guess put this song at a 1,038 words value?
Toddler Hiway is a no-skip song for me, if not only for the fact that by the time I get to the skip button, the song is over. Very clever guys! The foresight they had that there would even BE a skip button when they wrote this.
The song is a brief gift that comes and goes like an Easter Lilly on a Pacific Northwest hike (I’m assuming, I don’t hike. There are BEARS out there.) Considering its short life span, let’s take a look at this track, lyric by lyric.
In the mornin' sun 'round seven o'clock
The parking lot fills around Toys-Я-Us
Up until my teenage years, I would go with my grandma to Toys-Я-Us on my birthday. She’d take me through the entire store and I could get one big thing or a couple smaller things, but basically pick out my present from her out of the entire store. I only recall a few of my picks, mostly He-Man figures for a while, then Ninja Turtles, Nintendo games. The trip itself was the present for me truly. This line reminds me of those days with my grandma. Waking up on my birthday and knowing that I’m going to spend the day with Grandma and also go to Toys-Я-Us.
And my little girl, she will get away
Parents; have you taken your small kids to a toy store or a store with a toy aisles? A primal urge overtakes them and they have to look at and touch EVERYTHING. It’s pure unfettered joy. THRILLS. They get to that section and take the fuck OFF. As they get older, they’ll ask if they can go to the section ahead of you and you’ll remember that the guy who hosted America’s Most Wanted had his son kidnapped from the toy section of a Wal-Mart in Florida and you’ll tell them “no” and go with them until they’re 14 or 15 and you’ve learned to chill out, they’ll be fine.
Ride her bike down Toddler Hiway
While birthday toy shopping with my grandma, I would always see a lot of kids in the bike aisle. Little kids hopping on those Big Wheel tricycles and riding around those aisles. I learned to read at a fairly early age. Better than any kids I knew in Kindergarten for sure. I never got on those bikes to ride around the store because I could read the signs that said not to do that. It wasn’t allowed. I remember actually thinking as a 6 year old, that those parents must not be able to read like I can. The bike aisle was like a block party. Wanton disregard for store-written signs or the safety of kids’ grandmas. Anyway, this lyric is how his little girl made her get-away.
Take your Close'n'Play
Honesty time. I’ve never looked up these lyrics until writing this today. I have always sang this lyric as, “Take your clothes and play.” Yes, if you’re a kid and you want to go play, be sure to take your clothes. Really, I thought this lyric was eluding to how kids want to go play so badly that parents have to remind them that they have to get dressed FIRST. Today, I have learned that the lyric is “Close’n’Play,” which is a record player for kids from the 70’s. I had one of these in the very early 80’s. If you’re going to join in on the bike aisle lawless tailgater, don’t forget to grab a Close’n’Play for some tunes and head on over to the -
Toddler HiWay
Whether my interpretation of this song is accurate or not, these are the thoughts and feelings it summons from within during the brief 25 seconds that it fills the space around me. It’s nostalgia and fun harmonies are not worth a skip on that player. How do you feel about this track? What does it make you think of? How many He-Man figures did you own? Tell me about it! Leave a comment.
I, too, thought the line was, "take your clothes and play." Never really formed a hypothesis about it, though, just thought it wS weird.