Allie's playlist

About a month ago, I kept finding Allie at the computer watching music videos on YouTube. Seriously, what am I going to do with this girl? After password protecting the computer and talking to her about how I didn't like her doing that (to which she told me, " I don't care about the videos, I just want to listen to the music"), I set her up with her own Playlist. And while she doesn't have complete control over what songs she can add, she (and consequently the other kids) has really put a lot of time into compiling her playlist. Here's what she listens to:

Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)

When Will my Life Begin? (Tangled)

The Edge of Glory (Gaga)

Dynamite (Taio Cruz)
I See the Light (Tangled)

Baby (Justin Beiber)

Firework (Katy Perry)

Hit me With Your Best Shot (Pat Benatar)

Baby One More Time (Britney Spears)

Before He Cheats

Jesus Take the Wheel (Carrie Underwood)

I'll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan)

Don't Stop Believin (Journey)

Hair (Gaga)

Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson)

Never Say Never (Beibs)

California Gurls (Katy Perry)

Black or White (MJ)
Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)

Halo/Walkin on Sunshine (Glee)

Last Friday Night (Katy Perry)

I Won't Say I'm in Love (Hercules)

Barbie Girl (Aqua)

Alone (Heart)

You're the One That I Want (Grease)

Lucky 4 You (SheDaisy)

Love Story

Picture to Burn

Our Song

Haunted

Shoulda said No (Taylor Swift)

The Circle of Life

Can't Wait to be King (Elton John)

Phantom of the Opera

Axel F

Written in the Stars (Tinie Tempah)

Viva la Vida (Coldplay)

Paparazzi (Gaga)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

At the Beginning (Anastasia)

Poker Face (Gaga)

The Boys are Back (High School Musical 3)

Single Ladies (Beyonce)

Hot and Cold (Katy Perry)

Hot and Cold (The Chipettes)

No Air (Jordin Sparks)

The Climb (Miley Cyrus)

On the Floor (J-Lo)

Price Tag (Jessie J)

Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn)

You Spin me Round (the Chipmunks)

True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)

Your Love is my Drug (Ke$ha)

My Life would Suck without You

Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)

Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis)

Because of You (Kelly Clarkson)

Favorite Girl (Justin Beibs)

Fall for You (Secondhand Serenade)

Fix You (Coldplay)

Electric Chapel (Gaga)

Landslide (Dixie Chicks)

Hotel California (Eagles)

The Final Countdown (Europe)

Shake it Up (Selena Gomez)

You are the Music in Me (HSM2)

No One (Alicia Keys)

Set Fire to the Rain (Adele)

The Middle (Jimmy Eat World)

Telephone (Beyonce and Gaga)
Tonight Tonight (Hot Chelle Rae)

Born This Way (Gaga)

Watch Me (from Shake it Up)

You and I (gaga)

Once Upon a December

Phineas and Ferb theme song

A Whole New World

Almost There

A Dream is a Wish (Disney)

Blue (da ba dee) Eiffel 65

Who Says (Selena Gomez)

Party in the USA (Miley)

and a bunch of songs from Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2.

Quite the list. And my input was fairly minimal. She wanted Teenage Dream. I said absolutely not. I let her have Born this Way, but we had a lengthy discussion about how I don't agree with everything the song is about. We talked about how you should never use "I was born this way" as an excuse. Just because you think you weren't born with musical talents or math abilities doesn't mean you shouldn't succeed anyway. We also had to have a talk about how Lady Gaga is not a person we want to look up to and emulate (she does love her Gaga), but we can appreciate how catchy her songs are.

In some ways, this goes against my better judgment, letting her be involved in popular music. But I think it's better that we have open communication about what the songs are about (as much as she is able to understand) than shielding her from them all. At least this way I still have control over what it is she is listening to.