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FeaturesApril 22, 1996

A group of music educators recently compiled a list of 42 songs that should be preserved as part of America's cultural heritage. It's a pretty diverse list: Folk songs, Christian hymns and spirituals, Hebrew songs of celebration, patriotic songs, show tunes and a lot of what I think of as driving songs...

A group of music educators recently compiled a list of 42 songs that should be preserved as part of America's cultural heritage.

It's a pretty diverse list: Folk songs, Christian hymns and spirituals, Hebrew songs of celebration, patriotic songs, show tunes and a lot of what I think of as driving songs.

"She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain," "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," all the stuff we used to sing while my father drove us to whichever part of Lake of the Ozarks we were visiting that year.

Before vacations, we were an Air Force family, and spent a lot of time driving from one base to another, usually several states apart.

Singing helped distract my brother and sister and me from the fact we were going to be trapped in the car with each other for several hours.

The distraction never lasted long enough, though; after we ran out of songs, one or the other of us usually realized someone's limb had intruded into our personal space bubbles and started whining.

Personally, I can only sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" (which I think should be on the list, along with "The Hokey-Pokey" and "Ticky-Tacky Houses") and "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" so many times before I start to get annoyed.

You might want to think twice about letting the driver sing "If You're Happy and You Know It".

Clapping your hands, stomping your feet and nodding your head simultaneously can interfere with safe driving practices.

Luckily Pop had good reflexes. And there were a lot less cars on the roads in those days.

Oh, by the way, we're Irish. You have a genetic predisposition for sappy songs if you're Irish.

"Danny Boy" is on the list. It's a very sappy song, which incidentally is not an ancient Irish love song.

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My father used to sing "Danny Boy" all the time. So did his father.

Pop can't hit the high notes like he used to, so now he whistles "Danny Boy" a lot. That and "The Isle of Capri".

My father whistles very well. My brother tries to, but he just can't do it.

I think whistling, like a lot of the songs on the list, is part of our cultural heritage that needs to be preserved. It seems to be a dying art.

There is something very comforting about hearing someone whistle or sing an old song.

Pop always sang with us while we were kids, and now we all sing while we drive.

I've abandoned "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," though. These days, my favorite driving songs tend toward tunes like "Born to Run" and "Life Is a Highway" and just about anything by the Beatles.

Except "I Am the Walrus." I hate that song.

I noticed there was no Motown on the list of 42 songs compiled by the Music Educators National Conference. It probably hasn't been around long enough.

Women love singing along with the car stereo. If there are enough of us, we'll even do harmony. I usually get stuck being a background singer, but if it's a Motown song, that's a pretty good gig.

Now if I could just learn to dance....

~Peggy O'Farrell is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.

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