One of the songs on an Alan Root recording caused a great deal of discussion around the dinner table. Alan Root is a Christian minister and children's performer and subscribes to a young earth, seven day understanding of the creation of the universe. Here are the lyrics to his song, "Chicken Soup."
Chicken Soup (words and music by Alan Root)*
In the beginning so the scientists say
The planet was covered with soup
According unto them it started up when
The seas were sort of like slimy green goop
That became DNA so the storybooks say
Nobody really knows how
Single cell creatures kept finding new features
Til your great-grandfather climbed out
But you can't make a chicken from soup
Chickens didn't come from any slimy green goop
You can make soup from any chicken in the coop
But you cannot make a chicken from soup
Atheists say long ago and far away
Everybody used to be fish
Then we landed on the land and - ala ka zaam
Promoted to potatoes with a satellite dish
The Bible says the foolish man doesn't fear God
Time to look around and get a clue
It takes more resolution to believe in evolution
Than the seven day story that's true
But you can't make a chicken from soup
Chickens didn't come from any slimy green goop
You can make soup from any chicken in the coop
But you cannot make a chicken from soup
In the history of science and a civilized world
No new critters have advanced
No matter what you think we're missing missing links
Chromosomal language couldn't happen by chance
Einstein said God doesn't role dice
Your future is determined by your past
Either you're the masterpiece of a master-mind
Or the accident of hydrogen gas
But you can't make a chicken from soup
Chickens didn't come from any slimy green goop
You can make soup from any chicken in the coop
But you cannot make a chicken from soup
In our household, I was a proponent of theistic evolution as a means of creation. In other words, I believe that God did create the universe and He used evolution to accomplish this. I agree with many scientists who would say that the earth is about 4.5 billion years old and that the universe is about 13.75 billion years old. So we had conversations at the dinner table which discussed why this song was written, what it was talking about, and various theories and ideas of how our universe came to be. The statement with which we would often conclude was, "How the world was created is not as important as the fact that the Bible tells us who created the world. In the beginning, God created."
I like much of the song-writing of Alan Root and even his "Chicken Soup" song is clever and humorous. It was a great discussion starter in our family. However, I would encourage us all to look at the songs we are singing with our kids and investigate what they are really teaching. Are they encouraging our kids to think for themselves and search after the truth of God? We want children to grow into adults who are self-feeders who will search for truth themselves rather than simply agree with whatever the person at the front of the church, university class, concert-hall, or the person on the You-Tube video says to them.
*Lyrics transcribed from www.alanroot.com audio. Listen to it here.
6 comments:
My daughters reminded me that the words to this song have changed from when they used to listen to it as kids. Bethany says that she remembers the words to be these:
"Long, long ago, so the scientists say, the world was covered with soup
(Something here? Can't remember)...The seas were full of this protein gloop
And it became DNA, so the scientists say, when the sun hit the soup and it cooked.
Then fishes, then birds, then us, my word! This is written in most of our books.
But you can't make a chicken from soup
Though scientists tells us that it must be true
You can make soup... From any chicken in the coop
But you cannot make a chicken from soup!
Old Uncle Fred and Larry next door, they think that they were monkeys long ago
Well not monkeys but apes, what a difference it makes,
when you're preaching and teaching what you really don't know.
Suddenly a thought hits you right in your head, "How does Darwin do what he do?"
It takes more resolution to believe in evolution than the seven day story that's true.
'Cause you can't make a chicken from soup
Though scientists tells us that it must be true
You can make soup... From any chicken in the coop
But you cannot make a chicken from soup!"
She also says,
"I don't think there were any other verses or bridge or anything, but I can't remember for sure. I think this is like the "kids" version and now he's rewritten it for an older crowd... And yes, I have a song virus!!!!"
I would like to hear that original song that I hear when I was kid. I think it was better
The missing line is:
Don't laugh at these men they claim back then the seas were full of this protein gloop.
I like the original song better.
Excellent, thanks for your help. We eventually bought a cassette tape of this song and then passed it on to another family. We too would like to be able to hear the original song. It seems that Alan Root has made his song more philosophical/academic and less fun. Maybe one day someone will put the original up on YouTube.
Stop going around the real truth, god didnt create the universe, god does not exist or ever existed.. Hearing this songs make me sick because you are teaching "brain washing" stuff that doesnt make sense.. If they are smart enough, one day when they gather real facts and get their education completed, they will realize how much time they lost going to church.
It makes me sad to hear that you think that good conversation around the family dinner table discussing multiple ideas about how the universe came to be is brain-washing. A fun song like this opens the door to great discussion that allows us all to think about what we believe. It helps to expose our biases in any particular direction. We had some marvelous times around the dinner table thinking about philosophical ideas in a fun way and when our children grew up and got an education they were able to think things through, weigh the evidence, consider philosophical and theological concepts, and come to conclusions on such issues. It is a great thing to have a loving family context in which to explore ideas. I hope that you too may experience this.
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