Fenn, Bess, and Tom Rosenthal

 

Tom is an idiosyncratic singer/songwriter that doesn't take himself or his work too seriously. His work can be described as quirky pop songs. From his song about "Watermelon," to his cover of Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious," to his song where he counts up to the number "157," there is a lot of fun to be had in listening to Tom's music. 

There's a lot of truth and heartfeltness in there too though. "There is a Dark Place" and "We're All a Bit Scared" are my personal anthems for this pandemic life. And of course, there's his very serious ballad of ultimate friendship entitled, "Jim and Dwight."

He lives in London and often collaborates with other indie artists to make wacky and fun music videos. Most notably, he collaborates with his daughters Bess and Fenn to make silly and wholesome music. For Tom, this emphasis on fun is an integral part of his creative process. In an interview, Tom said, "I was determined not to let fatherhood make me too serious… but now it's even more important to keep writing 'silly' songs." While Tom works on the piano, the lyrics and vocals are created by Bess and Fenn. Together, they even created an EP, "They're Awake!" Recently, Fenn's song "Dinosaurs in Love" has gotten a lot of attention-- so much so that this four-year-old has published a children's book with her father. You can buy it as a holiday gift for friends and relatives here. 

We have focused a lot of time on very serious creatives in class. Those who have changed entire fields; changed the world. Those with serious trauma and whose work aligns with such deep and serious exploits. But not all good or even Big Creativity has to be that way. As a society, we often put a much higher (maybe over-exaggerated) value on things with deep intense meaning as compared to fun and silliness. Sadly, part of this bias also discourages children from interacting with creative work and identifying as creative people. What we value sends a message to children about who they should be and if we value who they are. 

If we want more creative people in the world, and I think most of us do, we have to encourage creativity in children. That seems obvious, but creative media for children is often dumbed-down or not "really creative." Tom's music is not for children per se, it's for "all the humans," but he wants his music to be able to appeal to kids too. Part of restricting the audience of what is "meant for kids" means that they only see what falls into that label. Not every kid is going to or should experience all creative media, but the segregation of that media has gone a little too far. And the creativity of the media that children get to be exposed to suffers for it. 

Even more than that, we need to start valuing children's creativity more. Our emphasis on the restrictive qualifications of Big-C, and all of the renown that comes with it, means that children can never see themselves as a valued part of that story. I think if you listen to Fenn's "Dinosaurs in Love" you will agree that this is an awesome creative work. Part of that comes out of a mentality and a family culture that allowed her to see herself and her creativity as valued just as much as an adult or an eminent creative would be. 

Children are awesome. Children are weird. And children are creative… sometimes more than any of us adult people. We don't tell them this enough. In fact, most of what we do tells them otherwise. Let creative work be fun and silly. Let children experience it. And let them know that we care about the creative things they do and create just as much as we value the adults that align with our eminent biases. 

Then dance a little bit, because that's fun and no one is looking (I promise).