Return to Pooh Corner With Kenny Loggins

Years ago, I recall my dad presenting me with a CD containing the song House at Pooh Corner. I’d never heard the song before, and I loved the hard-rockin’ tune with the gentle lyrics as performed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. After all, I am a big fan of the Silly Old Bear. It was quite some time before it occurred to me that if I liked the song so much, I should have a look at the singer-songwriter who penned it one melancholy day as he was teetering on the edge of adulthood. That’s what brought me to Kenny Loggins’ Return to Pooh Corner. Like Art Garfunkel’s Songs From a Parent to a Child, it’s a wonderful collection of lullabies for children to absorb along with their parents.

All the Pretty Little Horses - I have to chuckle a little bit because the song that opens Garfunkel’s album is Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet? I guess “pretty little” things are pretty popular with little folks! This Celtic-flavored track includes some poignant-sounding harmonies on the chorus and a smattering of intriguing instrumentation. A sweet song encouraging a reluctant child to sleep. “Can you see the little ponies shinin’ before your eyes? All the pretty little ponies gonna be there when you arrive.”

Neverland Medley: Somewhere Out There / Never Never Land / Pure Imagination - This medley includes songs from three different whimsical musicals: Don Bluth’s An American Tail, the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. All three are great songs that have to do with far-off places, but my favorite is definitely Somewhere Out There, one of my all-time favorite duets, which in the context of the movie applies to a brother and sister who have lost each other but is general enough that it really can have to do with any two people who care about each other but are separated by a great distance. “Even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star. And when the night wind starts to sing its lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we’re sleeping underneath the same big sky.”

Return to Pooh Corner - This is essentially House at Pooh Corner with an extra verse added to make it a little less melancholy, a little more about passing the wonder of childhood on to the next generation. Loggins is no longer that conflicted high school kid reluctant to put away childhood things; he’s the dad who knows what carefree joys await his own children and anticipates getting caught up in the magic with them. Instead of Peter, Paul and Mary’s forlorn Puff the Magic Dragon, it now reminds me of Dick Feller’s more optimistic Biff the Friendly Purple Bear. A loving tribute to the timeless Pooh and his plush pals, and Christopher Robin, too. “After all’s said and done, I was watching my son sleeping there with my bear by his side. So I tucked him in, I kissed him, and as I was goin’, I swear that old bear whispered, ‘Boy, welcome home.’”

Rainbow Connection - A lovely banjo-backed cover of the classic Kermit the Frog anthem about chasing your dreams. The second track on the album to mention wishing on stars, and a great one for those who dare to yearn for the seemingly impossible. “Have you been half-asleep, and have you heard voices? I’ve heard them calling my name. Are these the sweet sounds that called the young sailors? I think they’re one and the same. I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it; there’s something that I’m supposed to be…”

St. Judy’s Comet - Birdsong contributes to this tender Paul Simon cover, which Loggins sings with an interesting tone in a seeming effort to imitate Simon’s own delivery. Another song encouraging a sleepy child to embrace slumber, using plenty of imagery of the night sky to paint a magnificent picture of the backdrop to a dreamscape. “Won’t you run come see St. Judy’s Comet roll across the sky, leave a spray of diamonds in its wake? I long to see St. Judy’s Comet sparkle in your eyes.”

The Last Unicorn - Written by Jimmy Webb, who wrote several songs recorded by Garfunkel, this haunting song is backed by piano, and it has a very wistful edge to it. Originally performed by America, this was the theme song of the Rankin-Bass movie of the same name. As somebody who grew up with the Irish Rovers’ rendition of Shel Silverstein’s The Unicorn, which details how the unicorns were so preoccupied with their own frivolity that they never made it onto Noah’s Ark, I can’t help thinking that this seems like a response to that – that somehow, a unicorn survived and still lurks in some enchanted corner of the world. “In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn, they will stare, disbelieving, at the last unicorn.”

Cody’s Song - The first song on the album that I had never heard before. I still have never encountered this in another context. It’s a nice song, and I love the extended harmonica solo, but it doesn’t quite grab me as much as most of the others. “I’ll be there to sing to you. I promise you, I promise to comfort you and sing to you.”

The Horses - This is the other song I haven’t encountered anywhere other than this album. I’m a little surprised he didn’t save this one for last, since it would make such a nice bookend with the first song, although it’s slightly more up-tempo than most of the songs on this disc, and I suppose he wanted to end on a strict lullaby. I really like the harmonica on this one, and there’s a nice dreamlike quality to it. “Can you see her moonlight in her eye? Coming from under my wing, you were born to fly.”

Love - A nice, simple song by John Lennon, who had a special talent for effective minimalism in his lyrics. Sometimes, you just don’t need a lot of complexity. Love can be complicated, but at its most basic, it’s really not. The ocarina adds a haunting quality to this gentle song that works very well as a lullaby, with the extended piano outro tenderly lulling the listener into sleep. “Love is you, you and me. Love is wanting to be free. Love is knowing we will be.”

To-Ra-Loo-Ra - As into Ireland as I am – my name, after all, almost requires it – I’m very much in favor of this track, which includes some gorgeous work on the Celtic harp. Lyrically, it’s little else than that classic Irish title phrase, but really, what else is needed? Delicate and perfectly lovely. “To-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra, that’s an Irish lullaby…”

Return to Pooh Corner is a tender album for children and for children who never grew up, or who did but found themselves growing back down once, as C. S. Lewis said, they became old enough to start reading fairy tales again. Return to Pooh Corner with Kenny Loggins; it’s a good place to be.