My Planet, Your Planet

The song "My Planet, Your Planet" is the opening song of our new musical revue also called My Planet, Your Planet. But as with most of the songs in our revues, it can definitely be used outside of that venue for any application you need.

We publish an all-school musical revue every year in Music K-8 magazine, starting in the first issue. Typically, you will find a tune or two in each of the first three issues so that by the time you get all three, you have the whole revue in your hands. (The Teacher's Guide, reproducible poster/program cover, and script - if one is indicated - will appear in the third issue.)

This year, by popular demand we might add, we have decided to focus on the environment. This topic has been heating up (so to speak) for a while now, and it's been a long time since we published our first revue that had the same focus. Every Day Is Earth Day was, in fact, our very first revue in our very first issue of our very first year - Volume 1, Number 1 - 18 years ago! (And yes, you can still get it. It continues to be quite popular. Check out MusicK8.com for more information.) Of course, over the years, we have continued to offer many, many pieces of music that celebrate and honor our one and only planet earth. But as attention has come around globally once again to the issues facing us all, the time seemed right to bring this subject across the curriculum through a new musical revue. As always, we highly recommend that you let your fellow teachers and school know that you have this terrific resource at the ready for any and all schoolwide purposes.

The song that opens the revue is a very pleasant, easy to listen to, fun to sing tune. As you will hear on our Performance/Accompaniment recording, the opening vocal lines can be sung as solos. We used four soloists for each of the four phrases of the first two verses. You could use one or two instead, or just let all students sing. On the D.S., we had all singers join in, but you certainly could continue the solos if you wanted to. However you do it, let students listen to the style and energy that our singers use. There is a certain enthusiasm and determination in their delivery, which is perfect for the content of the words.

Other than the optional solos, the song is mostly in unison throughout. One exception occurs in the second ending just before the chorus at measure 31. The other is at the end of the song. The divisis indicated are optional.

Most of the tune is broken into natural phrases for breathing. However, at measure 35, it is suggested that students try to sing the entire phrase (about four bars) in one breath. If this is difficult for some of them, let them stagger their breathing. The goal is to create a smooth, uninterrupted phrase at that point.

We would be remiss if we didn't mention the superb performance of our always wonderful musicians on the recording. We are especially keen to mention our soprano saxophonist, Jim Farrelly. Jim has been with us since that first issue and that first revue. And as you can hear, he's still one of the finest players on our planet.