I have said for many years, “If you are in a bad mood, go watch a tyke game, it will change your day.” I could now change my saying to, “If you are in a bad mood, watch a tyke game, AND listen to On Hockey Days” by Raffi.”
On Hockey Days perfectly captures that same essence of youthful fun and innocence that I love when watching young children play hockey. On Thursday last week, I felt like I was reliving a part of my childhood when I spoke to the Canadian icon, singer, songwriter, and activist, Raffi. Raffi was as much a part of my childhood as the rink, which is to say I listened to Raffi all the time. This apparently makes me a Baby Beluga grad – I grew up listening to Raffi and now I’m an adult with children of my own. So, you can imagine my surprise and excitement to learn that I would get a chance to talk to him about his new song, recently released in both Canada and the US.
While the song will appeal to everyone, true to Raffi’s form, it will be especially popular with younger hockey players . Just watching the video brought a smile to my face as I remembered the excitement, good will, fun, and fairplay that were a part of my sons’ first years in hockey. When I asked Raffi why, after all of these years, he chose now to write a hockey song, his response was quick and easy, “for the love of hockey, of course!”
When you listen to the song you will pick up through the lyrics that Raffi is promoting fun and respect. Raffi tells me that respect is the key to a healthy society, that respect of course starts in the family, but can also be practiced in society and can be taught through sport. Respect, Raffi says, is about honouring our young. Raffi does not take honouring our young lightly. He is the founder for the Centre for Child Honouring that calls for the universal respecting of earth and child. After all, Raffi tells me, an earth friendly world is a child friendly world.
I encourage you to have a listen/watch of Raffi’s new song, “On Hockey Days”, and to purchase a copy from itunes as proceeds from sales go towards the Centre for Child Honouring. I’ll bet, like me, you’ll have a smile on your face, and your toe will be tapping along. It’s the perfect song to add to your child’s hockey playlist. And for those of you who grew up, as I did, listening to Raffi, I asked him if he had any advice for hockey moms. His response? “Let’s keep our sticks on the ice and skate to the spirit of a new song”.
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