The A-Z Song

Why, yes, I did catch myself mindlessly singing “The ABC Song” on my way home from school today. It’s an occupational hazard—always having a child-sized ear worm in your head. I’ve been singing the ABC’s with my Kindergarteners this week. I like to start with something they know—something familiar to make them feel at ease. But I also introduce them to a slightly different version of the ABC’s—one that comes from a Sesame Street clip where the letter Z is ready to quit the alphabet because he feels left out of “The ABC Song.” Tyra Banks is the host of the clip. She changes the song to “The A-Z Song” and simply makes the ending say, “Now I know from A to Z” instead of “Now I know my ABC’s.” That’s it. Nothing else changes. But the letter Z loves the new song…even though it’s practically the same thing. If you think about it, the letter Z has a point. “The ABC Song” includes all 26 letters of the alphabet, but the three at the beginning seem to get all the credit. Saying A TO Z, though, indicates that there is more than A and Z—that they aren’t the only two letters of the alphabet—but that they are the beginning and the end, the bookends that hold it together. In a time when language is easily accessible and words are seen as toys but then used as weapons; in a time when we must try not to say something politically incorrect; in a time when there is such sharp division that everything is already politically incorrect…words are more important than ever. How we phrase things, right down to the titles of our songs, matters. I suppose it can be argued that the letter Z was being arrogant and that changing the song to include him instead of B and C was being a bit letter-ist. I suppose it can be argued that changing tradition because the letter Z was offended was ridiculous—after all, he WAS represented in the song. There will always be arguments for both sides of an issue. I just hope that my words and my arguments will always land on the side of Christ, for in Christ we are inclusively One, and through Christ, we find the pathways to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now I know from A TO Z…next time, won’t you sing with me?