No tv show pounded more at my adolescent heartstrings than the 80’s big tv hit –The Wonder Years. I wore out the soundtrack to the show which contains today’s featured song – Teach Your Children. I always had a soft spot for it since I enjoyed the melody and country flavoured sound complemented with the soft harmonies. Also the lyrics resonated with me as a youngster and the cyclical nature of Teach Your Children to become Teach Your Parents in the latter chorus. As if the baby boom generation must teach their parents about the way the world should be ie the new left from the Vietnam war. Anyway, it’s a lesson for parents and for their children.
Most of the following was extracted and abridged from the Wikipedia reference below:
Graham Nash (image inset) wrote it in 1968 when he was still with the Hollies although they performed it as a group in the studio. Nash left the group in 1968 to co-form Crosby, Stills & Nash, though he has reunited with the Hollies on occasion. Teach Your Children was initially recorded for the album Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, but a much more enhanced version of the song was recorded for their album Déjà Vu released in 1970 (see below). The song peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard.
Nash, who is also an accomplished photographer associated the song’s message with a famous 1962 photo by Diane Arbus, Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, shortly after writing the song. The image, which depicts a child with an angry expression holding the toy weapon, prompted Nash to reflect on the societal implications of messages given to children about war and other issues.
‘…The kid was only about nine or ten years old, but his expression bristled with intense anger. He had a plastic grenade clenched in a fist, but it seemed to me that if it were real the kid would have thrown it. The consequences it implied startled me. I thought, ‘If we don’t start teaching our kids a better way of dealing with each other, humanity will never succeed.’
The recording features Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) on pedal steel guitar. Garcia taught himself how to play the instrument during his tenure with the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He said in an interview that he recorded a series of pieces on the steel guitar and spliced them together in the studio to create the backing and solo. Garcia had made a deal that in return for his playing steel guitar on “Teach Your Children” CSNY would help members of the Grateful Dead improve their vocal harmony for their upcoming albums, Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty.
[Verse 1]
You, who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so, become yourself
Because the past, is just a goodbye
[Chorus]
Teach, your children well
Your father’s hell, did slowly go by
And feed, them on your dreams
The one they pick’s, the one you’ll know by
[Post-Chorus]
Don’t you ever ask them why
If they told you you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you
[Verse 2]
And you of tender years (Can you hear and do you care?)
Can’t know the fears (And can you see?)
That your elders grew by (We must be free)
And so please help (To teach your children)
Them with your youth (What you believe in)
They seek the truth (Make a world)
Before they can die (That we can live in)
[Chorus]
Teach, your parents well
Their children’s hell, will slowly go by
And feed, them on your dreams
The one they pick’s, the one you’ll know by
References:
1. Teach Your Children – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Love this song. 🎶 it’s timely right now.
Hey there Holly! My appreciation for it now, is not what it once was, but it’s pretty darn good. Thanks for chiming in.
Thank for the great post.
That’s so kind of you. Have a great day!
You too!
Garcia really helped this track come to life with that pedal guitar he just was learning at the time. That was a great trade off between the bands. I love this song…it’s so beautiful. I’ve never heard the Hollies version…I need to check it out.
I also need to rewatch The Wonder Years…I haven’t seen it since the 80s.
I had no idea until researching the article that Garcia was involved and I liked his bartering for their services as you mentioned.
It is a great song and when I learnt as well the Hollies released a live version in the 80’s, I’m going to listen to it now.
Although a huge fan of the show ‘Wonder Years’ in my teens I also haven’t seen it since it was everywhere in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I’ll never forget first hearing Donovan’s incredible ‘Catch The Wind’ in the fantastic episode called ‘Bright Wind’. The end of the episode is about the best scene I’ve seen on TV.
I can’t begin to tell you the musical journey that led me down. Hehe. Great show and the soundtrack was something else!
Unlike the TV series, which I don’t believe was shown in Germany, I’m well familiar with “Teach Your Children.” I’ve always loved the song’s sound, especially that beautiful pedal steel guitar and the marvelous harmony vocals. CSNY’s “Déjà vu” takes me all the way back to the beginning of my music journey as an 8-year-old in Germany. It was one of the vinyls my six-year older sister owned. Great memories…
I didn’t see your comment until now. Re. the Wonder Years show I’ll send the last scene of one episode they did called ‘Bright Wind’ featuring Donovan’s song.
I wished I had highlighted how monumental Garcia’s pedal guitar was in this song as Max alluded. That’s why I have you guys here lol The fact you remember your age recalling this record is something else. I suppose also you have your sister to thank for. Your sharing of recollections as always is wonderful:
I’m definitely grateful to my sister. The interesting thing is she likely didn’t even realize what kind of impact her music listening habits had on me at the time. She was a 14-year-old teenager playing records in her room with her door closed, but the volume was high enough that I could easily hear everything.
In addition to “Déjà Vu,” my sister (unknowingly) introduced me to gems like Carole King’s “Tapestry” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” not to mention Santana, America and Simon & Garfunkel via corresponding greatest hits compilations – all music I love to this day!
Oh, yes your sister had a profound influence on your musical appreciation which continues to this day. I’m glad the volume was sufficiently high that you could take it all in! Hehe. Thanks for sharing your charming recollections friend.
That’s funny that you were introduced to this song via “The Wonder Years”. I was 28 when that TV premiered.
I first heard the song on AM radio in 1970. It was released right around my 10th birthday. I didn’t know about Jerry Garcia playing the steel guitar part until a boyfriend of mine told me about that 10 years later but yeah, it’s totally Jerry. It’s his distinctive sound.
The only trouble with this song is that it’s been PLAYED TO DEATH. But that’s true of the entire CSN/CSNY catalog.
I agree the song has been played to death and my appreciation of it has waned somewhat.
It was intriguing to read about when you recalled first hearing it and how you learnt it was Garcia on steel pedal. That’s some memory you got there. My memory is usually a sieve except when it comes to certain music and movies.
Yeah, I have an amazing memory when you consider all the weed I’ve smoked since I was 18. LOL
Yeh, it’s quite the feat!