Introducing The Free Design: Kites Are Fun

I've decided to start a new regular feature at this blog: Free Design Fridays. For those people not in the loop, The Free Design is a family band that originated in the 1960s. The siblings' respective vocals combined to form magnificent harmonies that only blood relation could create, or as I like to call it, symphonic incest. The Free Design's songs are pure pop, both sugary and cheesy (my two favorite groups), complete with lyrics that will not soon be forgotten.

I was first introduced to The Free Design through Cecilia who came across the band's CD in a thrift store, initially attracted to the album's cover art. This event was nothing short of fate; when Cecilia shared the album with me, I was completely smitten and demanded a copy. In turn, each person I've shared the CD with has been similarly enamored. If you don't find Free Design's songs beautiful and ridiculous, then you probably don't like music or family or wholesome fun and you should probably get out of the United States

It wasn't hard to choose which song to first introduce to this blog. "Kites Are Fun" is not only the first song I heard by The Free Design, but also the first song that The Free Design's leader, Chris Dedrick, ever wrote, as well as the band's first single and hit. Though the title, "Kites Are Fun," is obvious and innocuous, it's also, for lack of a better word, swell. Check out the song in the video below, animated by a Free Design fan.



On The Free Design's website, Chris explains the inspiration for the song. "It's a song to cheer you up," says Chris. "I wrote it on a rainy day when I was feeling kind of lonely. I was thinking about a girl whose initials were K.A.F., and out of the initials popped Kites Are Fun. It says, 'Whatever it is you like, go ahead and do your thing.'"

I like flying, flying kites.
Flying kites, flying kites.
Kites are fun.

See my kite it’s fun,
See my kite, it’s green and white
Laughing in its distant flight
All that’s between us is a little yellow string,
But we like each other more than anything
And we run along together through the field behind my house
And the little drops of rain caress her face and wash my blouse
And we’d like to be a zillion miles away from everyone
‘Cause Mom and Dad and Uncle Bill don’t realize:
Kites are fun.

I like flying, flying kites.
Flying kites, flying kites.
Kites are fun.

There are several reasons that I enjoy this song. First, the origination -- oh, to be the young lass whose initials are immortalized by "Kites Are Fun." Second, the subject matter, although fairly trivial, is treated earnestly, particularly the intensity of the harmonization that goes into the sentence "I like flying kites." Third, the giddy sound of a flute. Fourth, the lyrics that specify that in spite of the distance the little yellow string puts between the kite and the flyer, they are still quite fond of each other; it's a necessary clarification. Fifth, the fact that Mom and Dad and Uncle Bill are tyrannical and not accepting of kite flying. They just don't seem to get what it's about, to the point where the kids are willing to run away. It's as if Uncle Bill thought kite flying were equivalent to drug abuse. Then again, maybe "flying kites" is a metaphor for some illegal substance; the song might actually make sense that way.

Stream and/or download "Kites Are Fun" by The Free Design