Zip, Zoom, Zing! – the songwriter’s notebook

Well, it’s an exceptionally beautiful summertime here in Middle Tennessee which means, among other things, Vacation Bible School is happening in churches all across town.

I believe in VBS.

Towards the end of 2010, a music editor friend of mine asked if I could write another song for preschoolers. She needed one for VBS. Well, I said “yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yes to vuh, vuh, …” [ahem] never mind. I said “you bet!”  Curriculum writer Kelli McAnally had a title and an idea for the lyrics. Something about kids pretending to be airplanes. She liked the title “Zip, Zoom, Zing!” I did too. I took it to my new songwriting friend Ben Cooper for our first writing session. It was a blast.

Here’s a video that we shot that day:

And here’s the final mix as it appears on the Preschool Teacher’s CD:

Zip, Zoom, Zing!

I’m a jet plane and here are my wings
I’m ready to fly and zip, zoom, zing
Rolling down the runway, ready to go
“Clear for takeoff” said the radio
See the tiny houses and the cars and streets
From way up in the sky as I zip, zoom, zing

Zip, zoom, zing!
Zip, zoom, zing!
Zip, zoom, zing!
Zip, zoom, zing!
Zip, zoom, zing!
Zip, zoom, zing!

I’m a jet plane and here are my wings
I fly through the sky as I zip, zoom, zing
Loop-de-loop, through the clouds, up and down
See the mountains and the oceans and the lights downtown
Over here, over there, over everything
Look at below as I zip zoom zing

Soar up high
Dip down low
Zip so fast
Zoom real slow

WRITERS: Ben Cooper, Kelli McAnally, and Jonathan Riggs
© 2011

I love the way it turned out and I’m thrilled for it to be a part of LifeWay’s Amazing Wonders Aviation VBS. Special shout out to Barny Robertson for the production and editor Alyssa Goins for the opportunity.

Write On,

Jonathan