We hope you'll enjoy this reworking of our classic “Pancakes” song — this time, it’s plant-based!

Here’s the story: Back in 2009, a few years before I went vegan, we released our "Party Like a Twinkle Star" album. One of the songs, "Pancakes", told the story of going out to the farm to collect eggs from the chickens, milk from the cows, wheat from the field, etc, to make pancakes for breakfast.

I wrote the song in the style of Eric Carle’s famous book, “Pancakes, Pancakes!” which I’d loved reading to my young children. The book, and the song, detail where our food comes from, something children are not always aware of and therefore love to learn about. So I took that concept and made a rockin’ song out of it that our fans loved to dance to, and the band loved to play.

BUT THEN…I went vegan. On Mother’s Day, 2012, I stopped all consumption of animal products — for the animals, for the planet, and for the future of our children. It remains the best decision I’ve ever made.

Soon after that, realized I was no longer comfortable singing “Pancakes", and two other CJB songs: "Cake", which also contains animal-based ingredients, and “Goin’ Fishin’”, which is, well, about going fishing. These songs, as they stand, basically support the exploitation and oppression of animals I am so firmly against in my own heart.

What is the correct artistic decision when faced with this dilemma? At first, I just stopped choosing these songs for my classes and performances, unless a child specifically asked for them. But that felt sort of wimpy, as I knew they were still out there in the song universe being listened to.

I thought about removing them from the song universe somehow. But then I realized it could potentially be more powerful and meaningful to rewrite the objectionable lyrics, and release new versions the songs as "Vegan Remixes", thus leaving a paper trail of sorts and calling out the evolution and the conversation.

The rewrites transformed these painful songs into celebrations of plant-based living and animal liberation! And they highlight the reality that everyone’s on a path with this stuff and there’s no such thing as perfect or ideal. And they invite contemplation and dialogue about situations where an artist's ethics change over time, yet the old, perhaps objectionable, art still exists out there in its original form. (If you have any thoughts on this, let me know!)

The result of the rewrite -- “Pancakes (The Vegan Remix)” -- is as celebratory and rockin’ as ever. And instead of taking eggs from chickens, we make an egg substitute with ground flax seeds (you can also use applesauce.) Instead of taking milk from cows, we make our own milk from plants. Instead of butter, we use oil. We got to keep the verses about wheat, syrup and berries. All plants, all the time. You get the picture!

We performed the new Vegan Remix version at our recent family concert at the SF Golden Gate Park Bandshell and it was so invigorating and freeing to be able to sing the song again, but without feeling like we were harming animals while doing so. And...our fans ate it up!

I believe the world is ready for a new relationship to animals. This music is part of my faith in that possibility.

So...I hope you’ll enjoy the updated and improved version of our classic song, now called: “Pancakes (The Vegan Remix)" — harm-free and ready to eat! New versions of “Cake” and “Goin’ Fishin’” are on the way, too. These rewrites are in service of all beings. May all beings be free from suffering. May we contribute to that freedom in small or big ways each day.

Flip it over now!