Why "Small Plays For Giants"?

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Abiyoyo is a song about a boy, his father, a village, and a giant. See, there’s this boy who plays the ukulele, all the time, all over town. And everyone else hates it. They hate that he’s always playing, that he’s always singing, they cannot stand his music or his voice or even just looking at him. 

 

It doesn’t help that his father is a practical joker, and not only a practical joker, but a magician too. The father goes around town making things disappear. If you’re about to sit down after a long day’s work, he’ll wave his wand and ZOOP, the chair disappears. Having a glass of lemonade? ZOOP, the glass disappears. Sawing a piece of wood? ZOOP, no saw. 

 

Well, the villagers get tired of the practical jokes and the ukulele and they drive they boy and his father out of town. 

 

Some time passes - the boy and his father living on the outskirts of town now - and one day, over the hills, the villagers see Abiyoyo. A fierce giant, who comes to the town to eat the sheep, and the people, and smash their houses. They villagers panic, they flee, they scream “RUN! RUN! IT’S ABIYOYO! HE’LL EAT YOU ALIVE!” 

 

Well, the father looks out the window of his house on the outskirts of town and sees what’s happening, and he says to his son, “If only I could get Abiyoyo to lie down, I could make him disappear.” 

 

Suddenly, the boy has an idea. He grabs his ukulele, he grabs his pa, and they run out to where Abiyoyo is, and it seems like they’re going to be eaten, but then the boy takes out his ukulele and he begins to sing. 

And the song he sings is the giant’s name. “Abiyoyo,” over and over. “Abiyoyo,” he sings, “Abiyoyo-yiyoyo-yiyoyo.” And the giant has never heard a song about him before. And he is OVERJOYED. And big goofy smile spreads across his face and he begins to sing too. And to dance! And he’s singing with the boy, so happy to hear a song about himself, for the first time in his giant life.

And he gets worn out from all the singing and the dancing. 

 

And he lies down.

And ZOOP

 

The father makes him disappear. 

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Small Plays For Giants is about singing songs for people who may never have heard songs about themselves before. It’s about getting people to stand and dance with a big goofy grin. It's about recognized something unnamed, and celebrating it. Together. 

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