Lullaby, and good night….
Sleep tight…
Rock a bye baby….
Long before I had a child, I was fascinated by lullabies and nursery rhymes. Perhaps it’s the English major in me coming out, or perhaps it’s my twisted sense of humor. So many children’s rhymes and songs have a macabre sort of bent to them. The cradle will drop? Yikes!
My mother in law learned this the hard way. She used to sing rollicking English folk songs to get my daughter to nap when she was babysitting. One day as she was falling asleep, my daughter began to softly sing “The worms will pick your bones….” The song repertoire has since changed to gentler songs!
Like mama’s face, a parent’s singing voice is so calming for babies. I have a few lovely lullabies that I have used to sing my daughter to sleep since she was born. I wanted to share all of them with you. I thought for a long time about the messages that I wanted to send her every night, because I know that these songs will be ingrained in her memory as calming and special songs, a sweet part of a gentle bedtime routine.
Here are the songs that we love to sing:
Prairie Lullaby, by Connie Kaldor
This sweet, sweet song is the tale of a mother meadowlark and her fussy baby. It reminds me of visiting my relatives on the prairies. I end with a call to each of the winds to sing my daughter to sleep.
The Shaker work song Simple Gifts was used by Aaron Copeland in Appalachian Spring. It’s also known as The Lord of the Dance. Most people know if as one of those titles, but it predates all of them. I know it because my father has a collection of recorders from around the world, and it’s the first song that I learned on the recorder when I learned how to play. I love it because it is a quiet dancing song with a message that is strong and true:
“Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free
Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be
When we find ourselves in the place just right
It will be in the valley of love and delight”
May There Always Be Sunshine – this simple folk song was made famous by Raffi, the children’s entertainer. I know it from a childhood listening to Raffi’s albums. It is a reassuring song with endless possibilities, since you can vary the name in the third line until you cover all of the members of your extended family.
“May there always be sunshine
May there always be blue sky
May there always be mama
May there always be me”
What songs do you love to sing to your baby?