The state of the lullaby
Anna wanted to know what my friends are singing to their kids for lullabies. I posted the question on Facebook and got about fifty times more responses than I was expecting. Since I now have all this (highly unscientific) data about lullaby trends in 2014, I figured I would write it all up. Here's what I found.
The most interesting commonality is the song "Hush Little Baby." Many people report singing it, and my mom sang it to me. But it's more complicated than that. Jonathan C says:
I made up about 50 couplets of "Hush Little Baby" over many consecutive tortured hours in 2006, and somehow we've remembered them all and still use them. It was a good rhyming puzzle to keep me sane at night.
As soon as I read that, I tried it out on Milo, and it was super fun. I recommend it.
Rewriting the lyrics is an especially good idea because, as several people pointed out, the original song is quite depressing. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a series of unsatisfying things that don't address your basic emotional need." A number of other traditional kids' songs are similarly depressing. My mom sang me "You Are My Sunshine" and "My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean" as a kid, and while their melodies are beautiful, their lyrics are full of pain, loss, and disappointment. And don't even get me started on "Rockabye Baby." I sang it to Milo exactly once; never again.
Anyway, here are all the other tunes that my Facebook friends use for lullabies.
Sesame Street
"I Don't Want To Live On The Moon" by Aaron Neville and Ernie got several mentions.
"Rainbow Connection" was cited quite a few times as well.
PD/Traditional
Everybody sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Fun fact! It has the same melody as both the alphabet song and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (which Jenny L has adapted to pink sheep, blue sheep, green sheep, rainbow sheep...)
"Kumbayah," because my friends are hippies.
"The Riddle (I Gave My Love a Cherry)," which is a really weird song.
"The Ants go Marching" -- another one that people customize the lyrics to. Ned B sings it as "the babies come crawling" like in the zombie apocalypse.
"This Land is Your Land" -- wonder whether anyone is singing the Sharon Jones version?
"Froggie Went A-Courtin'"
"If I Had a Hammer" in homage to the recent passing of Pete Seeger.
"Five Little Ducks," which I had never heard of.
"Follow the Drinking Gourd"
"I Had a Little Nut Tree"
"Bobby Shaftoe"
"Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree"
"All the Pretty Horses"
"Stewball"
"Havana Shira"
"Dona Nobis Pacem," which is a round and presumably requires multiple singers.
"In Dulci Jubilo"
"Greensleeves"
Henry B recommends the Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection, which sounds like a wise investment.
Miscellaneous kids' songs
"Tender Shepherd" from Peter Pan got multiple shoutouts.
"On Top of Spaghetti" -- another one that people like to make up their own lyrics to.
"Orca Whale" -- I have no idea what this refers to. My niece and nephew like to sing a song called "Baby Beluga;" I wonder if it's related.
"Winnie the Pooh"
Motown
Marvin Gaye - "Pride and Joy." Marc W says that when he started singing it, he did it as as a straight cover, but that it has gotten slower and country-er as time passes, and that "it's basically a Social Distortion ballad now."
The Big Chill soundtrack, since all of my friends are or were raised by Baby Boomers.
Miscellaneous pop and rock
John Denver - "Today"
REM - "Driver 8"
Guided by Voices - "Smothered in Hugs." Chris R sings a slower ballad version of it inspired by the band Roommate.
Several people mentioned "Sea of Love" -- I assume they mean the Cat Power version.
Neutral Milk Hotel - "My Dream Girl"
Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road"
Josh Ritter - "Here at the Right Time"
She & Him - "If You Can't Sleep"
The 6ths - "You You You You You"
Velvet Underground - "I'm Sticking With You"
Paul Simon - "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard"
The fifties
Richie Valens - "Oh Donna"
The Penguins - "Earth Angel"
The Spaniels - "Goodnight Sweetheart"
The sixties
Jimi Hendrix - "Little Wing"
The Kinks - "She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina"
A bunch of people mentioned "Truckin'" by the Grateful Dead, which seems like a non-obvious song of theirs to use for lullaby purposes.
The Band - "The Weight"
The Beatles
"Yellow Submarine," obviously.
"Golden Slumbers," also kinda obviously. I find it helps if you skip from the second "carry that weight" chorus to "The End."
"Blackbird"
Bob Dylan
"Billy"
"To Ramona"
"Buckets of Rain"
Classical
"Deh Vieni Alla Finestra" from Don Giovanni
Brahms' lullaby, of course.
Jazz and standards
"Fly Me to the Moon"
"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"
"Summertime"
Musicals
"Oh What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma!
"Edelweiss" and the rest of the Sound of Music soundtrack
"Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man
"Over the Rainbow"
Country
Many people sing their kids "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers, who knew?
"Sing Me Back Home," because babies don't know it's about an execution.
Dolly Parton - "Jolene"
Ben M doesn't have kids, but he would hypothetically sing "How Can You Keep Moving" by Ry Cooder, which is a terrific idea.
Johnny Cash - "Tennessee Stud"
Alan Jackson - "Little Bitty"
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - "Roly Poly"
WTF
Guns N Roses - "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" (I don't judge.)
Das Racist - "Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell" (I adore this song, but as a lullaby? Hmm.)
Bikini Kill - "Rebel Girl"
Made up songs
Mike G got tired of reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Going To Bed Book all the time, so he ingeniously turned them into songs.
Carolyn C sings a song called "Raven And Garoushka," which are the names of her daughter and her horse blanket (a combination blanket and stuffed horse head.) Carolyn explains, "The song is a tuneless crooning of their names, over and over again."
Peg M sings "Stella Stella Bright as a Shining Star."
Finally, here's the lullaby rotation in our house.
Jazz standards: "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart," "Dream A Little Dream Of Me," some Monk tunes.
The Beatles: "I Will" and "Hey Jude" are the big ones. Sometimes "Dear Prudence."
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," which Anna modulates through many different keys, because she can.
"Umbrella" by Rihanna works great if you slow it down a bit.
Anna sings "Milo Milo Marshmallow" repeatedly to a lilting calypso melody.
What do you guys sing to your (or other people's) kids? Please share in the comments.