Besotted New Aunt Seeks Expanded Lullaby Repertoire

[dr_pretentious]

On Monday I'll be heading back to Maryland to help my sister out with the new baby for a couple of weeks. Nearly all my tutoring clients are on vacation through the end of August, so I get time off from paid labor whether I want it (or can afford it) or not. Hazards of freelancing. (Memo to self: Dr. Avery, you need more clients.)

When I imagine helping out with Kate (The Kateling, The Katelet, She Of The Diminutive Toes, etc.), I imagine singing to her. But my memory for lyrics isn't what it used to be, and most of my kiddie-song repertoire has long since vanished from recall. What I remember is what I currently listen to, which is mostly Howling Heartbroken Woman Music. (It's kind of odd, since I'm a mostly contemplative, mostly contented woman. Go figure.) And the songs of my childhood are quirky at best, anyway.

The repertoire really is a problem. Pru and Zach won't care, my extended clan won't care, but Zach's people are Intensely Catholic Republican Beef Ranchers From Nebraska. My musical diet, heavy on Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco, is not so heavy on things that won't shock the other side of Kate's family. Picture it: Kate, age four and increasingly fluent of speech, chasing me down at her birthday party demanding, "Auntie Sarah! Auntie Sarah! Do 'The Cunt Song' again!" Thank you, Ani DiFranco. Picture the kindergarten teacher sending home the note on the first day of school asking why little Kate knows so many songs about strychnine and cyanide. Thank you, Tori. Thank you, Tom Lehrer. And my extensive collection of Pagan ritual chants is Right Out. Pru and I have long since accepted the inevitability that I will be the token Weird Relative. Every child needs one. But I don't want to get the poor girl in trouble.

I need some innocent earworms. I hear They Might Be Giants started recording music for children while I wasn't looking. Thank goodness. (I couldn't very well sing her TMBG's "Youth Culture Killed My Dog." The dogs adore her. No traumatic lullabies!) Aside from TMBG and the old Kingston Trio albums my mother raised me on, I'm entirely at a loss.

Any suggestions?

Comments

[annathepiper]

HAH. As my band of highest favor is a quintet of charming Canadians who are apt to bellow out such choice lyrics as "Some of the boys got loaded drunk, and they ain't been sober yet!", "Blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl", and "Lots of other fellows try to get her on her back, but I'm thinkin' that they'll have to get up early", I do not think I am quite the proper source for lyrics here. ;)

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

Christopher Robin is saying his prayers
Droops on his little hands, little gold hair
Hush, hush, whisper who dares
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers

"God bless Mommy, I know that's right
Wasn't it fun in the bath tonight
The cold so cold and the hot so hot
God bless Daddy, I quite forgot

If I open my fingers a little bit more
I can see Nana's dressing gown on the door
It's a beautiful blue but it hasn't a hood
God bless Nana and make her good.

Mine has a hood and I lie in bed
And pull the hood right over my head
And I shut my eyes and I curl up small
And nobody knows I'm there at all.

Thank you God for a lovely day
Now what was the other I had to say
I said bless Daddy so what can it be
Now I remember, it's God bless me."

Christopher Robin is saying his prayers
Droops on his little hands, little gold hair
Hush, hush, whisper who dares
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers



My mother used to sing this to me, and despite my rants of late it's still my favorite lullaby. I can e-mail you the song, if you want. It's been covered recently by someone named "Melanie."

There's also Billy Joel's "Goodnight My Angel" and Suzanne Vega's "The Queen and the Soldier." In fact, much Suzanne Vega is good and slow. There's a song called "Wiccan Lullaby" that is also very beautiful and, once you get past the name, mostly nondescript.

Sleep my Child & Peace Attend Thee

[ingridsummers.livejournal.com]

In the UU hymnal there is a song with this title that we sing with Pumpkin Girl. I'll find the words and post them later. It's to an easy to sing and pretty tune (unlike many of the UU hymns-but that's a different rant).

Another chant our kids like that isn't too "odd" is the Beauty Way chant:

I will walk in the Beauty Way, Dance on the Sacred Path, always in step with the rhythm of the earth.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Ring A Ring Of Roses... No, that's about the plague.

London Bridge Is Falling Down... No, that's about death and destruction.

Some Like It Hot, Some Like It Cold... No, that's about poverty.

Oranges And Lemons... No, that's about being in debt and being executed.

If You Ever See A Hearse Go By... Death and decay. Oops.

Half A Pound Of Tuppeny Rice... Back to debt and being dragged into court for it. Hmmm.

Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush... Prisoners exercising in old prisons. Damn.

OK, I give up. I cannot think of a nursery rhyme/lullaby that isn't about debt, poverty, death, or something else someone out there won't find offensive if they use their brains and think about the lyrics. Also, all fairy stories are right out. But if you Google for lyrics+lullabies, loads of good lyrics pages come up. And the Other Side may well do what most people do, and assume that if it's old it's inoffensive :)

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Hee hee!

What about that Irish one on Clishmaclaver's first (?) album about poverty, misery, the brutishness of life and social injustice?

Hee hee.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

People think that folk music is all dull. In my experience it is about death, sex, death, war, murder, death, magic, rape, death, poverty, poverty, poverty, death, the class struggle, death, murder, sex, revenge, death, broken-heartedness, death, disease, disease, disease, death, we will kill the enemy!, death, something happy happened!, death, sex, death, murder, more social struggle, death, sex, rape, murder, poverty, starvation, death, magic, death. Good times, good times... ;)

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

My favourite's The Liverpool Lullaby, which was sung to me as a kid, and which was one of my little set pieces during family singalongs - the lyrics and music are here.

A couple of notes:
Littlewoods is a chain store which traditionally did a football sweepstakes; Knotty Ash was a posh part of the city; "strawberry jam tats in your hair" is bits of jam stuck in the hair.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I will pull out "Lullaby of the Moon" fo you. Laughing at the mental images you gave me...

[catpaw67.livejournal.com]

A serious suggestion: Kenny Loggins recorded two albums of really nice kids' songs. Return to Pooh Corner and More Songs from Pooh Corner. My personal favorite lullaby on them is All The Pretty Little Ponies. Certainly nothing there to bother anyone. And some songs that are just perfect for pagans to sing to babes.

[calene.livejournal.com]

Most songs by Sarah McLachlan are pretty neutral as far as questionable content.

[jeneralist.livejournal.com]

You could try "Everything Possible" by Fred Small, recorded by The Flirtations:

We have cleared off the table, the leftovers saved,
Washed the dishes and put them away
I have told you a story and tucked you in tight at the end of your knockabout day
As the moon sets its sail to carry you to sleep over the midnight sea
I will sing you a song no one sang to me
May it keep you good company

REFRAIN:
You can be anybody that you want to be
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're gone

Some girls grow up strong and bold
Some boys are quiet and kind
Some race on ahead, some follow behind,
Some grow in their own way and time.
Some women love women and some men love men,
Some raise children, and some never do,
You can dream all the day never reaching the end
Of everything possible for you

Don't be rattled by names, taunts, or games,
But seek out spirits true,
If you give your friends the best part of yourself,
They will give the same back to you.

(Refrain)

[oaktavia.livejournal.com]

I have a couple of favorites...
let me look them up & I'll get back to you

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Voltaire has a song called Goodnight Demon Slayer, in which he sings to sleep a scared little girl by pointing out that yes, there are demons, but she's perfectly capable of killing them off herself, and encouraging her to deal with the monsters in her own way. It's pretty cool, and you can hear it on his site. Click on Then and Again under Music, and then scroll down the right-hand frame and click on the song.

[reynaud.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing about the They Might Be Giants children's album. Can't remember too much about it, though.

As for suggestions, well I can't think of many. Off hand, maybe the Beatles, stuff like "Dear Prudence," "Your Mother Should Know," "Ob-La-Dee," or "Blackbird"? The nice thing about the Beatles is that because they actually weren't great musicians, the songs they wrote tended to be simple enough for almost anyone to learn.

Why not just raid the Kingston Trio albums? Oldies but goodies for younguns. (Unless, of course, you can't stand them...)

Hold off on teaching her "The Cunt Song" until she's 13 or so...

[radiotelescope.livejournal.com]

I was brought up on Flanders and Swann. Look how well that turned out!

Anything folky is suitable, really. Well, folk music from before the Sixties is all *traditional*, which means it's all about sex, drinking, and death. (Not "or".) But the more recent stuff is much mellower, and it has melody.

Two months late to the party . . .

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

...but I just found you. (Not paying attention, I guess. :-)

*waves from Minneapolis*

I usually wouldn't bother responding to a post so old, but as it happens, this is something of a specialty of mine. I've been collecting "things to sing to the kids at bedtime" for a couple decades, now.

First, I'll stick up for the already-mentioned "Everything Possible," one of the greatest lullabies of all time. I'm also most fond of the Flirtations arrangement I heard first, but there are others. Also, Cat is right on with the Kenny Loggins 'Pooh Corner' albums.

Look at singers with voices like velvet, because they almost always have a slow, soft song or two on any given album, playing to their strengths. Look at divas and crooners you might or might not like to listen to yourself. Bette Midler (I'm particularly fond of "Some People's Lives" and "Baby Mine"), Barbara Streisand (lots of stuff, including half of the Yentl soundtrack), Josh Groban, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Celine Dion, Harry Connick Jr, Enya, Maire Brennan, Loreena McKennitt, etc., etc. (Anuna has a song called "Winter, Fire and Snow" that makes a delightful lullaby, and is hauntingly beautiful in general.)

Oldies of the right type are useful -- see nearly everything the Carpenters ever did, for example, most especially their "Crystal Lullaby", which is one of the most beautiful lullabies ever written.

Also look at showtunes and soundtracks; they often have one or two suitable songs, often even specifically a lullaby. There's a gorgeous little French one in Aspects of Love, for example. Other songs may be suitable (some with minor editing): "Day by Day" (Godspell), "Somewhere" (West Side Story), "No One is Alone"/"Children Will Listen" (Into the Woods), "Not While I'm Around" (Sweeney Todd), etc., etc.

And now we come to the true gold mine. (Hold your breath, you may not like the smell initially. :-)

Some people don't like Disney movies, or children's animated movies of the Disney type -- and there are many legitimate reasons to criticize both the company and the movies themselves. Set all that aside for a moment, wherever you fall on the spectrum, and consider this: the music is generally EXCELLENT, and there's nearly always at least one song suitable for a lullaby. Most of 'em have actual lullabies, as in used to put the children in the story to sleep. Most of them are spectacularly beautiful. And they have one additional advantage -- most of them are, or will be, FAMILIAR to children who watch Disney movies, which helps capture their attention and draw them into the spell of sleep, I've often found. The kids tend to have their favorites, from their favorite movies, that they request over and over.

Many, many of them are exactly what one wants in a lullaby -- a song of comfort and safety to wrap around a child who is frightened of or worried about the situation of their little world, whatever it may be... and if it works on that, it'll work on "mildly grumpy or distressed or crabby from being tired" just fine. :-) There are exceptions, but even those have their uses -- "Trust in Me" from The Jungle Book is delightfully hypnotising, which can be useful in a stubborn child. :-) Sometimes, you can successfully slow down a song that has more energy in the movie, and get something beautiful and sleep-inducing, rather than exciting.

My favorites include:

"Candle on the Water" (Pete's Dragon)
"Hushabye Mountain" (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
"Stay Awake" (Mary Poppins)
"Feed the Birds" (Mary Poppins)
"Flying Dreams" (The Secret of Nimh)
"River Lullaby" (The Prince of Egypt)
"Once Upon a December" (Anastasia)
"You'll Be In My Heart" (Tarzan)

Other good Disney songs (most of which need softening, but that's easy enough):

"Colors of the Wind" (Pochohontas)
"Beauty and the Beast"
"Part of Your World" (The Little Mermaid)
"Reflection" (Mulan)
"Circle of Life" (The Lion King)
"A Whole New World" (Aladdin)
"God Help the Outcasts" (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
etc., etc., etc.

TONS of good stuff out there! :-)

Re: Two months late to the party . . .

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Oh, hi there! Thanks for the great suggestions. I'm totally comfortable with Disney songs. Some years ago...wow, the mid 1980s? I'm So Old! Anyhow, Ken Nordine put together a collection of covers of Disney songs by all kinds of unlikely people--the Replacements, Tom Waits, Natalie Merchant. The craftsmanship is so tight in most of those songs. I mean, from time to time, Disney rests on its laurels--the Aristocats has some impressively lame songs--but for the most part, it's solid.

So, how have you been? Haven't seen you in, what a year and a half? Is that possible?

Re: Two months late to the party . . .

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Hangin' in there. No FG this year, so I won't see you 'til next, I suppose. :-/

Re: Two months late to the party . . .

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

And hey, if you have an email address that can take 3-5MB attachments, I'll send you MP3s as I run across them. Let me know. :-)

Re: Two months late to the party . . .

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I'm at avery at alum dot vassar dot edu. Thanks!