I have no children of my own, to my eternal regret, but my sister had her first baby when I was eight so I sort of grew up “babysitting” and these are the songs I sang to all the various darlings in my life.
“Hush-A-Bye” by Peter Paul and Mary
“Puff The Magic Dragon” PPM
“Loch Lomand”
“Danny Boy”
“Don’t Worry Baby” by The Beach Boys
And for the current crop of darlings, I also sing these newer songs.
“Child of Mine” Carole King
“Baby Mine” Bette Midler (I think)
“I Hope You Dance” Leeanne Womack
“You’ll Be In My Heart” (mentioned by Degrance, the one from the Tarzan movie)
There are also two I sing from “The Lion King” movie…can’t remember the names right now, but both were also written by Elton John.
Actually, any song you know the words to works so long as you sing it softly and…what Degrance said.
The first time I was called upon to sing my daughter to sleep, the first lullaby that came to mind was “Lullaby of Broadway”, from the Busby Berkeley movie Golddiggers of 1935. And thus a tradition was born.
*C’mon along and listen to
The lullaby of broadway
The hip hooray and ballyhoo
The lullaby of broadway
…
When a Broadway baby says goodnight
It’s early in the mornin’
Manhattan babies don’t sleep tight
Until the dawn
Good night, baby, good night
Let’s call it a day
Sleep tight, baby, sleep tight
The milkman’s on his way.
*
But I was never asked to tap dance while singing it.
The one song I recall singing the most was “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd. I also sang Beatles tunes, and lots of Eagles. Everyone has told you great advice—it’s not the song so much as the vibrations and the rhythmic rocking. And being close to daddy or mommy…
Well, when my Sister was a baby, my Mom would put on a tape of U.S. Marine Corps cadences. It always worked like a charm. Eventually, we even started putting the tape in a Teddy Ruxpin. (Anyone remember him?) So occasionally you’d see my little sister, dozing away with a smile on her face, while a cute robotic teddy bear sang in the background…
“I wanna be a Drill Instructor,
I wanna wear my Smokey Bear”
“I wanna be a Drill Instructor,
I’m gonna cut off all of my hair”
Here’s a page of sample lyrics. Though I don’t know how easy it’d be to find a recording of them in the Czech Republic.
Being a huge disney fan,the words to the song from “Tarzan” are as follows:
Come stop your cryin’,it’ll be alright
Just take my hand,hold it tight
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here don’t you cry
You’ll be in my heart,no matter what they say
You’ll be here in my heart,always
Always…
WHen I used to babysit kids,I found that “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin was one that usually put them to sleep.
That or “Baby Mine” from “Dumbo”
Baby mine,dry your eyes
Baby mine,don’t you cry
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear,baby of mine
Little one,when you play
Don’t you mind what they say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear,baby of mine
If they knew sweet little you
They’d end up lovin’ you too
All those same people who scolded you
What they’d give just for the right to hold you
From your head down to your toes
You’re not much,goodness knows
But you’re so precious to me
Sweet as can be,baby of mine
With my little sister,“A dream is a wish your heart makes” from "Cinderella’ also seemed to do the trick
A dream is a wish your heart makes,when you’re fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartache,whatever you wish for you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday,your rainbow will come smiling through
Don’t let your heart be filled with sorrow,for all you know tomorrow the dream that you wished will come true
A dream is a wish your heart makes,when you’re feeling small
Alone in the night you whisper,thinking no-one can hear you at all
You wake with the morning sunlight,to find fortune has smiled on you
No matter how your heart is grieving,if you keep on believing,the dream that you wished will come true
Last train to San Fernando
(if you miss this one, there’ll never be another one
bid i bid i bum bum to San Fernando)
Patsy Fagin
“Hello Patsy Fagin, you’re the apple of my eye
Hello Patsy Fagin, you can hear the girls all cry,
you’re a daycent boy from ireland, that no-one can deny
you’re a harum scarum divil me carum
daycent irish boy”
My brother Silveste
“oh, my brother Silveste
(what’s he got)
a row of 40 medals on his chest
(big chest)
takes all the army and the navy
to blow the wind from Silveste”
repeat ad infinitum
which were about as random as it gets.
my mother, on the other hand sang “Abide with me”
and
“where have all the flowers gone”
i suggest somewhere in the middle, although dad’s one’s made us laugh and have botty-tapping possibilities as far as rythm goes!
I won’t laugh, mornea, because I have spent every night for the last three years of my life singing Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland to my son, who is now 5. It’s the leadoff in a group of songs distilled from my vast repertoire of mostly showtunes! LOL But every night, it’s the same thing, *Sleigh bells ring, are ya listenin’ … *
The other must-haves are as follows:
Eidleweiss from The Sound of Music;
My Old Kentucky Home (which logically follows the nationalism of Eidelweiss, at least to a sleepy singing mama);
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (optional with son, a must-have for daughter); and finally
Surry with the Fringe on Top from Oklahoma. It’s got a great perky start but ends up slow and lullabye-like. It’s a good thing I like these songs since I’ve sung them thousands and thousands of times!
I’m just sixteen, so I don’t have children quite yet [and for that i am thankful] but when I babysit and have to put the kids to bed I generally sing folk songs.
One of my favourites is “The Water is Wide,” especially the third verse –
– and I’m also quite partial to the finale from Les Miserables –
My kids enjoy “Edelweiss”, “Castle on a Cloud”, “Feed the Birds”(from Mary Poppins), “Some Enchanted Evening” and a few dozen others at bedtime. When we’re feeling rowdy they really enjoy “Allstar” by Smash Mouth.
The baby, five months old, likes classical music and some showtunes. Seems to hate the Beatles though. Tried singing “Hey Jude” to her and she just about had a fit. Similar reaction to “Eleanor Rigby”.
Ditto for all the holiday songs. “The wheels on the bus”, “Brush your teeth”, “Elmo’s song” (although that last one really get annoying, I only do it by request)
Also:
There were ten in the bed,
and the little one said,
roll over, roll over
So they all rolled over and one fell out,
There were nine in the bed,
and the little one said…
(repeat counting down each verse to two)
There were two in the bed,
and the little one said,
roll over, roll over
So they all rolled over and one fell out,
There was one in the bed,
and the little one said GOODNIGHT!
That one and some childhood hand game songs:
Miss Mary Mack
Miss Lucy
Three Little Devils
We sing songs we made up, which are very repetitious, DoReMi and My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music, Frere Jacques (sp), Rock a Bye Baby, Frosty the Snowman (we call it Spongy the Penguin after one of his toys). If you forget words, lalalalala usually works just fine, especially if they’re really young.
