# What songs did your parents sing to you as a child? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779 "2005-05-27T16:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/1 "2005-05-27T16:56:39Z")
Assuming, of course that they sang to you. My father was the one who sang to us, but he made odd choices. What, more normal, songs did I miss out on? My father’s favourites were: **Patsy Fagan** Chorus: Hello Patsy Fagan, you can hear the girs all cry, Hello Patsy Fagan, you’re the apple of my eye, You’re a decent boy from Ireland, that no-one can deny, You’re a harum, scarum, divil may-care-um, decent Irish Boy and **Last train to San Fernando** Chorus: If you miss this one, There’ll never be another one, biddi biddi bum bum To San Fernando ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/2 "2005-05-27T17:13:10Z")
My Pop would sing **Hush Little [Daithi], Don’t Say a Word**, and **Bah-Bah Black Sheep** , but he’d always improvise and set up a funny dialogue between Bah-Bah and himself. He was a gas man… Christmas Eve, Mom would sing me all the carols she knew, even the Spanish ones. Thankfully, they both had lovely voices. 🙂 As a side note, I always pictured the Virgin Mary as being rather zaftig because I interpreted the lyrics in **Silent Night** as “round, young virgin,” rather than “round yon Virgin!” ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/3 "2005-05-27T17:14:59Z")
Mom sang us “Ghost Riders In the Sky” as a lullaby. I love telling people that. 🙂 Makes my mom sound like a real weirdo. Their brands were still on fire, And their hooves were made of steel. Their horns were black and shiny And their hot breath he could feel, A bolt of fear went through him As they thundered through the sky. The he saw the riders comin’ hard And he heard their mournful cry: Yippee kiy-yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy . . . Yippee kiiiy-yoooo-ooooo . . . Good night, sleep tight! ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/4 "2005-05-27T17:17:08Z")
\*Don’t the moon look lonesome shinin’ through the trees . . . Don’t the moon look lonesome shinin’ through the trees . . . Don’t the house look lonesome when your baby packs up to le-eave . . . Sent for you yesterday and here you come today . . . Sent for you yesterday, here you come today . . . You CAAAAAN’T love me, Baby, and treat me that-a-waaaaaaaayyyyyy . . . \* To this day I have no idea what song that is, but I’m pretty sure my Dad didn’t make it up . . . ---
**Author:** ![Trafalgar\_Laura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trafalgar_laura/32/2907_2.png) [@Trafalgar\_Laura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trafalgar_Laura)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/5 "2005-05-27T17:20:35Z")
My mother and grandmother used to sing to me a song that went something like: _Bye-o, Bye, baby, bye. Bye-o, bye, bye._ Maybe they were encouraging me to leave? As for my daughter, I used to sing to her “Summertime” - the version sung by Janis Joplin. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/6 "2005-05-27T17:27:50Z")
My mom sang _Delta Dawn_, and if that wasn’t bad enough, mt grandpa’s standard lullaby was Hank Williams’ _I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry_. No wonder I’ve always been the pessimistic sort! I caught myself singing it to Bella the other day, then decided to switch over to _Tom Sawyer_. You know, you can make any song a pretty lullaby if you sing it gently. Really, try it. Sing _Welcome to the Jungle_. Sing\* Crazy Train\*. Give your kid some personality. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/7 "2005-05-27T17:33:52Z")
Oh, my father was always singing. Badly. We’d all pile into the car and we’d go. Us: Where are we going, Dad? Dad: Oh, just going. And he’d sing “Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder.” He’d sing “A Bicyle Built for Two” all the time, sometimes inserting other people’s names or making up lyrics. And he always sang “Hey, Good Lookin’” to my mom. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/8 "2005-05-27T17:39:17Z")
Anything by the Beatles (sung by Dad), or Carole King _Tapestry_ (sung by Mom). ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/9 "2005-05-27T17:43:07Z")
I don’t recall my parents singing to me at all. Perhaps I was too young to remember. I sang to my kids all the time. I still do at bedtime sometimes. But now they’ll sing along. We do: _-Molly Malone -Swinging on a star -Side by side -Dream a little dream_ I wonder if they’ll remember it when they are grown up. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/10 "2005-05-27T18:19:37Z")
Itsy Bitsy Spider Puff the Magic Dragon Ooey Gooey Was a Worm Mairzy Doats Hush Little Baby ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/11 "2005-05-27T18:53:31Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I wonder if they’ll remember it when they are grown up. Of course they will, and warmly. I hadn’t thought of my parents singing to me in the longest while, and when I saw this thread I got a big ol’ goofy smile on my face, just from remembering. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/12 "2005-05-27T18:59:25Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I caught myself singing it to Bella the other day, then decided to switch over to _Tom Sawyer_. I use _Red Barchetta_ myself. My mom? Mercedes Benz The Battle of New Orleans Wake Up Little Suzy Summertine (and the living is easy) Old Man River ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/13 "2005-05-27T19:31:01Z")
_Down in the valley, valey so low. Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Hear the wind blow, dear. Hear the wind blow. Angels in heaven, hear the wind blow._ And \*In the pines, in the pines, Where the sun never shines… \* And \*It takes a worried man to sing a worried song. It takes a worried man to sing a worried song. I’m worried now, but I won’t be worried long. \* Gee, no wonder Mama was depressed all the time. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/14 "2005-05-27T19:34:06Z")
My grandpa sang to us a lot. > [@Pops Mercotan](#): > > Trot, trot to (name of town) to buy a pound of cake > And when you get there, there wasn’t any baked > Trot, trot home again, met a big snake > Picked up a stone, broke his backbone! > Annnnd gallopingallopingallopingalloping all the way home! The song’s audience must be perched on the singer’s knee, and the singer must make the appropriate trotting or galloping motions. He’d also sing the one about the One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater, and one that’s apparently called “The Thing”. > [@](#): > > The moral of this story is: if you’re out on the beach > And you should see a great big box, and it’s within your reach > Don’t ever stop and open it up, that’s my advice to you > 'cause you’ll never get rid of the (boom boom boom!), no matter what you do Mom sang You Are My Sunshine to me for a while, but I was extremely sensitive and found it terribly upsetting. **Qadgop** sang a lot, though not particularly tunefully. His songs usually prompted me or my sister to shriek “EEEEEE! DAAAAAAAAD!” until he stopped, ungrateful wretches that we were. I’m sure he’ll remind me of more songs once he reads this, but right now all I can remember him singing is the theme song from _My Mother The Car_. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/15 "2005-05-27T19:38:58Z")
My mom minored in vocal performance in college, so she sang all kinds of things (mostly showtunes). My dad would sing one song and one song only: [_Blood on the Risers_](http://www.cgcweb.com/blood.htm). Come to think of it, this explains a lot about me. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/16 "2005-05-27T20:19:27Z")
Dad sang _Jeepers Creepers_, _Istanbul/Constantinople_, and _Mairzy Doats_. My mom knows millions of songs and sang them to us a lot. _I’ve got sixpence_, _That’s where my money goes, Oh baby telephone, You are my sunshine, Tavern in the town…_ the list is pretty endless. I must have the same kind of brain as she does, because I know a lot of songs and sing them to my kids too. (Unfortunately, this also means that about half my brain is given over to knowing every 80’s/early90’s songs, and being able to sing the whole thing upon hearing a few notes.) ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/17 "2005-05-27T20:56:44Z")
Am I the only one who heard _Toora Loora Loora(l)_ growing up? I don’t know if my grandmother picked it up from Bing Crosby and changed it a bit or if she learned a variation from her Irish parents, but it’s a family tradition. It’s a great lullaby, though a little sad now that Grandma’s gone. Another one my mom sang was _Three Little Fishies_, ya know the one that goes “Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!” Great fun, and my daughter adores it. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/18 "2005-05-27T21:00:06Z")
Dad sang Mairsy Doats, You are my sunshine, Rum and CoCA cola, and the one about the dam. _Doop doop diddle daddle waddum chew - and they swam and they swam right up to the dam._ Mom sang everything - hymns, pop songs, folk songs, opera, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/19 "2005-05-27T21:00:56Z")
\*For California, for California, The hills send back the cry, we’re out to do or die, For California, for California, We’ll win the game or know the reason why. And when the game is over, We will buy a keg of booze, And drink to California 'til we wobble in our shoes. So drink (tra la la), Drink (tra la la), Drink, drank, drunk last night, Drunk the night before\* I swear to Og, I knew most of the words to this song by the time I was five or six years old. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779/20 "2005-05-27T21:01:29Z")
OK that’s too funny that we both remembered the same song at the same time, **AerynSun**!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-did-your-parents-sing-to-you-as-a-child/305779.md?page=2)