My mom sang to my brother and me all the time, but the three songs I remember most are “Distant Melody” (from Peter Pan; I now sing it to my friend’s little boy), “Wynken, Blynken, & Nod,” and Betty Johnson’s “Little Blue Man” (I wuv you! I wuv you!).
My father had a thing where he would sing my name (Jenny) over and over to the tune of “Soon It’s Gonna Rain.” It’s an easy lullabye, but it only works with two-syllable names … I always liked that it didn’t work with my brother’s name.
I got smart about 1.5 years ago, and made my mom record herself singing the songs from my childhood. She’s not even 60 yet, but she already doesn’t have half the voice she used to and I wanted to get recordings of her singing while she’s still able (and while she remembers the songs!). I turned them into MP3s; the quality is pretty crappy, even with digital cleaning, but I figure my brother and I will treasure them after she’s gone.
My mum sings and whistles all the time around the house and when I was growing up, old songs from the movies she saw as a kid in the 30s and 40s; she was a choir singer (soprano) for a while, so she has a good voice. In fact when I was a kid, it drove me mad that she would sing along with all the musicals when they came on the box! (Best Foot Forward, Good News, Singing in the Rain, anything with Deanna Durbin or Jeanette MacDonald).
She had an extensive set list for me as a wee one:
first nursery rhymes about girls
then about boys
then boys and girls
then Good Night, Sweetheart
and she finished up with Over the Rainbow
She tells me if my older siblings interrupted her whilst she was settling me in, she would answer their whispered questions by singing new words to whichever song she was on.
My late grandmother used to sing me “You are my sunshine”
My mom and dad are both wonderful vocalists. My mom used to sing the Painted Ponies song…
She also sang some Carole King and some religious songs, as well as this song about being an old woman, I’ve never heard it anywhere since.
The chorus was:
Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold onto
To believe in a livin’ is such a hard way to go
My dad mostly sang originals, since he was in a band back then.
Dad sang (and maybe still does) The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) by Simon and Garfunkel and You May Be Right by Billy Joel. And he definitely made them his own - he had this certain way of singing “Feelin’ Groovy”. He’s a goofball.
And when we were getting ready to go out -
Put your shoes on Lucy don’t you know you’re in the city?
Put your shoes on Lucy you’re a big girl now.
I don’t know how it started, but when I was wee I had an elaborate bedtime ritual (glass of milk, story, Mom kissing Bear goodnight) that also included Mom humming Brahms’ Lullaby (at least, I think that’s what it’s generally called). It’s funny looking back, because sometimes she’d hum it really fast, just to get me to sleep so she could have some down time.
My Grandma used to sing me “Mairsey Doats” and:
I love you a bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck
And a (whatever the rest of the words are…)
Hi,
I will finish the words for you…and a hug around the neck, a barrel and a heap, I keep talking in my sleep about you,cause I love you a barrel and a heap, you can bet your pretty neck I do. yes I doodle doodle do. At least that is how I learned it.
In the car, at weekends. My dad worked until late and only saw us for an hour or two every evening, so he would have us for the whole of Saturday. Most of the time was spent in the car, driving between errands, and he spent it singing.
My Mum and Dad to me and my brother, in chorus, when they were feeling silly:
“The sun has got his hat on, hip hip horay
The sun has got his hat on and he’s coming out to play!”
And “Yes, we’ve got no bananas”
When they were in a teasing mood - it would make me screaming incoherent mad and they’d laugh
"There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very very good
And when she was bad she was (horrid - struck out and replaced with my name.)
Me to my kids (and with them)
All kinds of stuff, usually I make up stories or silly things about them and sing them to nursery or pop tunes. They like that.
At the moment we are all singing the SMAP song “Sekai Hitotsu Dake No Hana” (The only flower in the world.) It’s a long song and I’m proud of myself that I can sing it all the way through AND understand it all! I like the chorus which says “We are all “the only flower in the world” We all carry different seeds and our only job is to grow the best flowers that we can. We don’t need to be number one.” I like that, in this normally very competetive society!
Roses love sunshine,
Violets love dew
Angels in heaven,
Know I love you-
Know I love you, dear,
Know I love you.
Angels in heaven,
Know I love you.
My mom did sing to us-my fav was “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles”. I still love it.
I sang to my kids when they were little. Occasionally my 7 y/o will ask for a song.
I also sang (at bedtime)
Blowing Bubbles(above)
bushel and a peck (boys like that one)
Red River Valley
All the Pretty Horses was deemed too sad by all
Go Down to the River to Pray (from O Brother)
various lullabies(beatles or Ringo did one, no?)
I used to sing the alphabet song forwards, then do it with the alphabet backwards (my live was low on stimulation when home with babies). All nursery rhymes that I could remember.
You are my sunshine
and strangely enough–a song from the Music Man (the bit about the folks from Iowa)
Music Man, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins (ain’t it a beautiful day? Bright as a mornin’ in May…), tons.
Can’t really sing for shit–I have a 4 note range, AFAIK. Don’t care!
Sorry, but tons of songs just came back to me in a flood. Wow.
Mom also sang:
“I’ve been working on the railroad”
“wheels on the bus”
“Michael Row the Boat Ashore”
“Gonna Put Down My Sword and Shield” (don’t know name)
“My Bonnie”
“Molly Malone”
“If Jack Were Only Here” (dont’ remember title)
Pop goes the weasel, etc
Shenodoah
lots of old folk tunes–love me some Appalachian music (loathe country though)
The only ones that I remember dad singing to me were folk songs like New South Wales, The Derby Ram, Botany Bay and South Australia (only posting the first verses for copyright reasons and also because these are folk songs so they go on forever!)
Here we are in New South Wales
Shearing sheep as big as whales, with
Leather necks and jaggy tails
And hides as tough as rusty nails.
The Derby Ram
As I went out to Derby, upon a market day
I spied the biggest ram, sir, that ever was fed on hay
Hey ringle dangle, hey ringle day
It was the biggest ram, sir, that ever was fed on hay
Botany Bay
Farewell to old England forever
Farewell to my rum culls as well
Farewell to the well known Old Bailey
Where I used for to cut such a swell
South Australia
In South Australia I was born,
Heave away, haul away,
In South Australia round Cape Horn
For we’re bound for South Australia.
So basically there was an emphasis on convict transportation and outsized livestock in my nursery tunes. I refuse to say whether that explains a lot about me or not.
What was the deal with “Down in the Valley” anyway? The poor guy’s in jail, how in the world is that a good lullaby?
My mom sang it to me, and I found myself singing it to my son when he was little, until he was old enough to ask me why and I had no good answer to give him.
My mom also sang “Big Boots” which was an Elvis song I think.
When my boy was little it was Silent Night, songs from Les Miz and 'Dreamcoat, and slow hymns like Amazing Grace.
