Lullabies and Magic

If there’s one thing that everyone seems to know about babies it’s that they like to be soothed with singing. Babies (and kids too) love being sung to. For those of us with only mediocre singing voices it is a bit daunting at first, but I found that once I got over the oh-my-god-someone-might-actually-hear-me-sing mindset, it was quite soothing for me too. It is peaceful to sing quietly in a dark room; and it’s comforting to know that this little being is quite possibly the only being on Earth who enjoys hearing my voice. The simple act of singing is just magic between parent and child.

If there is anything that makes a woman feel more like a mother than having the power to calm her crying baby with only her voice, I don’t know what it is. To this day one of my favorite television scenes ever is when tough-as-tacks TV journalist Murphy Brown weeps with joy when she realizes that singing Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” to her newborn son could stop his crying. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. has blocked every link to it on the internet, so I can’t share it with you. But believe me if you saw it, you would weep too. There’s something about a mother (or father) singing to her child that is so simple and so sweet.

Still I found it a bit shocking when two days ago, Lilly acknowledged that she still likes my lullabies. We were eating lunch out when we heard Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” on the radio. It immediately caught Lilly’s attention because Adele’s “21” is the only album she and I can agree on in the car. (In related news, I have come to loathe the soundtracks to Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.) After informing me that Adele was my favorite singer, Lilly asked me what other singers I like. I rattled off a few singers that she might recognize from CDs in the car and asked her the same question. In an adorably coy manner, she replied, “You.”

I was honestly stunned, and immediately asked, “Me?!” Then she told me I have “a really pretty voice” when I sing “Beautiful Girl” (my adapted version of John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy”). It was so sweet I couldn’t help but tear up because I so do not have a “really pretty voice” no matter what song I’m singing. But apparently to my little girl, I do. I felt just like Murphy Brown. (Seriously, track down that episode if you haven’t seen it.)

So I write this list in honor of my babies, the only people in the world who like to hear me sing, and for the sake of other sleep-deprived parents who can barely think of their name, much less a new song to sing,  in the wee hours of the morning when they need to calm a baby with song.

My Top 20 Hits:

1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
2. ABCs (in English and auf Deutsch)
3. Baa, Baa Black Sheep
4. Itsy, Bitsy Spider
5. Rock-a-Bye Baby
6. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
7. Beautiful Boy – John Lennon
8. May All Children – Music Together
9. I’m a Little Teapot
10. How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?
11. My Favorite Things (from The Sound of Music)
12. Do-Re-Mi (from The Sound of Music)
13. One and Twenty (Girl Scout Song, in English and auf Deutsch)
14. When I Get Up – Tegan and Sara
15. You Are My Sunshine
16. This Little Light of Mine
17. Sun and Moon (from Miss Saigon)
18. The Earth is Our Mother – Music Together
19. Make New Friends (Girl Scout Song)
20. My Darling Child – Sinead O’Connor

1. Canoe Song – Music Together
2. The Music and the Mirror (from A Chorus Line)
3. Hush, Little Baby
4. Lullaby – Jack Johnson
5. All Apologies – Nirvana (Think Sinead O’Connor, not Kurt Cobain)
6. Two Little Kitty Cats – Music Together
7. I’m a Bell – Music Together
8. Apples and Cherries – Music Together
9. No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley
10. On Top of Spaghetti

1. Part of Your World (from The Little Mermaid)
2. Kiss the Girl (from The Little Mermaid)
3. She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain
4. Yankee Doodle
5. A Whole New World (from Aladdin)

The Lullabies and Magic by MushBrain, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mushbrain.net.