I'm not sure if lullabies qualify as a musical form, but lullabies certainly beckon to me. I have always had difficulty falling asleep...I'm not sure what all the reasons for this may be. Certainly I have a roaming mind, but as a child I went through a few disturbing experiences which made sleep hard to come by. How welcome was a soothing poem or lullaby in those days, as it allowed my thoughts another direction to travel.
On the other hand, it strikes me that lullabies and bedtime poems are sometimes oddly troubling themselves:
"The Rock-a-bye Lady from Hush-a-bye Street
Comes stealing, comes creeping..."
Perhaps not the most reassuring sentiment, but somehow my mother's voice always filled me with comfort and made the meaning of the words a pure delight.
At any rate, I've always wanted to write lullabies...words that soothe yet also entice the imagination as one drifts off to sleep, perhaps with a little melancholy and mystery as well.
It is nighttime, after all.
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Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye baby,
The moon’s in the sky tonight,
It glows like a pearl
And belongs to the girl
Who smiles with a secret delight.
No one knows what makes her happy,
And no one knows what breaks her heart,
But she watches the world
As its dreams come unfurled
And she sees all its magic impart.
Sometimes she lingers in silence,
And sometimes she hides in the trees,
And when she runs over the mountains she laughs,
And her laughter is heard on the breeze.
If you should happen to see her,
She’ll whisper and beckon to you,
So reach out your hand
And strike up the band
Remember what’s old becomes new.
She’ll sing: rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye baby,
Come waltz down the lane with me,
A curtsy and bow
Is all we need now
For there’s no grander company.
Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye baby,
Close your eyes at the end of the day,
May happiness be your horizon
And I'll smooth all your troubles away.
Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye baby,
The moon’s in the sky tonight,
It glows like a pearl
And belongs to the girl
Who smiles with a secret delight.
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p.s. Oh, and the baby? His name is Graham and he is our neighbor and we think he is the sweetest baby in the entire world and my girls keep asking for a little brother and I keep saying let's enjoy Graham.