Althouse: "Sleep, little one/If you don’t sleep/The crab will eat you."

May 17, 2018

"Sleep, little one/If you don’t sleep/The crab will eat you."

From "18 Dark And Disturbing Lullabies From Around The World" (HuffPo).

13 comments:

robinintn said...: My Grandmother sang this to us:
Black sheep, black sheep, where's your lamb?
Way down yonder in the meadow
Buzzards and the flies peckin' out his eyes
Poor little baby cries mama; 5/17/18, 10:34 AM
Caldwell P. Titcomb IV said...: Buzzards and the flies peckin' out his eyes

Hmph. Any baby worth his salt know flies don't have peckers and buzzards rip rather then peck.

In the playpen...woo...(all night long)
Little baby goes, ha! (all night long); 5/17/18, 10:44 AM
Brian said...: My wife, my 2 daughters, my nieces were sung to with the tune, "Ninna Nanna, Ninna Oh" constantly. It's very beautiful in Italian, but yeah, don't pay too close of attention to the words...; 5/17/18, 10:51 AM
bwebster said...: My personal favorite, though it refers to a proposal (Multi-Lateral Force -- Europe & US nuclear armed vs USSR) from long ago:

https://youtu.be/wB7PRY1Aqds; 5/17/18, 11:07 AM
rehajm said...: How Grimm.; 5/17/18, 11:07 AM
SF said...: We sang, you know, actual murder ballads (eg "Matty Groves") as lullabies. Long songs with stories so you're not forced to sing the same thing over and over or change songs every two minutes. (I think it took 30+ minutes of singing and rocking each night to get our little guy to sleep -- it's an easier routine if you sing 6 five minute sons than 15 two minute songs.) It's not like your 3 month old knows what you're singing about...; 5/17/18, 11:52 AM
n.n said...: I can imagine the nightmares induced by the tree branch breaking and cradle falling.; 5/17/18, 12:26 PM
D. B. Light said...: Traditional bedtime prayer:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE,
I pray the Lord my soul to take"

My grandmother taught me that one.; 5/17/18, 12:36 PM
Bill said...: A friend who'd spent time in Italy told me the Florentines used to warn their children that if they didn't behave, the Pisans would come for them in their sleep.; 5/17/18, 1:16 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: All the lullabies I can think of have horrible imagery; babies on tree boughs, babies sailing away alone on the sea, "Your momma's gone away and your daddy's gone to stay/ Didn't leave nobody but the baby".; 5/17/18, 1:43 PM
Fritz said...: I used to sing my kids Jefferson Starship's "Baby Tree"

Both of them independently recently told me it terrified them...; 5/17/18, 3:51 PM
Jaq said...: We just sang a song about a bunch of stuff that didn’t work, Mockingbirds than didn’t sing, etc, and contingency planning.

Actually, my daughter loved a song that I guess was really racist. “Mammy’s little baby loves shortning bread.” Quieted her down every time!; 5/17/18, 4:05 PM
Bill R said...: English Lullaby circa 1805 - War with Napoleon

Baby, baby stop your crying
Hush you squalling thing I say.
Stop your crying or believe me
Bonaparte may come this way.

Baby, baby he's a giant.
Tall and dark as Rouen steeple
And he dines and sups, rely on it
Every day on naughty people.; 5/17/18, 4:14 PM