Lullabies Have Soothed Millions of Us to Sleep

Babies, no matter where they are born or what they look like, come to us without language or social norms. They need our love and nurturing to grow and our soothing voices and touch to calm their fears. For centuries, parents around the globe have sung and hummed to their little ones, and as spring approaches with its promise of new life, we thought we'd share with you the origins of some of the lullabies we've raised our babies with for centuries. So, hum away as you read more about where those iconic tunes came from, why so many refer to unpleasant situations, and why we have them in the first place.

You may be surprised to learn that the oldest lullaby recorded was written in cuneiform and comes from a clay tablet in Babylon. Like many lullabies that follow, its theme is not pleasant. It includes references to a screaming baby disturbing the house god "making noises like a drunkard who cannot sit still on his stool."

One theory for the origin of the word "lullaby" says it comes from Middle English "lullen," which means to lull and "by" or "near." Another theory, however, says "lullaby" likely comes from ancient Jewish folklore where the demon goddess Lilith was perceived as a threat because she stole into nurseries and took babies. Hence "Lilith-Abi," or "Lilith, go away" became the label for songs sung to babies to protect them from the evil goddess. The earliest lullabies, including that Babylonian tune, were similar in their darkness. The little Babylonian needed to stop crying immediately or be eaten by a demon. A popular lullaby in Kenya chastised an infant for crying and told it that it would be eaten by a hyena if it didn't quiet down. Even the lullaby we are likely most familiar with, "Rock-a-bye Baby," tosses a baby in its cradle out of a tree.

This familiar lullaby, by noted poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Victorian mother and baby are
 from Hill's Manual of Social and Business Forms, Thomas E. Hill, 1866; public domain. 

Since babies can't understand the words, it's really the sweet melodies sung by their parents that capture their attention, but we learn quite a bit about the lives those adults are living by looking at the lyrics. We can see how adult fears and folklore creep into these childhood songs. Many lullabies, especially the earliest on record, reflect the anxieties of the times in which people lived. Childhood mortality was astonishingly high, and parents feared for the safety of their precious little ones. 

Those who have studied the universality of lullabies note that women everywhere use the same sweet, repetitive tunes and rocking motions, even if the lyrics vary by culture. It's the softness of the melody, the closeness of parent to infant, and the feeling of safety that lullabies promote that help babies feel safe and relaxed.

Which Lullabies Do You Know?

American children are likely most familiar with the tunes of our childhood. We remember "Frere Jacques" or "Hush, Little Baby." We were brought up on the lilting nursery rhyme "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," and the catchy English folk song, "Lavender's Blue," among others. Perhaps you remember "Sleep, Baby, Sleep"? This gentle song came to us from Germany, and unlike many, contains nothing but lovely visions of dreaming, lambs, and green countryside. Perhaps the most recognizable of all is one composed by Brahms, variously called "Wiegenlied," "The Cradle Song," or "Lullaby and Good Night." The original lyrics are in German and have been translated in numerous ways, but they all include roses, lilies, mother's love, and her vow to protect the sleeping baby from harm.

On a personal note, with a mother who enjoyed music but was seriously tone-deaf, it was my father, who sang "You Are My Sunshine" to all of us as young ones bouncing on his lap and then repeated this interaction when he had grandchildren, leaving a delicious memory of love. 

Since St. Patrick's Day is on the horizon, we'll leave you with two traditional Irish lullabies. The first is the "Connemara Cradle Song," describing life in windy, western Ireland. The lullaby is sung by Amy Hopwood on a YouTube slide show backed by lovely Connemara scenery. And the last, one that you undoubtedly know, is "Too Ra Loo Ra Ral," sung by Molly Whupple, also on YouTube. Written in 1913, this haunting Irish ballad was actually composed in the U.S. by an Irish-American, James Royce Shannon, for a Tin Pan Alley musical. It was raised from obscurity in 1944 when Bing Crosby performed it on Broadway in Going My Way.

If you are an adult in a home with a baby and you find yourself humming, singing, or crooning to that little person, you are one in a long line of similar caregivers who have done the very same thing across the planet for centuries. No matter what language you are singing in, you are paying homage to a very old tradition, and, after all, that's what genealogists are all about, isn't it?

Learn More:

"Lullabies to Sing," Bach to Baby, 2025, https://www.bachtobaby.com/lullabies-to-sing

"The History of the Lullaby," by Gary Arndt, Everything Everywhere, 24 August 2021, https://everything-everywhere.com/the-history-of-the-lullaby/ 

"The Universal Language of Lullabies," by Nina Perry, BBC News, 21 January 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21035103