Crazy thought..?

Question

Why do we sing "Rock a bye baby" to lull our little ones to sleep when the song is about putting your baby in a tree and letting the wind crash the cradle to the ground?

Answer 1

It's a sweet & soothing way to threaten the baby to shut up and go to sleep so you could get some rest too. It's called soothing scare tactics. LOL

Answer 2

Rock-a-bye Baby is an American nursery rhyme, whose melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero. Originally titled "Hushabye Baby," this nursery rhyme was said to be the first poem written on American soil. Although there is no evidence when the song was written, it may date from the 1600s. It is rumoured that it was written by a young pilgrim who sailed to America on the Mayflower. He was said to have observed the way Native American women rocked their babies in birch bark cradles, which were suspended from the high branches of trees, allowing the wind to rock the baby to sleep. Another source reports that Effie Crockett, a relative of Davy Crockett, wrote the lyrics in 1872 while babysitting a restless child.

The lyrics are:

Rock a bye baby on the treetop,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.
Baby is drowsing cozy and fair
Mother sits near in her rocking chair
Forward and back the cradle she swings
And though baby sleeps he hears what she sings
From the high rooftops down to the sea
No ones' as dear as baby to me
Wee little fingers, eyes wide and bright
Now sound asleep until morning light
Only the words in the first four lines are supposed to be from the Pilgrim boy in America. Lines 5-12 are a later invention.

Answer 3

Rock a Bye Baby or Hush a Bye Baby is said to originated in America. it was the practice of some Native Americans to place their babies in birch bark cradles which were put into trees were the wind would gently rock them to slept. Hence Hush a Bye Baby on the tree top. The words to Hush a Bye Baby were first published in 1765.

Answer 4

Never Thought Of It Before. People Are Very Morbid Creatures

Answer 5

I know I wonder the same thing when I sing it to the children...who the h*lls twisted mind wrote that song then made the tune so sweet sounding...why as children did we play "ring around the rosies pocket full of posies ashes ashes we all fall down" when in that song the ashes are remains of a cremated loved one?

Answer 6

Even if they are safe from bears , letting a baby sleep in a tree is still a dangerous idea , just a wild guess . Other than that I have no idea !!

Answer 7

The song must have been written by a mother in the early stages of childhood when you can't get any sleep andall you hope for is a moment of silence.

Answer 8

If you ever really thought about all the nursery rhymes and lullabies, they are very morbid. Imagine what a child thinks when a parent sings that to them. It would scare the crap out of them, I know when I was a child, those rhymes and lullabies frightened me.

Answer 9

Why do kids sing ring around the rosie, when it's about burning the bodies of people who died of the black plague? Over time perspective is lost and meanings are forgotten.

Answer 10

It seem a lot of things written for Children, i.e. Nursrey Rhymes
were written by very sadistic people. Many of them are just
Political Satire.