Why do we sing " Rock A Bye Baby" to lull our little ones to sleep?

Question

Isn't it kind of violent because the song is about putting your baby in a tree and letting the wind crash the cradle to the ground.

Answer 1

LOL! Good point. I imagine its more about the slow tempo and calming feeling of the way it is sung rather than the words. But I have to agree the lyrics should be changed. lol

Answer 2

These are just the lyrics to fit into the music. It does'nt mean at all to do all that stuff by hanging the cradle up a tree and let the wind do the rest. It is just to lull the babies to sleep. If ya don't like that song, sing another one. No matter what song you sing, the babies will go to sleep after all.

Answer 3

It's a metaphor speaking on the facts that once the baby is out of the cradle he has started his first steps to leaving the nest. But i agree with you, I think people just continue to sing it because it comforted them once and so on. Like saying God bless you when someone sneezes. Now a days saying "god bless you" to a stranger can get you into drama! Because if they don't believe in God they may get offended and feel the need - to address your need - to bless them by some god and blah blah. That's why we should re-write that terrible song while keeping the same comforting melody! As well as other things to say to be polite, with out offending anyone. What would be a good base for re writing that song? What about something like this - " Hush little baby you had a long day, learning and growing and being on your way, But now you must rest so close your little eyes and I'll see my baby with the beautiful sunrise." I don't know we could work it out.

Answer 4

Ever sat up all night trying to rock a baby to sleep?
We used to say, pick your window your going through.
At least up the tree you would not hear it for a short while.
I am sure that there never was a baby put up a tree it is maybe the same as the window just a desperate cry for help.

Here is an old one for you,
Go away you big black crows,
You can not have our baby no,
Our baby's a darling,
He's worth £10,000,
Every farthing.

Answer 5

"Rock-a-bye Baby" may be an American nursery rhyme and lullaby, whose melody may be 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 as to when the lyrics were 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 branches of trees, allowing the wind to rock the baby to sleep. However, the branches holding the cradles sometimes had a habit of breaking, causing the cradle to fall and the baby in it to get hurt...(Wiki)

Answer 6

Well if you think about it, many nursery rhymes seem to be morbid really.. some examples being Humpty Dumpy, Ring Around A Rosie, or London Bridge. Same goes for fairy tales.

Answer 7

You have to do the actions that go with the words, all kids love it, to most its their first experience of an adrenalin rush when they are momentarily dropped but caught before hitting the ground. Its been a favourite nursery rhyme for countless generations.

Answer 8

Haha, good question. its just the same as all the other catastrophes in rhymes, 'ring a ringof roses' - the black death. who knows, maybe that's why now a days people sit on the edge of their sofas intrigued with the harsh going ons in the world?

Answer 9

Most of our nursery rhymes have a meaning from some dark event in history. Ring a ring of roses is about the black death.

Answer 10

No its actually saying towards the baby will eventually go to sleep nothing about harming the child down as in eyelids closing.. sleep.. yep.. I reckon ;)..