Why Lullabies Are Meant For You

So you are afraid to sing "out-loud" in any public situation. You may "actually" have a terrible voice. Perhaps you have even been told by those closest to you as well as total strangers that you are an awful singer. But guess what? None of that matters to your little ones.
Everyone has a slew of excuses as to why they don't and/or can't sing but the truth is the terrain of lullabies is a land of the free for singers and non-singers alike. In an NPR interview with Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission, she insists that every child truly loves the sound of their own parent's voice. I am ready to believe her.
Most of you have figured this out already. In the first nights home from the hospital somewhere between the lack of sleep and high adrenaline craziness of new parenthood you probably found yourself walking the halls with your new babe and humming along to the some mysterious melody you honestly feel came out of nowhere. Parents might not be provided with a rule book but most of us, if we allow ourselves to be, are provided with a venue for lullabies..a desire , and (if we encourage it) a need to sing to our little ones. You don't think about it..you just do it.
Every good singer will tell you that the secret to singing, even if you are terrible, is that you have to mean it. You have to stop thinking about "singing" and just go for it. It is when you second guess yourself and falter that the screetchy/breathy/ awful interior voice singing starts to happen. What place do we strive with our best intentions more than when we aim to sooth or delight our children?

Tips:

1) Start by humming. At first, words are not the most important thing. It is true that there are some songs that are lyrical zingers and will pay off in spades for both the singer and the listener (i.e. What a Wonderful World, Stay Awake) but work up to them. Start by humming some simple melodies. The kind you make up yourself and or half-remember from a recording. The important thing is to get comfortable first.

2) Pick songs that you actually like. You don't have to sing "Rockabye Baby". You can sing whatever you want to sing. There are no rules. You can turn anything into lullaby. If you are really into the band KORN and that is all that you really like to sing along to..try it. Obviously you might have to slow some of those tracks down, but that might happen more naturally than you think. You will be surprised to see what you end up singing in the wee hours to a teething and un-soothable infant. I found myself singing Blur over and over again to my three day old. They have a lot of "baby"s in their songs and somewhere in my collective memory this seemed to fit. If you love it they most likely will be swayed by your passion for the song. They are smart that way.


Below we have included some recomendations of songs to start with. Try downloading some of these and just listening to them late at night or something. See which ones stick with you. See which ones you find yourself singing along to the next day.
I have also included the lyrics for each song because: when I was eleven and listening to Whitney Houston I would sing along with the lyrics to "The Greatest Love of All" and then BAM by listen number three I had that sucker memorized. Basic logic.
If you have your own inklings for songs...FOLLOW THEM. The most important thing is just start singing. Find out the lyrics for that one Frank Sinatra song and make the effort to memorize it for bedtime. You will not be dissappointed. Neither will your children.

SONGS and LYRICS

"Moon River" lyrics
"Cosmic Dancer"-- T Rex lyrics
"Tonight, I'll Be Staying Here with You"--Bob Dylan lyrics
"Love Me Tender"--Elvis Prestly lyrics
"For Sentimental Reasons"--Nat King Cole lyrics
"I Love You"--A Band of Bees lyrics
"Be My Little Baby"--The Ronnettes lyrics
"What a Wonderful World"---Louis Armstrong lyrics
"Stay Awake" --The Innocence Mission lyrics
"Over the Rainbow " lyrics
"Tender "--Blur lyrics
"Songbird"--Fleetwood Mac lyrics
"All I Have to Do is Dream"--The Everly Brothers lyrics
"By-low " lyrics






**You might have noticed that a handful of our selections came from The Innocence Mission's "Now The Day is Over" CD. We will just say this: go buy it. It is wonderful. Some of the proceeds benefit children's charities. You will not be dissappointed.

The Basic Rules of Enjoyment

Rules, helpers, tips, whatever you need or want to call it:

Find The Kid Stuff in the rock songs. One of the main rules of being a rock star is that you are allowed to be ridiculous. In fact, it is basically expected of you.

Those of us who have kids or are currently spending a lot of time with kids have realized, despite our best instincts that successful play with the youngest bunch requires that we get in touch with our silliest and most ridiculous self as soon as possible. For the purposes of this blog let's just call this our "singing in the car self". Not just the sing along with your friend next to you at a low volume with occasional punctuated harmonies (they can hear you by the way) but the all out, long desert road trip with no one in the car for the past six hours or the following seven. The crazy, wooooo-ah kind of car singing. You know what I mean. So, get there. Sing along with the La La's on The Man in Me