Hello :)
Here is the perfect little lullaby to listen to while you. This is called Lerato by Abel Selaocoe. It means, love. Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube.
It’s winter in Australia and my little house is in Melbourne, which is very blustery and cold right now. The trees are bare and exposed and the wind whips through the wide grey streets. Melbourne has a beautiful bleakness in winter that’s unexpected and moody. Every year I find myself wanting to move north, away from the cold. I know the answer really lies in getting myself a wood fire to curl up in front of. “One day”, I say.
Inside though, it's nice and cosy, and this space is filled with music that will warm your cockles. So here we are, tucked up on the couch, ready for music to fall on our ears.
I napped successfully for the first time yesterday, but it took a ages for me to get to sleep. As I lay there studying the folds of my doona, I thought about how nice it feels when someone sings you to sleep; sings you a lullaby.
When you imagine someone singing you a lullaby, what kind of singing do you imagine? For me, it’s soft, imperfect, broken. They are humming, whispering sometimes and it’s always serene and maternal. Sometimes they miss a note and they get the words wrong. But it doesn’t matter. You’re cocooned in the texture of their voice, soothed and safe. Before long, you’re drifting off into a beautiful dream state.
It’s so well researched how lullabies help increase the bond between parent/carer and baby; how the association of music and sleep does wonders for kids as they say goodbye to the day, and how familiar voice patterns foster a sense of security and safety in children and babies. We know that. We’ve known it for as long as we have been on this Earth. And now we have the research to back this cross-cultural tradition. And as one of my friends so eloquently said, “you do whatever it fucking takes to put the baby to sleep”.
But why do we stop singing to children when they grow up? I find it so romantic when someone sings to me. Except one time when I was 15 and a boy (he shall remain unnamed) sang James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful at me after I broke up with him. He was crying. I got the ick. There was no going back and it was NOT OKAY.
But how beautiful is it when someone gently sings you to sleep? Why should that just be for babies and kids? I would love to know that someone in your life sings to you in their imperfect way; a person who can create a space for you that is safe and wrap you up with their whispers.
I’ve made you a playlist of some of my favourite lullabies. I’m sure you’ll know some of them, but maybe there’s new tunes in here too. And because lullabies are so intimate, I’ve broken the playlist up with some wordless melodies for your sleepy ears.
From this list I especially love Hushabye Mountain. It’s a beautiful lullaby from Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang and was written by the Shermann Brothers (RIP) in 1968. Disney really know how to write a lullaby scene, don’t they.
And you’ll find music here from 1878 by the last Queen of Hawaii, Queen Lili’Uokalani who wrote Aloha 'Oe. This is a song about two lovers who have said goodbye to each other on a beach. One of the lovers, while walking back to Honolulu, hums a melody that captures the beauty and finality of their farewell. There is a contentment to this melody that makes it a perfect little lullaby.
There’s Elvis for you too (because who wouldn’t want Elvis to lull you to sleep!), and the magical and slightly unbelievable voice of Greta Bradman with the OG Brahms Lullaby. Jacob Collier I think has a very special knack for writing music that is grounded and tranquil, and that is because he is excellent at crafting space between notes. So there's some Jacob for you. Chet Baker gets very close to the microphone here, like his voice lives within your head. And I hope Kothbiro, sung by Kenyan vocalist Ayub Ogada, will become music that speaks to your soul.
The world needs our lullabies right now.
She needs our imperfect and impactful melodies.
I hope someone is singing you to sleep now and then.
x
My darling heart, this is so beautiful to read. We have been listening to you each morning and playing a game, where we have to imagine the scene that the music narrates (it is very fun). We have another family rule that we sing entire conversations when we are in bad mood or the vibes are low. And reading this piece by you made me think, I hope that this never changes, and I love you. Your friend Catie
I really loved finding this. What about Sweet Lullaby by Deep Forest? And from there you could even consider Rorogwela which was the Solomon Islands lullaby sampled for the song. Here we could really go down a rabbit hole. Music is global. Lullabies are global. I’m fascinated to see what else there is. But Megan your list is sublime! And it’s working…I’m sleepy.