LVS Works
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SHEET MUSIC
    • OPM
    • POP
    • E-BOOKS
    • FREE SHEET MUSIC
  • BLOGS
  • VIDEO
  • AUDIO
  • GUESTBOOK

ROCK-A-BYE BABY

11/11/2011

0 Comments

 
Picturenot a rock song
'Rock-a-bye Baby' is a nursery rhyme and lullaby. The melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2768.

Various theories exist to explain the origins of the rhyme.

One identifies it as the first poem written on American soil, suggesting it may date from the 17th century and have been written by an English immigrant who 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. A difficulty with this theory is that the words appeared in print first in England in c. 1765.

In Derbyshire, England, local legend has it that the song relates to a local character in the late 18th century, Betty Kenny (Kate Kenyon), who lived with her charcoal-burner husband, Luke, and their eight children in a huge yew tree in Shining Cliff Woods in the Derwent Valley, where a hollowed-out bough served as a cradle. However this "late 1700s" date is incompatible with the poem's appearance in print c. 1765.

Yet another theory has it that the lyrics, like the tune "Lilliburlero" it is sung to, refer to events immediately preceding the Glorious Revolution. The baby is supposed to be the son of James VII and II, who was widely believed to be someone else's child smuggled into the birthing room in order to provide a Roman Catholic heir for James. The "wind" may be that Protestant "wind" or force "blowing" or coming from the Netherlands bringing James' nephew and son-in-law, William III of England, a.k.a. William of Orange, who would eventually depose King James II in the revolution (the same "Protestant Wind" that had saved England from the Spanish Armada a century earlier). The "cradle" is the royal House of Stuart. The earliest recorded version of the words in print appeared with a footnote, "This may serve as a warning to the Proud and Ambitious, who climb so high that they generally fall at last", which may be read as supporting a satirical meaning. It would help to substantiate the suggestion of a specific political application for the words however if they and the 'Lilliburlero' tune could be shown to have been always associated.


The first printed version from Mother Goose's Melody (London, c. 1765), has the following lyrics:

Hush-a-by baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will fall baby, cradle and all.

The most common version used today is:

Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

(source: Wikipedia)


_DOWNLOAD your FREE music stuff here:
Rock-A-Bye Baby (PDF)
File Size: 237 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

009_rock-a-bye_baby.mid
File Size: 0 kb
File Type: mid
Download File

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    hitwebcounter

    Song List

    All
    Ang Pipit
    Auld Lang Syne
    Bahay Kubo
    Blowin In The Wind
    Cant Help Falling In Love
    Carinosa
    Come What May
    Counting Stars
    Count On Me
    Cradle Song
    Dahil Sa Iyo
    Demons
    Für Elise
    Give Me Courage
    Happy Birthday To You
    Hark The Herald Angels Sing
    He Will Make You Strong
    Hush Little Baby
    Ikaw Na Ang Bahala
    I Love You Sabado
    Jamaica Farewell
    Lambada
    Lazy Song
    Lead Me Lord
    Leron Leron Sinta
    Life Everlasting Is Promised
    Lighters
    Limbo Rock
    Love Me Tender
    My Heart Will Go On
    Nestlé Ice Cream Theme
    Paru Parong Bukid
    Payphone
    Pirouettes
    Pusong Bato
    Rock A Bye Baby
    Sa Ugoy Ng Duyan
    Seiko Wallet Theme
    Selecta Ice Cream Theme
    Spooky Scary Skeletons
    Stereo Hearts
    Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
    We Wish You A Merry Christmas
    What Sort Of Person I Should Be
    When I Dream About You
    Where Have All The Flowers Gone
    Wooden Dreams

    Free Stuff

    The best things in life are free. Free to inform. Free to play.

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.