THE CROW ON THE CRADLE
(Sydney Carter)

The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn,
Now is the time for a child to be born,
He'll cry for the moon and he'll laugh at the sun,
If he's a boy he'll carry a gun,
Sang the crow on the cradle.

If it should be that our baby's a girl,
Never you mind if her hair doesn't curl.
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes!
And a bomber above her wherever she goes,
Sang the crow on the cradle.

Rockabye Baby, the dark and the light!
Somebody's baby is born for a fight.
Rockabye Baby, the white and the black!
Somebody's baby is not coming back,
Sang the crow on the cradle.

Your mammy and pappy, they'll scrape and they'll save!
Build you a coffin, and dig you a grave.
Hushabye, little one, why do you weep?
We've got a toy that will put you to sleep,
Sang the crow on the cradle.

Bring me a gun and I'll shoot that bird dead -
That's what your mammy and pappy once said.
Crow on the cradle, oh, what shall I do?
That is something that I leave up to you,
Sang the crow on the cradle.

I got these words from an old "Reprints from Sing Out", but it's also in "Songs of Sydney Carter In the present tense Book 3", Galliard Ltd (UK), Galaxy Music Corporation, 2121 Broadway, New York, NY 10023. (1969). It's been recorded by the Ian Campbell Group, Judith Silver, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins and Marthe Schlamme, and no doubt many others since then.