My mother did not sing to me, nor did my father.

However, I sang for my son from before he was born.

When he was very small and couldn't understand lyrics, I often sang him Trevor Midgley's Roses of Eyam, just because it has a lot of verses and it's quiet and understated--perfect for sending a child to sleep. I guess it fits into that category of songs for children that actually have terrible stories/lyrics!

Later, I sang him The Rattlin Bog and Malvina Reynolds' Morningtown Train, which he renamed Train Whistle Blowing. Here in our local folk group, it seems everyone sang that one to their children and everyone changes the names in the song to fit the names of the child, parents, siblings, whatever. E.g.,

Bryn is at the engine, Mommy rings the bell
Daddy swings the lantern, to show that all is well

I even wrote him his own verse:

Freight train's a-coming, down the endless track
Engine keeps on pulling, never looking back
Box cars full of cartons, hoppers full of clay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles away

This tickled him to no end, because he was really into trains at that time and this gave him his very own verse in a train song! Also he loved using those special "train words" like "hoppers and "box cars."

He's graduating from high school next year and I hope he'll always carry with him the memory of me singing to him.